While the premise is heavy, the film is billed as heartwarming and uplifting. “We’ve got a story about grief, love, acceptance and community,” Magasiva told Hawaii News’s Now Sunrise show at the festival. “Hopefully everyone would go out of the film with a bit of hope.”
The story “has a lot of Pacific content in it,” he explained, and dialogue is in English and Samoan.
“I’ve played many Pacific Island mums,” Polataivao said in the interview, and Mareta faces unique and significant challenges in the film.
“Without expecting it she starts her healing process.”
Initial reviews are resoundingly positive, noting Percival’s performance “deserves every award”, urging people to see the film, and predicitng it will “blow up”.
“To have the world premiere of Tinā open the Hawaii International Film Festival has been incredible,” Magasiva said in a media statement. “After years of creating this story for my family, my community and for all of our people, I am so excited that we are finally so close to sharing it with everyone in Aotearoa.”
Magasiva (brother to Robbie and the late Pua Magasiva) wrote and produced the film – alongside Dan Higgins and Mario Gaoa – which was made with investment from the New Zealand Film Commission, New Zealand Screen Production Grant and NZ On Air.
Shot in Christchurch and Auckland in 2023, the cast includes Nicole Whippy, Beulah Koale and Antonia Robinson.
It’s Magasiva’s first feature-length film. His first short, Rites of Courage, was released in 2005. He won Best Director award at the 2022 NZ TV Awards for The Panthers miniseries.
He and Gaoa are co-founders of The Brown Factory, which works to facilitate career pathways in the film industry.
Tinā’s world premiere comes amidst a strong year for Kiwi films, with Canterbury proving popular territory.
Ant Timpson’s Bookworm is set in the region and sees stars Elijah Wood and Nell Fisher searching for the elusive Canterbury Panther.
Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu’s feature-film debut We Were Dangerous, shot in Lyttleton Harbour, secured the prestigious opening slot at Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival in August.
The festival’s Māhutonga section included feature-length films and 19 shorts made by New Zealand directors – including Lucy Lawless’ Margaret Moth documentary Never Look Away, Whetū Fala’s Taki Rua Theatre – Breaking Barriers, thrash metal doco Alien Weaponry: Kua Tupu Te Ara, Sasha Rainbow’s body horror Grafted, and Jonathan Ogilvie’s post-punk elegy Head South (another Christchurch-set story).
Local filmmakers have also seen success on the international circuit. Michael Jonathan historical drama Ka Whawhai Tonu and Rachel House’s The Mountain both screened at Sydney Film Festival, while Samuel Van Grinsven’s psychological drama Went Up The Hill was on the schedule at Toronto Film Festival.
March saw Māoriland Film Festival return to Ōtaki with 168 features, documentaries and shorts, where Vea Mafile’o’s Lea Tupu’anga/Mother Tongue won best short film.
Across the Pacific, the 2024 Hawai’i International Film Festival is screening 92 feature-length movies and 114 short films.
Tinā will be released in New Zealand in February 2025, distributed by Madman Entertainment.
Emma Gleason is the Herald’s lifestyle and entertainment deputy editor. Based in Auckland, she covers culture, media and more.
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