Mr Fa’amoana Luafutu, of Christchurch, MZNM (Honorary) for services to arts and the Pacific community
Fa’amoana Luafutu wrote his first book, ‘A Boy Called Broke’, while an inmate at Rolleston Prison. The book began a collaboration with The Conch, inspiring the award-winning play ‘The White Guitar’. He co-wrote the subsequent play ‘A Boy Called Piano’, telling the story of his time in state care in the 1960s.
The play was adapted into a feature documentary, which won Best Feature Documentary at the Montreal Independent Film Festival and Māoriland Film Festival and featured at 12 international film festivals. He has played a key role in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. Mr Luafutu contributed writing to the award-winning series ‘The Panthers’.