Tusi Tamasese
2021He wrote and directed his first short film, Va Tapuia (Sacred Spaces), which was "screened at the 2010 NZ Film Festival and then at festivals around the world". He went on to make Samoa's first ever feature film, The Orator (O Le Tulafale), which was screened in 2011 and submitted to the 84th Academy Awards. It was funded by the New Zealand Film Commission and the Samoan government. He described it as "my image of what I see of growing up in Samoa".
Va Tapuia
Tusi Tamasese
Malae Lialiai, Lena Rivers
Taro planter Lui's grief for his dead wife has infected his whole life. A chance meeting with a stranger, a widow bound in anger to the grave of her husband now drowning in their cyclone devastated village, inspires Lui to reach out to her. This releases him from his own pain and allows his wife to rest.
Sacred Spaces
O le tulafale
Tusi Tamasese
Fa'afiaula Sanote, Tausili Pushparaj
The Orator (O Le Tulafale) is a contemporary drama about courage, forgiveness and love. Small in stature and humble, Saili lives a simple life with his beloved wife and daughter in an isolated, traditional village in the islands of Samoa. Forced to protect his land and family, Saili must face his fears and seek the right to speak up for those he loves.
The Orator
One Thousand Ropes
Tusi Tamasese
Frankie Adams, Nathaniel Lees
The father of a deeply troubled household that endured tragedy both from without and within, seeks to reconcile with his youngest daughter by making a journey to both symbolically and culturally lay the family "ghosts" to rest.
One Thousand Ropes
Venice 70: Future Reloaded
Franco Maresco, John Akomfrah
Bernardo Bertolucci, Haile Gerima
Made for the Venice Film Festival's 70th anniversary, seventy filmmakers made a short film between 60 and 90 seconds long on their interpretation of the future of cinema.
Venice 70: Future Reloaded