Michael Duignan

Michael Duignan has directed short films, documentaries, and episodes of television series Go Girls, The Cult and Agent Anna. Duignan studied film, theatre and philosophy at Victoria University, before winning a place at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. By then he’d already directed his short film A New Way Home. His 2006 short Truant screened at a number of international festivals, including the prestigious Clermont-Ferrand Festival in France. Duignan’s debut feature The Paragon (2023) is a genre-bending comedy involving psychic revenge. He has also directed many commercials, both in New Zealand and overseas.

It’s this idea that New Zealand is a place where the news seems small and mundane, so you can start running with your imagination — and that takes you to very strange places. Michael Duignan on New Zealand providing fertile creative ground, in an interview for his movie The Paragon, Stuff, 26 June 2023