Actor/producer Cliff Curtis will give a talk and run a seminar at UH-Manoa in February. Courtesy photo

One of New Zealand's most well-known actors, Curtis had leading roles in the internationally successful films "Once Were Warriors" and "Whale Rider." Of New Zealand Maori descent (Ngati Hauiti, Te Arawa) Curtis, as a young man, learned the traditional Maori fighting styles of mau rakau. He enrolled at the New Zealand Drama School, continuing his studies at the Teatro Dmitri Scoula in Switzerland.

He has starred opposite many well-known Hollywood actors such as Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford, Johnny Depp, Nicholas Cage, Denzel Washington, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Carrey, and George Clooney, in films including "The Piano," "Three Kings," 'Blow," "Collateral Damage," and most recently, "Crossing Over" and "10,000 B.C."

In 2004 with producer Ainsley Gardiner, he formed an independent film production company, Whenua Films, with the goal of supporting the New Zealand indigenous filmmaking scene. Tapped to manage the development and production of the Short Films Fund for 2005/2006 by The New Zealand Film Commission, Whenua Films produced the 2005 Academy Award-nominated short film, "Two Cars, One Night." At the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, Miramax Films bought the U.S. distribution rights for their first feature film, "Eagle vs Shark."

The talk is free.

Curtis will also teach a Pacific New Media workshop: "Scene Stealer: Making Movies from an Actor's Perspective," Feb. 16-17. The fee is $200.