---
name: "Riwia Brown"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/riwia-brown"
fi1m_id: "riwia-brown"
imdb_id: "nm0114526"
tmdb_id: 7257
wikidata_id: "Q7339002"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "1 January 1957"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-17T22:02:25.296580+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Riwia Brown

## Identity

Riwia Brown

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/riwia-brown
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** riwia-brown
- **IMDb ID:** nm0114526
- **TMDB ID:** 7257
- **Wikidata ID:** Q7339002
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riwia_Brown, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7339002, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0114526/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/7257

Writer. Born 1 January 1957 in New Zealand.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 1 January 1957, New Zealand
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riwia_Brown, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7339002, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0114526/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/7257

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Once Were Warriors*](https://film.one/film/once-were-warriors.md) (82)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Riwia Brown ONZM is a New Zealand playwright and screenwriter. She wrote the screenplay for the 1994 film *Once Were Warriors*, an adaptation of Alan Duff's novel that won the Best Screenplay award at the 1994 New Zealand Film and Television Awards. She was also a co-writer on the 2003 film *The Legend of Johnny Lingo*.

Born in 1957 in Wellington, Brown is of Māori descent and affiliates to the Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Taranaki iwi. She began working in theatre in the 1980s and has written plays including *Roimata* (1988) and *Nga Wahine* (1997), several of which have been adapted for television. In 2001 she was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to theatre and film.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, nzonscreen.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Once Were Warriors* (1994), Fi1m 82, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/once-were-warriors.md)

## Complete filmography (6)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Tender Trap* (2021), Writer
- *The Legend of Johnny Lingo* (2003), Writer
- *Flight of the Albatross* (1996), Screenplay
- *Once Were Warriors* (1994), Screenplay — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/once-were-warriors.md)
- *Roimata* (1989), Writer, Director
- *Mark II* (1986), as Mary

## Awards

### Other awards — 1 won

- Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit 2001: Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/riwia-brown