Biography of Albert Belz

Albert Belz - Ngati Porou, Ngapuhi, Ngati Pokai - was born in Whakatane and apart from a nine-month stint in Napier and a period of time spent living in Minginui Forest, has lived in Auckland from the age of 12. After a stunning debut with his first (full-length) play Te Maunga , Albert spent 9 months story-lining for the New Zealand daily drama, Shortland Street. He has also written a screenplay, Mer, which is in a very early development phase with Livingstone Productions and The NZ Film Commission. Albert´s most recent full-length play Awhi Tapu was selected by Playmarket to be workshopped in the 2002 Aotearoa Playwrights Forum. After a five-day workshop process and publicly presented rehearsed reading Awhi Tapu was scheduled for production with Taki Rua Productions in May 2003 at Circa Studio in Wellington. Directed by acclaimed theatre director Nathaniel Lees (Te Maunga), Awhi Tapu challenged and moved sold out audiences. Belz himself has an acting background and is currently back at University in Auckland completing his Masters in Communication as well as working on a screen adaptation of Witi Ihimaera´s The Uncle´s Story. "I like long walks through industrial wasteland and intimate moments in front of a game console. I travelled to Coolangatta where I did a three-week acting gig on this terrible Disney television production. I didn´t get much time to experience Australia since I was in Queensland, which I discovered is kinda like a giant Tauranga. Bring on the ANPC".