As an actor, Urale performed in professional theatre in New Zealand for two years and toured nationally in European and
Māori theatre productions including
The Taming of the Shrew at
Downstage Theatre in Wellington and
David Geary's play
A Pack of Girls about a women's
rugby team. In 1995, she won Best Actor in a Support Role at the
Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards for her portrayal of
Luisa in
John Kneubuhl's classic play,
Think of a Garden directed by
Nathaniel Lees. In 1997 and 1999, she performed the role of
Tivi in her sister Makerita Urale's vintage New Zealand play
Frangipani Perfume, the first play written by a Pacific Island woman for an all female cast. Urale has worked in the film industry for more than 15 years. She has written and directed her own films, as well as documentaries, music videos and television commercials. Her films have been screened worldwide and have received international acclaim. Her first screenplay was the short film
O Tamaiti which she also directed. The producer was Kara Paewai and the film was financially backed by
New Zealand Film Commission.
O Tamaiti has been one of the most widely screened New Zealand films internationally and won Best Short Film at
Asia Pacific Film Festival,
Chicago International Film Festival and
NZ Film and TV Awards. '' Filmed in black and white and with barely a word of dialogue, it (O Tamaiti) showed cinema's ability to shift perceptions, if not mountains. Innovatively shot from the perspective of an 11-year-old Samoan boy called Tino, as he struggles to bring up his five siblings on a housing estate while his parents are busy making money and more babies.'' TIME magazine, 2005 She directed the documentary
Velvet Dreams which screened on the
Work of Art series on TVNZ as well as film festivals.
Velvet Dreams featured the work of New Zealand artist Charles McFee a painter of kitsch velvet paintings portraying bare breasted South Seas maidens. It won Best Documentary, Golden Sheaf Award at the
Yorkton Film Festival (1997) in Canada. In 2001, she wrote and directed the short film
Still Life about an elderly couple dealing with
euthanasia.
Still Life won Best Short Film at the
Montreal World Film Festival and a Special Recognition Awards at the
Locarno Film Festival. She also directed
Hip Hop NZ, a television documentary featuring the country's hip hop icons including
Che Fu,
DLT (musician) from
Upper Hutt Posse and
Tha Feelstyle. In 2008, she directed the short film
Coffee and Allah which won a number of awards including Best Short Film at Cinema of Muslim Golden Minbar, RUSSIA. She directed the feature film
Apron Strings (2008) produced by Rachel Gardner and written by Dianne Taylor and Schuchi Kothari. The film won Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Cinematography and Best Designer at the Qantas Film & TV Awards (2009). ==Awards==