Fiji, unlike Tahiti, doesn’t have much cinematic history. It should, given its natural beauty and rich culture. However, unlike French Polynesia, Paul Gauguin never got there. The artist’s impact on the literary, and later cinematic history of this region, was profound. For better or worse Fiji never had as powerful an influence as Gauguin. However, the movie industry is catching on, albeit in a modest way. Of late a couple of feature length films of note have been made.

The most famous recent flick was Castaway, which featured Tom Hanks in a role as a Federal Express employee who becomes stranded on an uninhabited tropical isle and there was the 1980 The Blue Lagoon starring Brooke Shields. Both were filmed in Fiji but you’d never really know it. However, these wasn’t the first to be made. In 1954, Burt Lancaster shot a movie called His Majesty O Keefe about a privateer who realized there was more to life than his own personal fortune. The plot is pretty campy but it’s a kick to see if you get the chance—especially if you’re a Burt Lancaster fan. The storyline placed the film on Yap in Micronesia, but you can hear banter in Fijian if you listen closely.

As sparkling as these films were, none featured Fiji as anything more than cinematic backdrop. Castaway could have been filmed on any tropical island. Ditto with His Majesty O’Keefe where one reviewer stated accurately, “The scenery is great”.

Reel Paradise, a documentary movie about an American family spending a year in Fiji, was another matter. Although it was more of a story about the travails of the Pierson Family, the film maker goes to some length to understand the complexities of the Fijian culture. (See detials below)

In a completely different vein, The Land Has Eyes, filmed in 2000, was the first dramatic feature ever dealing with a true Fijian theme. It was shot on the island of Rotuma and sported nearly an all-Polynesian cast. I recommend seeing both films if you have the opportunity to do so.

Reel Paradise

A funny thing happened to my homies back in Taveuni on the way to the coconut plantation. An indie film crew made a movie in Waiyevo. No, I’m not kidding. Back in 2002 a feature length documentary called Reel Paradise was made in Taveuni. No, it wasn’t an Oscar contender and it most likely never made it to your neighborhood multiplex. Nonetheless, it was one of the first movies ever made in Fiji where the landscape (much less the culture) served as more than a backdrop.

Reel Paradise tells the story of John Pierson’s family at the end of a year-long adventure on a remote island in Fiji where they ran the 180 Meridian Cinema, showing free movies to the locals. John Pierson is a noted indie film maven, author of the widely celebrated book, Spike, Mike, Slackers & Dykes, who together with his wife Janet created the IFC cable show Split Screen. On one story for the show, John and family went to Fiji in search of the “world’s most remote movie theater.”

John decided he wanted to move with his family to Fiji and observe what movies meant to this country on the other side of the world. He also saw this adventure as an opportunity to plunge his two kids, Georgia (16) and Wyatt (13), into a culture and lifestyle far different from that of their home outside New York City.

Filmed during the last month of the family’s yearlong stay in Fiji, Reel Paradise aims to reveal something of what the whole year has been like for the Piersons. The rural island of Taveuni is not one of Fiji’s prime tourist destinations. Like most of the south Pacific islands, its people struggle to eke out a subsistence living as farmers, fisherman, and merchants. To the local Fijians, the Piersons are thought to be millionaires, because they are able to live in a large colonial home and show movies for free. (The home is indeed impressive by Fijian standards, though barely acceptable by middle-class western standards.)

The Piersons grant the filmmakers unusually intimate access to the family’s home life. The result is a frank portrait of a very American family abroad. We see the struggles between Georgia and her parents around typical issues for American 16 year-olds, now exacerbated by living in a culture in which children are never expected to talk back to parents. Yet, Georgia’s friend Miriama prefers to stay with the Piersons instead of her own family where the father has been violent towards her and her mother. We also see that though Wyatt may be the quiet obedient student at school, he can be a tough and ruthlessly funny critic of his father and mother at home. Through it all, we see Janet playing the role of peacekeeper, the voice of reason during a particularly tumultuous last month abroad.

By the end of the film, we see how the Piersons have both been changed and unchanged by their experience. As unusually candid subjects, the family does not sugarcoat their feelings towards each other or their experience in Fiji. But underneath it all, there is no mistaking their affection for both.

Rob’s Review
To see that, check out Reel Paradise, a movie about the saga of American film maker maker John Pierson who in 2002 relocated his family (see photo at right) to Taveuni for a year to show free movies at the venerable Meridian Cinema near Waiyevo. This is the Fiji that the Fiji Visitors Bureau doesn’t publicize. I would definitely rent this flick (not so much to see the inner workings of the Pierson family) but to see a raw slice of Fijian life. I’ve always thought that just about everyone in Fiji is a living institution worthy of a bit part in a film and Reel Paradise captures it all—from the good hearted Fijian cook to the drunken, half wit “local European” landlord. (Let’s not forget the self-righteous priest worried about cultural contamination from the American interlopers). The warts and all are there for the world to see about the Pierson family and some facets of Fijian life. However, it’s by no means a negative film. There’s plenty to like about the verite aspects of this film. Thankfully there’s no phony sentimentality for the plight of the “noble savage”.

There’s plenty of dirty laundry aired but it’s equally distributed among the Piersons and the Fijians. John and Janet Pierson are not to be confused with Ozzie and Harriet Nelson nor are their Fijian neighbors always perfect models of propriety. The director doesn’t do anyone any special favors, he simply tells the story of a American family transplanted in the backwaters of Waiyevo. Nobody is perfect around here but despite the occasional crime and misdemeanor people are pretty damn civil and their their good qualities shine through.

At the end of the film the Piersons’ sit, cross-legged, Fiji-style at a good bye party given by the local village in their honor and drink kava. The couple proclaim what they’ve learned after being in country for a year—that Fiji may be poor in material wealth but is incredibly rich in heart. Indeed, more heart than you’re ever likely to find in Hollywood. If you click on the Reel Paradise link above you’ll be able to see a trailer of the film.

Read what other reviewers have to say…

Bios of the principals...

STEVE JAMES
(director, producer, editor) is best known as the award-winning director, producer, and co-editor of Hoop Dreams, which swept every major documentary award of 1994, among them, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and the Peabody Award. James recently served as an executive producer, story director, and series editor on The New Americans, a seven-hour miniseries on the lives of contemporary immigrants that aired to critical acclaim on PBS in 2004. The series won two Golden Hugos at the Chicago International Television Festival and recently won the 2004 Independent Documentary Association Award for Best Limited Series for Television.

In 2002, James produced, directed and edited Stevie, which won the coveted grand jury prizes at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and the Philadelphia Film Festival, and won major prizes at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. The acclaimed film was released theatrically and landed on more than a dozen “Ten Best Films of 2003” lists. (Above photo Steve James (on left) flanked by his subject, John Pierson.)

JOHN PIERSON
(executive producer, subject) graduated from NYU Film School in January 1977. Twenty- five years later, he left America behind to show free movies at the world’s most remote theater, Fiji’s 180 Meridian Cinema. In between, he played many pivotal roles in bringing the work of first-time filmmakers like Spike Lee, Michael Moore, Kevin Smith and Richard Linklater to the screen, a portfolio that Premiere called “a virtual hit parade of the independent movement.” These tales are chronicled in John’s book Spike, Mike, Slackers & Dykes: A Guided Tour Across a Decade of American Independent Cinema, revised and reissued in 2004 as Spike Mike Reloaded. Peter Biskind calls it “the bible for independents.”

He was also creator and host of Split Screen, a half-hour magazine-format television show on IFC. Over its four year run, Split Screen spawned features ranging from The Blair Witch Project to How’s Your News? Often in partnership with his wife and Grainy Pictures co-president Janet Pierson, John has directed film festivals, staged annual film workshops, and formed a completion funding company. He also executive produced Chasing Amy and once acted opposite Chris Noth.

The Piersons now live in Austin, TX where John teaches in the UT film department and is preparing a Split Screen box set with Aspyr Media.

JANET PIERSON
(executive producer, subject), co-president of Grainy Pictures, has partnered with her husband John Pierson professionally since 1986. In 2002-2003, they showed free movies at the world’s most remote cinema in Taveuni, Fiji. She was co-creator, executive producer and occasional segment director of their magazine-format cable television series, Split Screen. Earlier projects include staging the Cold Spring Film Workshop and serving as producer reps and/or investors in over two dozen original American independent features like She’s Gotta Have It, Roger & Me, Slacker, and Clerks. From 1981 to 1986 she was assistant director of NYC’s Film Forum. In 1977-1979 she ran Canyon Cinema Cooperative in S.F. She attended Hampshire College, graduating with a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1977. Having recently relocated to Austin with her famiily, Janet is now on the board of the Austin Film Society.

More cool stuff about Reel Paradise…

See the trailer and clips.

Catch this Interview with John and Janet Pierson

Find out where Reel Paradise is being screened and see what free movies were shown in Taveuni at the Meridian Theater.

The Land Has Eyes

The Land Has Eyes is the only dramatic movie ever made with a Fijian theme (much less a Fijian director and cast). Not surprisingly, the film was directed and written by Vilsoni Hereniko who hails from Rotuma, where most of the movie was shot. Vili is a full time professor at the University of Hawai'i and took on this Herculean project with every ounce of his being. To his credit he (along with his wife Jeanette) produced a wonderful film that has received critical acclaim. When he’s not writing screenplays or directing films Vili, teaches Pacific Island Studies at the University of Hawai'i, not far from my home.

Synopsis
Shamed by her village for being poor and the daughter of a convicted thief, Viki is inspired and haunted by the Warrior Woman from her island’s mythology. The lush tropical beauty of Rotuma, Fiji contrasts with the stifling conformity of island culture as Viki fights for justice and her freedom.

Viki, a beautiful and sensitive young South Pacific girl, listens intently to her father, Hapati, a storyteller. His tale is about seven brothers and their sister on a voyaging canoe. The eldest brother commits an unforgivable act; later on the brothers abandon their sister on a remote island called Rotuma. Struggling to survive, the sister discovers inner strength and survives a difficult birth. Through hard work and determination, she becomes known to later generations of Rotumans as their first inhabitant and their Warrior Woman.

Viki plants a tropical flower garden, which becomes her safe haven when she is teased or misunderstood. On an island that demands hard physical work instead of intellectual and artistic pursuits, Hapati encourages his daughter to develop her scholastic abilities; he also nurtures her questioning, probing nature. In return Viki adores her Father. When Hapati is wrongly accused of stealing coconuts by their wealthy neighbor, Koroa, who has just returned from Australia, Viki despairs. Meanwhile, Koroa schemes to force his neighbor Hapati and his family to move away while he builds the first double-story house on the island. And Koroa doesn't want his son Noa idolizing the clever girl next door.

Koroa bribes the dishonest court interpreter, Poto, with a pig. Poto lies about Hapati's answers in a court case before the British judge who cannot understand or speak Rotuman. Since Hapati doesn't speak English either, he is not aware of the misinterpretation. But Viki has hid under the court window and has overheard the deliberate mistranslation. When she tells her Father what has happened, Hapati repeats to her the ancient Rotuman belief that the land itself is vigilant and will eventually avenge any wrong doing.

Stressed out and working excessively hard so he can sell enough copra to pay the court fine, Hapati becomes ill and dies. Viki now understands the Warrior Woman's feeling of abandonment. She, like the mythical first inhabitant of Rotuma, enters into a surreal realm temporarily before coming to terms with the fact she must face her destiny alone. Or maybe not, as her father's spirit lives on through his story of the Warrior Woman, Viki's role model and mentor.

The Director
Vilsoni Hereniko was born in the village of Mea, Hapmak, Itu’ti’u District on October 13, 1954. He is the youngest of eleven children born to Hereniko Hapati and Reui Olovie. Hereniko received his schooling in Rotuma before winning a scholarship to complete his secondary education in Fiji at Queen Victoria School. From there he went to the University of the South Pacific where he graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Graduate Certificate in Education. Hereniko was then awarded a Commonwealth scholarship to study drama-in-education at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England, where he completed a Masters degree in Education.

It was while at the University of South Pacific that he started writing plays; his work immediately became widely produced and popular throughout the Pacific, notably Don’t Cry Mama, A Child For Iva, Sera’s Choice and The Monster. It was also during this time that Hereniko experimented with film, making a documentary, The Rotuman Clown.

In 1991, Hereniko was awarded a PhD by the University of the South Pacific. The same year, he joined the faculty at the Center of Pacific Island Studies at the University of Hawai'i where he is currently a full professor, teaching literature, theater and film.

While in Hawai'i Hereniko continued to write plays, several have been produced internationally including The Last Virgin In Paradise and Fine Dancing. He also published extensively, including a book based on his doctoral research titled Woven Gods and an illustrated children’s book about the legend Sina And Tinilau. In 1997 he was presented the prestigious Elliott Cades Writing Award for his “significant body of work of exceptional quality.”

Serving on the jury and the selection committee of the Hawai'i International Film Festival gave Hereniko an opportunity to witness the most outstanding film works coming out of Asia and the Pacific. A desire to visually express his original stories, Hereniko evolved into making films himself, shortly after marrying Jeannette Paulson, Founding Director of the Hawai'i International Film Festival. Together, they established a film production company, Te Maka Productions, and produced a short film, Just Dancing, based on his play, Fine Dancing. Soon thereafter, Hereniko won the Hubert Bals Fund award (International Film Festival Rotterdam) to write what would become the first film from Fiji - The Land Has Eyes. This film is Hereniko's feature debut.

Director's Statement
A story has the power to transform people's lives. Growing up on Rotuma, Fiji, I was filled with stories about the island, Greek mythology and the Bible, which nourished me with inspiration and hope. I see myself as a storyteller who recognizes that film is the most powerful medium for telling a story, a medium that has historically not been accessible or available to Pacific Islanders.

In making this film, I was faced with great obstacles. However, if I know that fellow Pacific Islanders realize they too can be producers of their own images as a result of this work, I will feel that every challenge will have been worth it.

It is my hope that audiences everywhere will not only be entertained by this story, but will walk away with a precious sense about Rotuma, its culture and its people. More than ever before, may we all recognize that we need the wisdom of our ancestors. With this film, I want to express the ancient Rotuman belief that:

   the land has eyes
   the land has teeth
   and knows the truth.

May justice prevail, not just in film, but also in real life.

Vilsoni Hereniko

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