Lee Tamahori, the New Zealand director of Once Were Warriors and Die Another Day , has died aged 75.

In a statement to Radio New Zealand , Tamahori’s family said he had Parkinson’s and died “peacefully at home”.

They added: “His legacy endures with his whānau [family], his mokopuna [grandchild], every film-maker he inspired, every boundary he broke, and every story he told with his genius eye and honest heart.

“A charismatic leader and fierce creative spirit, Lee championed Māori talent both on and off screen … We’ve lost an immense creative spirit.”

Born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1950, of mixed Maori and British ancestry, Tamahori worked his way up through the Australian and New Zealand film industry in the 1970s and 80s, crewing on a number of films for Geoff Murphy (inclu

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