Dan Taipua

Guest writer

Daniel Taipua (Waikato-Tainui) is a freelance contributor who has worked in Auckland film and television his whole career. He was shortlisted to appear on TV One's 'Wheel of Fortune' in 2009, shortly before the programme was cancelled.

Stills from Umurangi Generation.

What a video game about a futuristic Tauranga can tell us about our present

A new first-person photography game set in a dystopian Tauranga under lockdown is the best work of Māori science-fiction this decade, writes Dan Taipua.

By Dan Taipua | 29th May, 2020

Image: Matthew McAuley

Empire and rebellion: What Taika Waititi directing Star Wars means for Māori

By Dan Taipua | 10th May, 2020

Photo: TVNZ

Māori versus settlers in the wrestling ring? Hell yes!

TVNZ's new online-only series Colonial Combat pits the the inhabitants of Kauri Bay – Māori, settlers, men, women, and many more besides – against each other in the ring.

By Dan Taipua | 30th September, 2019

‘Wakening’ (2013) dir. Danis Goulet

Futurism Aotearoa: A Māori sci-fi festival touches down in Auckland

Self-identified 'Space Māori' Dan Taipua picks his highlights from this weekend's Māori Futurist events.

By Dan Taipua | 5th July, 2018

WWE Superstars go Māori

WWE Superstars go Māori

Finally, the most electrifying sports entertainment programme on earth has come back to Aotearoa. This Saturday marks the first episode of WWE Raw to screen free-to-air in New Zealand in over a decade.

By Dan Taipua | 23rd February, 2018

Summer reissue: Thor and his magic patu – notes on a very Māori Marvel movie

Summer reissue: Thor and his magic patu – notes on a very Māori Marvel movie

Dan Taipua explores indigenous ideologies in Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok, New Zealand's highest grossing film of 2017.

By Dan Taipua | 25th December, 2017

Thor and his magic patu: notes on a very Māori Marvel movie

Thor and his magic patu: notes on a very Māori Marvel movie

Dan Taipua explores indigenous ideologies in Thor: Ragnarok, the blockbuster movie from the king of the space Māori, Taika Waititi.

By Dan Taipua | 31st October, 2017

Māori Television is the best movie channel in the country, and it’s free

Māori Television is the best movie channel in the country, and it’s free

With a line-up boasting everything from Miyazaki to Spike Lee, Dan Taipua suggests you look no further than Māori Television for the best in free-to-air movies.

By Dan Taipua | 5th September, 2017

IRL EXP: Real world lessons from video games

IRL EXP: Real world lessons from video games

Find out how a life spent on the controller can gift you with transferable skills IRL

By Dan Taipua | 24th January, 2017

Cash Converted: A retro gaming pilgrimage

Cash Converted: A retro gaming pilgrimage

Dan Taipua visits Auckland's Cash Converters and measures if the chain is still a retro game hunter's mecca

By Dan Taipua | 7th December, 2016