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Burning desire It's not often one can go back home to make a movie about the people and culture of one's birthplace.
Couple's passion for film brings
» Where there's a will, there's a film
Pacific Islands myth to screenBy Gary C.W. Chun
gchun@starbulletin.comVilsoni Hereniko made a name for himself in Hawaii over two decades as a respected Pacific Islands teacher, writer, playwright and stage director who has always mined his cross-cultural experience as a man who journeyed from his home island of Rotuma -- one of 300 in the Fiji group -- to find his way in busy, cosmopolitan Honolulu.
With the help, support and expertise of his wife, Jeanette Paulson Hereniko, a founding director of the Hawai'i International Film Festival, Hereniko wrote and directed an original screenplay entitled "Fire in the Womb," scenes of which will screen today and tomorrow at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
The production duo/couple will be at the screenings to talk about the experience of translating the screenplay to the screen.
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Hereniko, a recipient of the 1999 Elliot Cades Award for literature, also won the Hubert Bals Award at a recent Rotterdam Film Festival that supplied the funds to write the "Fire in the Womb" screenplay.While it took the Herenikos three years in pre-production, a little less than a year has passed since the completion of shooting, and the couple is in the process of raising post-production funds.
The self-financed film was helped by small individual contributions, some of which was became emergency money when a Fijian airliner couldn't accommodate the crew of 15 and their 50 cases of equipment and luggage. "We had to raise money to charter a large enough plane to make the 3 1/2-hour flight from Fiji's main island to Rotuma," Paulson Hereniko said.
"It was important for us to make an independent film with an Asian-Pacific point of view," she said.
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"I was always interested in making a cross-cultural film," Hereniko said, "and to do this with hardly any money on a remote island is no small feat!""There was no hotel, theater or restaurant on Rotuma," Paulson Hereniko added, "so the logistics of taking an international crew there for five weeks -- and still be married after all that!"
The core of the crew was another Honolulu couple, camera and sound duo Paul and Grace Atkins. Another local couple of great help to them was Nappy Napoleon and his wife Anona, who Paulson Hereniko said "helped revive the art of canoeing." The rest of the crew came from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the mainland United States.
"As the production supervisor, as well as being Vili's wife," Paulson Hereniko said, "I had to learn to let go and stay out of the way. This had to be a Pacific Island film told by an insider.
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"Rotuma has a different culture and language from the rest of Fiji," Hereniko said. "It has heavy Tongan and Samoan influences. The story's about a young girl, Viki (17-year-old Sapeta Taito), who, in her attempts to clear her father's name, is inspired by the island's myth of the Warrior Woman" (played by "Once Were Warriors" actress Rena Owen).Taking place at a time in Hereniko's childhood just before Fiji won its independence from Great Britain in 1970, he said, "the white man was responsible for dispensing justice, and the girl's father is falsely accused of a crime, and in her attempts to bring about justice and clear her father's name, she identifies with a myth that goes back 300 years with the first inhabitant who has the power and presence to protect the land. Viki becomes empowered by the story of the Warrior Woman, giving her mana and strength.
"Before we even shot one frame, I went around to the various communities on the island and told my story, getting their feedback, and also went to the Council of Chiefs to get their cooperation and blessing.
"And during shooting, I always accommodated the people cast in the movie, because they have their own lives, they have kids to care for, animals to feed and other family obligations. The crew was sensitive to cultural issues and made sure that the right protocol was followed."
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The Herenikos also got invaluable help from his family; Vilsoni is the youngest of 11 children. During production, the crew stayed at the family home, which became a de facto production center."We hope that the film will encourage Pacific Islanders not to be daunted by the challenge, money or otherwise, in making a feature film about island life. They're used to being the consumers of images of themselves, so it's important to turn that around and produce their own images. They need not be scared."
"We did disrupt lives for the time we spent shooting there," Paulson Hereniko said, "but we left the island in a better state; the traditional house we built as a set is now inhabited, and we did bring in money, with everybody paid the same Rotuman scale so it wouldn't incur jealousies.
"Obviously, we hope to make our money back, but the experience of making this movie, that can't be taken away from us."
Screening of selected scenes, presented by writer/director Vilsoni Hereniko and executive producer Jeanette Paulson Hereniko 'Fire in the Womb'
Where: Yukiyoshi Room, Krauss Hall, University of Hawaii at Manoa
When: 7 p.m. today and tomorrow
Admission: Free
Call: 956-5666
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Even if you don't own a single piece of editing equipment or have never picked up a video camera before, Genie Joseph believes she can show you how to convey an effective story to others on videotape. Where there’s a will
there’s a film to be made"Everyone has a great story in them," says
a filmmaker who's used a no-budget approachBy Jason Genegabus
jason@starbulletin.comThis weekend, Joseph will provide an opportunity to learn the basics of screenwriting at an introductory class in Manoa. Running from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. tomorrow and continuing from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, the beginning screenwriting class will offer an overview of writing a screenplay.
"Everyone has a great story in them," said Joseph, 46. "They just have to get them out. This class will help people find their story and chisel it ... into its key elements."
"If you can tell a story well, you'll have an audience," she said. "This class will help people ... build up their confidence so they can tell a story from beginning to end."
Joseph arrived in Hawaii 12 years ago as a commercial producer and director at KITV. Following a career in New York producing material for car companies like BMW and Jaguar, she decided to make the move to Hawaii and "find my smile."
Joseph departed from television altogether after leaving KITV in 1992, making the jump to radio. With co-host Matthew Gray, Joseph spent the next six years talking to and counseling people over the airwaves.
When "Love Life Radio" went off the air, Joseph decided to make another run in the movie business. Her return effort was a short film dealing with domestic violence, called "Choices." Joseph went on to be recognized as best director for a short film at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. Since the win, she has produced three more feature films: "Lava Rocks," about a band trying to break through on the local music scene; a classic horror film; and a three-generation family story about an East Indian family.
"We've got the most beautiful location here," said Joseph, when asked to describe what it's been like working on Oahu. She also spoke highly of "a wonderful talent base of musicians and aspiring actors" who are sorely lacking opportunities here at home.
Joseph attributes the lack of work to a lack of support for Hawaii's filmmakers. Producers of big-budget films often bring in cast and crew from the mainland.
"There's an incredible community of people who want to make movies in Hawaii," she said. "We need a way to support them and share resources. We've been losing all our best people (to the mainland) because we don't have the resources to keep people here and keep them employed."
To set the process in motion, Joseph has teamed with former student Kaveh Kardan to launch a Web site dedicated to local independent filmmakers. Located at groups.yahoo.com/ group/hawaii-filmmakers, the new forum has attracted more than 100 members since its debut late last month.
Joseph also coordinates meetings for a group of screenwriters in Honolulu, providing them with a forum to talk about scripts, critique others and give support. The group would be a logical next step for anyone who attends this weekend's beginning screenwriting class. "They're open to anyone who wants to attend," says Joseph.
Another opportunity Joseph would like to see Hawaii take advantage of is high-definition video. Movie studios currently record everything on 35 mm film, which adds "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to production costs, she said. In Joseph's view, Hawaii is "the perfect candidate to lead the market in use of new technology."
Space is still available for this weekend's screenwriting class; call 949-8255 to register. Joseph also offers introductory classes in television production and direction, no-budget filmmaking, developing your intuition and digital video for teens. Visit www.LoveLife.com/classes for more information.
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