26 Jun 2025  |  Vilsoni Hereniko

Film evening: Woven narratives, connected worlds

As Rotuma's first and only playwright, award-winning filmmaker, former Director of key centres for Pacific Arts and Pacific Island studies and current Professor of Cinematic Arts at UH Mānoa, Vilsoni Hereniko has been at the centre of the research and development of Pacific storytelling. In this interactive retrospective of his diverse and creative contribution to Pacific filmmaking and storytelling we will journey back and forward in time to appreciate the inspirations and influence of his three most recent films: Sina ma Tinirau, A Niu Way and Woven, which elevate and honour indigenous aesthetics, histories and concepts related to the coconut palm. We will talk about the power, clarity and regenerative role of indigenous storytelling to connect us in and beyond Oceania, and their relationship to blockbuster films such as Moana. Inspired by the connections, contexts and vulnerabilities revealed through interacting with Vilsoni Hereniko’s vital legacies, we will ask the question: What is the role of indigenous storytelling in Oceania to create solidarity and encourage action in the face of new challenges emergent from climate change and the enduring legacies of colonialism? 

The 14th Conference of the European Society for Oceanists "Connections Within and Beyond Oceania" is hosted by the University of Lucerne, 24 - 27 June 2025.
Register here and visit the conference website for more information.