Renae Maihi

Since completing a Bachelor of Performing Arts degree at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Renae Maihi has become an acclaimed writer/director, starting with play Ngā Manurere, starring Keisha Castle-Hughes. The NZ Herald called it the "surprise jewel" of 2009. Maihi went on to co-write short film Redemption, which was invited to the Berlin and Sundance festivals, and direct short Butterfly. The 2017 NZ International Film Festival featured two of her films: the New York-shot short Mannahatta, and feature Waru, where she was part of a team of eight female directors. In 2022, Maihi was a writer/director on Australian-Kiwi anthology film We Are Still Here.

The thing about women is that we are our own harshest critics and I have seen that men are more likely to jump in and say I’m ready when they are not ready. But us women really make sure that we know that we are ready and that we have done our due diligence ... So when we say we are ready, we are ready. Renae Maihi, in an interview with website Women in Revolt, 30 November 2017