Vela Manusaute

Vela Manusaute
Vela Manusaute
Born	Niue
Occupation	Writer, Director

Vela Manusaute is a Niuean writer and director. He is the creator and writer of New Zealand's first bilingual English-Tongan television series, Brutal Lives - Mo'ui Faingata'a.^[1]

Background[]

Vela is part-Niuean and part-Samoan; he was born in Niue and lived in his village Mutalau before his family moved to New Zealand in 1979.^[2] He graduated from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama Scholl in 1995 with a Diploma in Acting, and was their first Niuean to graduate.^[3]^[4] In 2002 he founded the theatre and music group Kila Kokonut Krew.^[4]

Filmography[]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	The Tattooist	Actor - Taxi Driver 2	Television
2010	Matariki	Actor - Russ	Television
2013	The Factory	Executive producer, actor - Mason	Web series
2018	The Messiah	Director	Short film
2020	Educators	Actor - Vela	Television
2020	Brutal Lives - Mo'ui Faingata'a	Director	Television

Awards[]

In 1997 he won the Best Male Comedy award at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards as one half of comedy duo The Brownies.^[5]

With Anapela Polataivao he received the New Generation Award for theatre at the 2014 Arts Foundation Awards.^[6]

In 2020 he won the Best Screenplay and Best Art Directions awards for his short film The Messiah at the Pacific Rims Film Festival 2020.^[1]

References[]

^ ^a ^b "All-Tongan cast in pioneer bilingual drama series in NZ". RNZ. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ "Vela Manusaute". Little Island Press. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ "Graduate". www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Vela Manusaute". NZ on Screen. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ "Vela Manusaute's Biography". The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ "2014 Westpac New Zealand Arts Awards recipients announced". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Archived from the original on 25 January 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2017.