Anapela Polata’ivao, ONZM

Anapela’s ancestral roots stems from Vailoa Faleata and Vaiusu in Upolu and also Fagae’e in Savai’i. Since graduating from Toi Whakaari in 2000, her and partner Vela Manusaute created the South Auckland theatre collective Kila Kokonut Krew which garnered them a New Generation Arts Laureate after producing the landmark Pasefika musical The Factory – A Pacific Musical. She gained international acclaim for her performance in the short film Night Shift (2012) and won Best Actress in the 2018 Wellington Theatre Awards for her role in Tusiata Avia’s Wild Dogs Under My Skirt, which she also directed. Polata’ivao made history last year as the first Samoan woman to have directed a show off-Broadway when Wild Dogs Under My Skirt made its New York debut and was subsequently named the winner of the Fringe Encore Series at the SoHo Playhouse. In 2019, she staged her first original Samoan opera with opera superstars, Sol3 Mio in South Auckland. In 2023, Polata’ivao played the leading role in the feature film Tinā which was both a critical success and continues to break box office records throughout New Zealand. She has featured in a number of film and TV roles including The Rule of Jenny Penn playing alongside Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow and in the HBO TV show Our Flag Means Death, starring Taika Waititi.