For My Father's Kingdom Directed by Vea Mafile'o and Jeremiah Tauamiti - ★★★★½ REVIEW: Bowls full of food are on every possible surface. Seafood sits in containers, ready to be cooked. Two pigs are strung up in the carport, waiting to be placed over an open fire, which is still being built. The time on the clock radio says 12.32am, and the vibe in this South Auckland home is chaos. At a glance, this scene from the personal and powerful local film For My Father's Kingdom is a simple slice of life. READ MORE: * Films and volunteers roll out for New Zealand International Film Festival * Auckland Art Gallery invites Tongan children to day of activities * Filmmakers bring short films to big screen for Tongan Language Week A feast needs to be cooked for a Tongan church banquet to feed hundreds the following day, and the Mafile'o family are up against deadline. But there's much more than kitchen issues going on in Vea Mafile'o and Jeremiah Tauamiti's debut documentary, which is set to debut at next month's New Zealand International Film Festival. Viewers at an early preview in Auckland today were warned that this is a "raw, powerful and beautiful" family portrait, and it's certainly that, one full of tears that will make you tear up too. Vea Mafile'o turns the camera on her family, and around on herself, to focus on struggling relationships, burning resentments, generational divides and cultural clashes that stretch back decades. Using intimate footage and ageing home videos, she pieces together a portrait of family life that nearly everyone can relate to. At the centre of it is Vea's father, Saia Mafile'o, a South Auckland pensioner with a charismatic personality and deep ties to the church. He's got a hearty laugh, health problems and a newspaper run that he sometimes like to do at 2am. But it's his dedication to his church that is the film's main cause for concern. Now retired, he's broke, and donates what little money he has to "Misinale" - traditional church fundraising campaigns - meaning there's little left for anything else. It's affected his relationships with his children, and their mother, who is still struggling with their split. It's here, over the issue money plays in the Tongan church, that For My Father's Kingdom is likely to be most controversial. Donation amounts are announced publicly, creating competition and division. No matter how much is gifted, it never seems to be enough, and Saia's own struggle with it is obvious. Some of the most disturbing imagery comes deep into the film, when church banquet tables are laden with unbelievable amounts of crayfish and chocolates, or when young children dance in a church while covered in $100 bank notes. Crucially, Vea and Tauamiti don't pick sides, and they don't point fingers. Instead, they pack their bags and head to Tonga with Saia to examine why these traditions run so deeply in their culture. They also discover why their father still adheres to them when he lives all the way a
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