Dianna Fuemana

Dianna Fuemana (born 1973) is a New Zealand writer, director and performer. She writes for theatre and screen. Her solo play Mapaki was the first that brought a New Zealand-born Niue perspective to the professional stage. In 2008 Fuemana won the Pacific Innovation and Excellence Award, at the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Awards. Fuemana was one of nine women writer-directors of the 2019 feature film Vai.

Biography Dianna Fuemana was born in New Zealand in 1973 and is one of seven children. Her mother is American Samoan and her father Togavale is Niuean. She is a cousin of singer Pauly Fuemana.

When she was a child she acted in church plays in her community. She went to Henderson High School in Auckland. During her time there, she attended a short course in performing arts run by Cath Cardiff and Jay Laga'aia. For this she was nominated at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards for Outstanding New Writer and Best Upcoming Actress of the Year. After being performed in New Zealand Mapaki toured across the United States and in Athens, Greece.

Her screen work includes writing and directing the short film Sunday Fun Day, which premiered at the New Zealand International Film Festival and includes the perspective of a transgender teenager and a solo mother. In 2023 the film she co-wrote Mysterious Ways was released in New Zealand. 2023 - Mysterious Ways - feature film - co-writer Interrogation - TV - writer of episodes