Cinema Pasifika: Episode 1 - Va Tapuia by Tusi Tamasese

Cinema Pasifika is a new series of programmes showcasing short films from the Pacific Islands region. In this first episode from Samoa, Va Tapuia (Sacred Spaces), 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. In the accompanying short interview Director, Tusi Tamasese, says he wanted his short film to explore the effects of loss on different people – in this case, someone who has lost a loved one and another who has lost a person she detested but cannot seem to escape from.