On This Day in Jewish History: August 16th, 1975

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#onthisday Taika David Cohen, aka Taika Waititi, was born on August 16th, 1975. Waititi is a Polynesian-Jewish film and TV director, producer, screenwriter, comedian and actor. Happy birthday @taikawaititi!

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Waititi’s most famous works include “Boy”, “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”, “Thor: Ragnarok”, “What We Do in the Shadows”, “Jojo Rabbit”, and “The Mandalorian” (while voicing character, IG-11.)

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Taika was born in Raukokore, NZ to a Māori father and a Jewish mother and was raised mostly by his mother. Following his first short film, he changed his professional name from Cohen to Waititi and maintains a proud Jewish identity.

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The most recent film he wrote and directed; the dark comedy: “Jojo Rabbit” follows a child of the Hitler Youth whose family is hiding a Jewish girl in WW2 Germany. The film received two Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay (winning the latter). In a humorous and meaningful manner, the film taps into the psyche behind the indoctrination that young Germans endured during the 30s through the end of the war. In addition to writing and directing, Waititi played the role of the main character’s imaginary friend: Adolf Hitler (image 3)

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As an up and coming rising star of Hollywood – Waititi is in line to write and direct significant works in the near future.

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Works such as, the new Thor sequel to his Ragnarok, two animated films for Netflix focused on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (one specifically about the Oompa Loompas), and an upcoming live-action Star Wars movie.

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We wish Taika a very happy 45th birthday and continued success in all his future projects.

Text Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/magazine/the-superweirdo-behind-thor-ragnarok.html

Image Source: Emily Shur for The New York Times

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#judaism#jewish#history#jewishhistory#onthisday#happybirthday#taikawatiti#hollywood#film#comedy#director#writer#risingstar#jojorabbit#mandalorian#starwars#thor