TusiTamasese
- Director
- Writer
Tusi Tamasese spent 18 years in his native Samoa, before moving to New Zealand and completing a double major in film and political science. After shooting 2009 short film Va Tapuia in Samoa with private funding, he directed his debut feature The Orator / O Le Tulafale, which was made entirely in the Samoan language. This tale of an outsider in conflict with his community scored multiple honours at the 2011 Venice Film Festival. Tamasese followed it with New Zealand-set father and daughter drama One Thousand Ropes; the tale of family and redemption was invited to premiere at the 2017 Berlin Film Festival.
Screenography
Awards
2012 Sorta Unofficial New Zealand Film Awards
Best Film: The Orator
Best Director: for The Orator
Best Screenplay: for The Orator
2011 Venice Film Festival
Special Mention in Orizzonti (New Horizons) section
Art Cinema Award from CICAE Jury (European arthouse cinema association)
CinemaAvvenire Film Award (Il cerchio non e rotondo) — given by a young person’s jury to two films best promoting peace and dialogue between cultures
“... I was interested in the image of a chief — an orator — in Samoa: to me an orator is tall, fearless and well-spoken. I wanted to see what happens when you strip that away, and I ended up with a small person as a metaphor. ”