Louis Sutherland

At the 2013 Sundance Film Festival Sutherland premiered Shopping, his feature film co-directorial debut with Mark Albiston. Based largely on experiences from his own childhood, the film received rave reviews and earned several awards including a Grand Prix at the Berlin International Film Festival and seven New Zealand Film Awards including Best Film, Best Screenplay, and Best Director.

Sutherland later partnered with Mark Albiston under the directing banner Mark & Louis to create their follow up short film The Six Dollar Fifty Man which earned Special Distinction at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. The film went on to win major awards at both Sundance and the International Film Festival in Berlin. To date, it is the most successful short film for the New Zealand Film Commission.

Sutherland studied at Toi Whakaari (The New Zealand Drama School, Wellington) where he worked with childhood friend Mark Albiston, creating a graduation short film. After creating the award winning short films Run (2007) and The Six Dollar Fifty Man (2009), the duo co-directed their award-winning debut feature Shopping (2013).

In 2007, Sutherland wrote and starred in the Cannes Film Festival award-winning piece Run. Created in collaboration with Mark Albiston, the film secured a Special Mention in the Short Film category at the Cannes.

In 2000, Sutherland won a place at the Toi Whakaari Drama School where he first developed his dramatic talents, going on to work as a character actor for the stage and screen. Sutherland worked as an actor on a number of feature film projects King Kong and Black Sheep as well as TV projects including the acclaimed TV drama The Insider’s Guide to Love.

Louis Sutherland (born 8 March 1970) is a New Zealand film, television and advertising director and actor. He is of Samoan and Scottish descent, and based in Wellington.