Actor Cliff Curtis has been acknowledged for his commitment to telling indigenous stories at last night's annual Kea Awards, at Auckland’s Viaduct Events Centre.
The awards, which were established in 2003, recognise world-leading kiwis whose achievements are defining New Zealand's image internationally.
Curtis has also influenced the likes of director James Cameron, who recently talked about how he got advice from Curtis about incorporating a haka into his new Avatar movies.
Other award winners on the night, included: Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck; Academy Award winner Mark Sagar, who has been involved in the creation of technology for the digital characters in blockbusters such Avatar, King Kong and Spiderman 2; prominent Earth scientist Dr Delwyn Moller; technology business leader Mitchell Pham; and art world powerhouse Jennifer Flay who was instrumental in reshaping a struggling Paris art fair into one of the world's best.