‘Myths & Maidens’ Wins at Voyager Media Awards
Myths & Maidens, edited by DEGANZ member Cushla Dillon, won the Best Current Affairs (long) or Documentary category at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards.
The annual awards ceremony encourages, showcases, and acknowledges the best of Atearoa’s news media across all platforms. Since 1973, the awards have recognised the work of journalists, reporters, feature writers, columnists, cartoonists, reviewers, photographers, and video journalists.
Myths & Maidens is a self-proclaimed love letter to Moana women. It delves into collective trauma, challenges, and inequities faced by women across Pasifika. By sharing women’s stories, the Coconet TV documentary tackles issues of colourism, fat-phobia, and how our societies have been taught to view women of colour across the ages. Yet in the face of all this, Myths & Maidens highlights how Pasifika women’s resilience and celebration of themselves is an act of colonial resistance.
The judges commented on the doco saying,
‘Myths & Maidens’ is a wildly original and thought-provoking documentary about female identity in Pasifika society. The producers used creative devices and structured the story in a clever way to make the subject matter compelling. With the western gaze of artists like Paul Gauguin and the historical representation of indigenous societies now facing closer scrutiny, this documentary is an important addition to that very important cultural reckoning.
Congratulations, Cushla and the entire Myths & Maidens team, on the win!
Last updated on 29 May 2025
