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Loading Docs 2022 - Testimony

2022 9m Web
  • Documentary
  • Pasifika
  • Drama

Tesimoni Fuavao's 2021 testimony to the Royal Commission into Abuse in State Care is the blueprint for this short film about a painful piece of New Zealand history. Tongan-born Fuavao arrived here in 1975 on a medical visa. On a night out he was questioned by police. Soon afterwards the family were subjected to a dawn raid and Fuavao's parents were imprisoned as overstayers. Fuavao still carries guilt about the deep shame experienced by his parents. Tagata Pasifika reporter Alice Lolohea mixes Fuavao's story with footage of the government's historic 2021 apology to the Pasifika community at Auckland Town Hall.