Vai
“It isn’t just gorgeous, it feels spiritually poignant, a reaffirmation of cultural identity and a showcase of the strength of women’s stories.”
RobertEbert.com
A portmanteau feature film made by nine female Pacific filmmakers
Vai is filmed in 9 different Pacific countries: Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Samoa, Niue and New Zealand. It is about the journey of empowerment through culture over the lifetime of one woman, Vai, played by a different indigenous actress in each of the Pacific countries. In each of these Pacific nations ‘vai’ means water.
Year: 2019
Directors: Nicole Whippy, ‘Ofa-Ki-Levuka Guttenbeil-Likiliki, Matasila Freshwater, Amberley Jo Aumua, Mīria George, Marina Alofagia McCartney, Dianna Fuemana, Becs Arahanga
Executive Producer: Richard Fletcher
Screenwriters: Sharon Whippy, Nicole Whippy, ‘Ofa-Ki-Levuka Guttenbeil-Likiliki, Matasila Freshwater, Amberley Jo Aumua, Mīria George, Marina Alofagia McCartney, Dianna Fuemana, Becs Arahanga
Cast: Hinetu Dell,Maliaga Erick, Fiona Collins, Evotia-Rose Araiti, Agnes Pele Betsy Luitolo,'Ar-Ramadi Longopoa, Mereani Tuimatanisiga
Distributor: Vendetta Films
International Sales: MPI International
Release Date: 4 April 2019
Festivals: Berlinale, Māoriland, SXSW, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian ‘Native Cinema Showcase’ New York, LA Asian Pacific Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Roxbury International Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, Taormina Film Festival Sicily, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Durban International Film Festival, Woods Hole Film Festival Cape Cod, Asinabka Film Festival Ottawa, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian ‘Native Cinema Showcase Santa Fe, Film Festival Ludwigshafen, We Are Here Film Festival New York, Port Townsend Film Festival Washington, Women Make Waves Film Festival Taiwan, Arica Nativa Film Festival Chile, Casa Asia Film Festival Barcelona, San Diego Asian Film Festival, Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival Colorado, Perspectives Film Festival Singapore, Terres des Femmes Women’s Worlds Film Festival Germany, Leiden International Film Festival Netherlands, Polish Federation of Film Societies’ 56th Annual Film Seminal, Aussie & Kiwi Film Festival Prague, Papua New Guinea Human Rights Film Festival, imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Hawaii International Film Festival, Musée du Quai Branly Paris ‘D'Auteur-Langues Ancestrales’ film programme, Cinéma des Antipodes Cannes, Festival International du Film Insulaire de Groix, Dublin Feminist Film Festival, Vermont International Film Festival - Indigenous Cinema Showcase, Folk Film Gathering Edinburgh
Genre: Drama
Duration: 88 mins
