Taika Waititi listed on Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2022

You can call him Korg (made of rocks), Alamein or Antwan – and you can now add “innovator” to the Te Whānau-ā-Apanui Hollywood director’s list of names.

Time 100 has named Taika Waititi in its 100 Most Influential People of 2022 list, in the ‘Innovators’ section.

A description of the Rukakokore-born director on Time’s website, written by Oscar-nominated actor and screenwriter Sacha Baron Cohen, of Borat and Da Ali G Show fame, says: “You can tell that a film was made by Taika Waititi the same way you can tell a piece was painted by Picasso. Not in that he doesn’t know where on the face the eyes go but in how he expresses his unique voice.

“Now, having watched all his work, from Hunt for the Wilderpeople to Reservation Dogs, I’m really bitter. Taika has won an Oscar and made successful, hilarious, heartfelt movies. Yet he always brings to his work a light touch.”

The list is sectioned into artists, innovators, titans, leaders, icons, and pioneers. Among the innovators, Waititi is listed alongside pop star and actress Zendaya and singer-songwriter Miranda Lambert. Across other sections, Waititi is also listed with Oprah Winfrey, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky and UFC commentator and podcast host Joe Rogan.

The Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar winner’s next projects include the release of his second Marvel Studios film Thor: Love and Thunder due to be released in July, and an untitled Star Wars project, rumoured to arrive in December 2023.