Sons for the Return Home

Sons for the Return Home tells the story of a Romeo and Juliet romance between two students: Sione (Uelesi Petaia), a New Zealand-raised Samoan, and Sarah (Fiona Lindsay), a middle class palagi. Director Paul Maunder shifts between time and setting (London, Wellington, Samoa) in adapting Albert Wendt's landmark 1973 novel. Sons was the first feature film involving the Samoan experience in New Zealand — alongside themes of identity, racism and social and sexual consciousness. In this excerpt, Sione meets Sarah's parents, and his tin'a has him scrubbing their Newtown pavement before Sarah's visit.