
Ana Chaya Scotney
2022 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Springboard Recipient
- Iwi:
- Ko Tarapounamu te maunga, Ko Te Manawa a Hiwi te awa, Ko Ngāti Tawhaki ki Ngaputahi te hapū, Ko Mataatua te waka, Ko Ngāi Tūhoe te iwi, Pākeha, Jewish, German, Irish
- Discipline:
- Multi-disciplinary
- Awards:
- Springboard Award 2022
- Highlight:
- “My friend, collaborator and mentor Puti Lancaster, passed away suddenly on Christmas day. Following Puti’s passing, I’ve made the commitment to create three original works to honour her. She meant so much to so many of us. Thank you for this award."
- Last Update:
- 25/06/2025, 01:48 pm
Ana Chaya Scotney
2022 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Springboard Recipient
This Springboard Award is gifted by Brad Spence Holly Erskine
Ana Chaya Scotney is an actress, writer, and filmmaker hailing from Te-Upoko-o-te-Ika, Wellington.
Her tūrangawaewae takes her back to the ngahere, the rainforest Te Urewera; a place that has deeply informed both her artistry, her worldview at large, and her love of spending time outside.
Ana’s original work often explores themes about the complexities of place and belonging, being of both the Māori and Jewish diasporas; and the impacts that class, colonial hegemony and familial grief, can have on young people in Aotearoa, today.
Ana trained as one of ten writer/directors in the inaugural iteration of Dame Jane Campion's film intensive, A Wave In The Ocean. Through this intensive she wrote and directed her short film, Kurī.
In her work as an actress: In film, Ana played the lead Millie, in Michelle Savill’s feature debut, Millie Lies Low. Millie Lies Low made its world premier at the Berlin International Film Festival, and its North American premier at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. She has also contributed performances to films such as Bad Behaviour, Cousins, The Breaker Upperers.
In live performance, Ana’s show ScatterGun: After The Death of Rūaumoko was the winner of Outstanding Solo Performance, and The Sydney Fringe Tour Ready Award, and as of 2024 was commissioned by Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga : The New Zealand Film Commission to be adapted into a screenplay.
In the medium of music, in 2021, Ana’s first EP High-Def Multinational, made in collaboration with producer Thomas Arbor, as Kōtiro, won Favourite mixtape/EP at the SRN Awards.
In 2024, Ana was awarded the Honorary Geographer award from the New Zealand Geographical Society, for her work across the arts.
Ana Scotney is mentored by 2001 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Dame Gaylene Preston DNZM
Dame Gaylene Preston DNZM is an internationally acclaimed filmmaker with a career spanning more than three decades. An innovative writer, director, and producer, Dame Gaylene has insisted that it is possible to live in New Zealand and contribute New Zealand stories to global cinema; and her award-winning work has screened extensively at international festivals including Venice, Sundance, Toronto, London, Fantasporto, Chicago, San Francisco, Munich, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Brighton, Athena NY and New Zealand.
Statement from selection panel:
“Ana is a true multi-disciplinary artist who works across the arts sector. Well-regarded and successful in a number of fields as an actor, musician, writer–as an artist she is curious, fierce and an explorer. As a Springboard Recipient, we know Ana will use the opportunity to deepen and grow her arts practice.”
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