Awa Puna is a whakawahine actor/filmmaker from Ngāti Kahungunu, who has most recently finished playing one of the leads in TVNZ OnDemand series THE QUEEN, THE CLUB, THE BOY, THE GIRL AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN.
Awa also plays the flamboyant and fiery major recurring role of ‘Kuini’ on AHIKĀROA (currently in production for Season 5), for which she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 2022 NZ Film & Television Awards.
Awa graduated from Toi Whakaari in 2020 where she wrote, directed and starred in TŪĪ, a semi-autobiographical short film about a young transgender teen discovering her identity while processing the grief of her mother’s death. TŪĪ was selected for Best Shorts at the NZIFF and received the "Creative New Zealand Emerging Talent" award. After graduating, Awa starred alongside Rena Owen and James Rolleston in WHINA, as ambitious young Māori activist ‘Pattie’, and in supporting roles on supernatural anthology INTO THE MIST and drama series VEGAS.
In 2018 a documentary about her journey as a transgender teen was presented on TVNZ’s ‘Sunday’ BORN THIS WAY: AWA’S STORY. Awa has her eye on the pulse of work that speaks from the heart and has dedicated much of her career to projects that acknowledge and uplift Māori and takatāpui/LGBTQI+ communities and stories.