Mīria George

Mīria's storytelling journey began on the stage with her first play, the award-winning Oho Ake, which premiered in Wellington through Tawata Productions. She subsequently made her international playwriting debut, expanding her celebrated stage repertoire to include works such as and what remains, Urban Hymns, Sunset Road, and The Vultures. Moving her literary practice into print, Mīria is also a published poet who released her debut collection, The Wet Season, through Wai-te-ata Press. Mīria later made film history as a writer and director for the landmark portmanteau feature film VAI. Premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival, VAI was the first feature film written, directed, and produced entirely by Pacific women, going on to screen globally at SXSW, ImagineNATIVE, Sydney Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival. Her filmmaking success continued with her award-winning short film fire in the water, fire in the sky, which received Special Recognition for Cinematography at the New Zealand International Film Festival and made its European premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Her subsequent short film, Open Looks, was filmed in Ōtaki and premiered locally at the Māoriland Film Festival before screening across Aotearoa, Australia, and North America. Dedicated to community representation, she also created and directed Big Hair, Don’t Care, a web-series featuring vital conversations with women of Indigenous and POC heritage who are artists.