Winner, Best Performance By An Actor, 2014
New Zealand Cliff Curtis has appeared in or produced some of New Zealand’s most successful films. An award-winning actor, Curtis’ feature film debut was with a small role in The Piano (1993) but it was his role in Once Were Warriors (1994) that garnered him international attention. He has continued to star in local films like the Oscar® nominated Whale Rider (2002), as well as Hollywood blockbusters including Training Day (2001), Blow (2001), and The Fountain (2006) and with directors including Martin Scorsese, David O. Russell, and Danny Boyle.
In 2004 he and fellow APSA Academy member, Ainsley Gardiner formed production company Whenua Films to foster the telling of indigenous stories. Here they produced Taika Waititi’s comedies Eagle vs Shark (2007) and Boy (2010), which became the highest grossing New Zealand comedy of all time.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
