l'authenticité au cinéma : notes des îles du pacifique

Journal de la Société des Océanistes 148 | 2019Filmer (dans) le Pacifique

Authenticity in Cinema: Notes from the PacificIslandsL'authenticité au cinéma : notes des îles du Pacifique

Vilsoni Hereniko

Electronic versionURL: https://journals.openedition.org/jso/10633DOI: 10.4000/jso.10633ISSN: 1760-7256

PublisherSociété des océanistes

Printed versionDate of publication: 15 July 2019Number of pages: 65-72ISBN: 978-2-85430-137-3ISSN: 0300-953x

Electronic referenceVilsoni Hereniko, “Authenticity in Cinema: Notes from the Pacific Islands”, Journal de la Société desOcéanistes [Online], 148 | 2019, Online since 01 January 2021, connection on 22 July 2021. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/jso/10633 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/jso.10633

This text was automatically generated on 22 July 2021.

Journal de la société des océanistes est mis à disposition selon les termes de la Licence CreativeCommons Attribution - Pas d'Utilisation Commerciale - Pas de Modification 4.0 International.

https://journals.openedition.org

https://journals.openedition.org

https://journals.openedition.org/jso/10633

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/




Authenticity in Cinema: Notes fromthe Pacific IslandsL'authenticité au cinéma : notes des îles du Pacifique

Vilsoni Hereniko

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This is a revised version of an oral presentation, and the views expressed here are

solely the opinions of the author. He acknowledges the constructive feedback from

several anonymous reviewers and is grateful too for the invitation from the editors of

this volume to contribute.

The conference where this paper was presented was organized by NETPAC (Network for

the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema) that was held in collaboration with CAPA/CILECT,

in Singapore, from November 29th to December 1st, 2017. CAPA is the Asia-Pacific

Association of CILECT (CAPA), while CILECT stands for Centre international de liaison des

écoles de cinéma et de télévision (the International Association of Film and Television

Schools).

1 At the 2017 Hawai’i International Film Festival, the NETPAC award (NETPAC stands for

Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema) went to One Thousand Ropes (2016),

the second feature film directed by Tusi Tamasese, a Samoan now living in Auckland,

New Zealand.1 The citation for this prestigious award reads:

“One Thousand Ropes is a landmark film in indigenous cinema: fearlessly

independent, immune to the seductiveness of popular or commercial cinema, and a

step forward in Tusi Tamasese’s search for authenticity in representing the lives of

Samoans today.”2

2 This paper explores the notion of authenticity in four narrative feature films set in the

Pacific or made by Pacific Islanders: One Thousand Ropes (2016), Disney’s animated

feature film Moana (2016), the New Zealand critical and box office success Whale Rider

(2002), and the urban romantic comedy Samoan Wedding (2006).

Authenticity in Cinema: Notes from the Pacific Islands

Journal de la Société des Océanistes, 148 | 2019

1

3 The word “authentic” in this paper means “real, or genuine, and not counterfeit,” as

applied to dramatic narrative feature films.3 The notion that representation of a people

or a culture in a fictional film (a “made-up” story) should be “authentic” is a paradox.

After all, works of fiction may draw from real life (such as events or persons) but they

are not documentaries, the medium we most commonly associate with factual

accuracy. This being the case, why then is authenticity (which is another word for

“accuracy”) important in fictional films? Is it because a narrative feature (especially a

dramatic narrative) aspires to create on screen a fictional world that is a

representation of reality ? Such an authentic representation allows the viewer to

“suspend disbelief” and to believe that the representation is genuine and not

counterfeit. The ideal is when the representation is so authentic that the viewer is

totally immersed in the narrative as it unfolds and the experience of watching a film is

meaningful, satisfying, and even deeply moving. In short, a worthwhile experience.

4 The need for authenticity in cinema is especially important for viewers knowledgeable

about the culture or the people being represented on screen. If a viewer feels the

representation is not credible, the viewer may lose interest in the story unfolding, and

may even leave the theatre early. For example, when I first saw the film Cast Away

(2000, by R. Zemeckis) starring Tom Hanks and set mainly on a remote island in Fiji, I

lost interest in the movie and left immediately when the viewer was supposed to

believe that green coconuts (instead of brown ones) had fallen down from the coconut

trees during the night. There were no strong winds to explain this unusual action and I

lost interest in the story I had paid money to watch. In fact, I believe the filmmakers of

Cast Away did not make this film for people like myself, but for a global audience that

knows little about the Pacific, its peoples, and its environment.4 After all, the story of

Cast Away is about a man being stranded on a remote island, and accurate

representation of the details of the island’s flora and fauna must not have been a

priority.

5 Another example is my experience as a story and cultural consultant for Disney’s

animated feature film Moana (2016).5 Concerned to represent indigenous cultures and

peoples authentically, Disney sent its two directors, Ron Clements and John Musker, to

Fiji, Samoa, and Tahiti, with the hope that interviewing, observing, and listening to

those whose cultures they wished to represent in a major feature film would result in

authentic representation. In pursuit of authentic representation, Disney formed an

“Oceania Story Trust”, a group that consisted of knowledgeable individuals from the

Pacific that would advise and educate Disney about life in the Pacific, past and present.6

Disney’s sincere efforts to consult with experts on Polynesia and its peoples resulted in

many aspects of Polynesian culture represented authentically in Moana: for example,

respect for the ocean, the use of double-hulled canoes to traverse the wide Pacific

ocean and discover new lands, the belief that the land is female, the role of family

totems, the importance of family and relationships, and many more. However, Disney’s

film Moana portrays the character of Maui as a shape-shifting buffoon with an

inferiority complex. In Polynesian mythology, Maui is a demigod and hero, but in

Disneyʻs Moana, Maui is a sidekick to a 16-year old teenage girl called Moana who sails

beyond the reef on her own, without the approval of her father who is terrified of the

ocean. Along the way, Moana encounters Maui, who teaches her the finer points of

navigation (wafinding). This relegation of Maui to a less powerful role than a 16-year

old untutored teenage girl is empowering for young girls in Polynesia and the world



2

over. However, it diminishes the power of a Polynesian male hero and demigod with a

very healthy sex drive, according to Polynesian mythology.

6 Any film by a major Hollywood studio that sets out to profit from a native culture is

suspect. A studio therefore has to try its utmost to mitigate the negative fallout that is

likely to occur, but even with the best of intentions, as happened with Disney’s Moana,

complete authentic representation in a blockbuster movie is highly unlikely.

Nevertheless, Disney’s efforts to reach out to cultural experts from the Pacific resulted

in many authentic moments in its film Moana. When a major film studio becomes aware

that its reasons for disregarding native advice is more to do with a possible diminishing

of profits from ticket sales, it should stop and seriously consider finding an appropriate

solution. For example, the controversy surrounding Maui could have been resolved if

Disney had used a name other than Maui. This decision detracted from the many

positive steps forward in Disney’s desire to be more authentic in its depiction of

indigenous cultures.7

FIGURE 1. – Maui, voiced by Dwayne Johnson in Disney’s Moana

(© Disney. Reproduced with permission)

7 Is it possible that Disney insisted on using the name Maui because the name suggests

(for those with a superficial knowledge of Oceania) that their fictional narrative is

rooted in an authentic past? My opinion is that Disney’s real reason was driven more by

its determination to use Dwayne Johnson (aka the Rock), a Polynesian with star power,

in order to increase its profits. Although Disney tried its best to be accurate in its

portrayal of certain physical characteristics (such as restoring hair to Maui’s formerly

bald head, after heeding advice from a Tahitian elder).8 But accurate portrayal of

certain physical details for a Polynesian demigod was not good enough for many Pacific

scholars (see the article by Mirose Paia and Marie Salaün in this volume). For them, any

representation that diminishes the heroes of a native people for box office success is a

perpetuation of the history of appropriation for economic gain.

8 Does it really matter if Maui, or indigenous cultures, are not portrayed authentically? I

believe it does, especially for those whose culture is portrayed. The representation in a

film can easily become the de facto source of knowledge about the culture portrayed.

For better or worse, film has become the most powerful means by which people today

learn about other cultures. Inauthentic representation can therefore be mistaken by

viewers as authentic, resulting in a displacement and replacement of a native people’s

stories or knowledge. If a major studio owned by a colonizing power made the film,



3

then the natives become doubly colonized: first when it was colonized in real life, and

then again when it’s authentic stories are displaced and replaced. When the colonizer’s

representation (aka counterfeit) displaces and replaces the original (aka genuine), the

damage becomes even more insidious. Slowly over time, the inaccurate representation

which is now circulating in social media and the popular imagination can set in, much

like the way wet cement can set in and solidify.

9 Some native filmmakers telling stories on screen about their own people have also been

taken to task for representations that have been labeled inauthentic. In large part, I

believe the main cause of this is ignorance on the part of the filmmaker about the

politics of representation. Inadequate research or knowledge about a culture, or the

desire to make a profit, can easily cause filmmakers to make compromises. Second,

most filmmakers are storytellers who want their films to appeal to or resonate with the

masses of people. This desire to connect with audiences could result in a more

generalized view about a culture or a people instead of one that is specific and nuanced.

This is one of the reasons why some filmmakers resort to stereotypes that audiences

already have about a people or a culture. One way to change this is for filmmakers to

begin their narratives with a stereotype about a people or a culture but as the narrative

unfolds, to challenge or debunk the stereotype. Another way is to tell the story from

the point of view of someone of low status within the culture, much like revising and

retelling “history from below”. Looking at history or representation from the point of

view of the underdog, rather than the victor, is one way to decolonize the screen.9

10 In the film Whale Rider (2002), Paikea is a young Maori girl who aspires to be the leader

of her people but is overlooked by her grandfather who believes only males can or

should lead the tribe. In the film’s DVD, we hear a discussion between Niki Caro

(director) and David Coulson (editor), talking about a scene between Paikea’s

grandfather and Paikea’s father. In this scene that was shot but did not make it into the

final version of the film, the director and the editor explain that to have the

grandfather who is a chief digging up a septic tank as he converses with his son would

confuse many viewers who are likely to think that a chief is not supposed to do manual

labor of this type. Even though digging up a septic tank would be something a Maori

chief would conceivably do in Maori culture, the director and the editor decided that

this scene was too culturally specific and made the decision to delete it. The extra

features on the DVD shows the deleted scene from the finished movie, drawing attention

to the fact that for a mass audience, being culturally specific could be an impediment to

connecting with mass audiences outside the culture.

11 Whale Rider is one of the most successful narrative features set in the Pacific that isn’t

made by a major studio.10 It was a critical and financial success, and yet it was not

without controversy. For example, the film’s producer, John Barnett, went on record to

say that Whale Rider is not a Maori film. His point was that the film does not set out to

represent all Maori living in New Zealand. This proclamation was intended to counter

charges of misrepresentation. However, it is not a perspective that is held by most

viewers outside New Zealand, who regard Whale Rider as a Maori film, and in doing so,

conflate portrayal of a specific tribe with all Maori tribes. This conflation of specificity

with collectivity leads to believing that all Maori people’s mythology claim that all

Maori arrived in New Zealand on the back of a whale. The late Barry Barclay

(1944-2008), the first Maori to make a feature film, refused to see the film, claiming that

the film takes a sacred Maori tale and then puts a shiny gloss over it to cater to the



4

tastes of mass audiences around the world.11 Barclay was also of the opinion that a

Maori film should be directed by a Maori, even though the film is based on a novel

written by a Maori, Witi Ihimaera (1987), and Ihimaera was closely involved in the

making of the film. Though Niki Caro has the writing credit for the screenplay, she

worked closely with a screenwriter from Hollywood in order to make the screenplay

more accessible to a global market. The editing out of culturally specific material such

as the septic tank scene mentioned earlier supports Barclay’s concern.

12 In Samoan Wedding (2006, by C. Graham), an urban romantic comedy, the question of

authentic representation was also an issue.12 The story of four male friends in their 20s

and 30s who wreak havoc at weddings, Samoan Wedding was criticized by some Pacific

scholars for its negative portrayal of young Samoan men and women. In this narrative,

the young men are more interested in getting drunk and having a good time than they

are about going to church or developing their professional careers. In addition, the love

interest of one of the four men is portrayed as sexually promiscuous. Playing this role is

a former Miss Samoa beauty queen, whose identity in real life and the character she

plays in this film blurs the boundaries between real life and screen behavior called

acting. Some even argued that this young woman’s screen behavior perpetuates

Margaret Mead’s claim in Coming of Age in Samoa (1928) that Samoan girls, according to

her anthropological research, have no hang-ups about promiscuous sexual behavior.

13 When accused of negatively stereotyping his people, Oscar Kightley, the co-writer (and

also an actor in the film), defended himself by saying that he was not trying to

represent Samoan culture or to speak for other Samoans. All he was doing was telling a

story based on his own experiences of life.13 In his words, “When Mickey Mouse speaks,

does he speak for all mice?” He added that if people didn’t like his film, they should feel

free to make their own. Kightley’s response is complicated by the fact that Samoan

Wedding was initially called Sione’s Wedding, but when the U.S. distributor bought the

rights, it changed the title to Samoan Wedding. This name change might have resulted in

more ticket sales at the box office since more people around the world will have heard

or visited Samoa compared to the number of people who will have met a man called

Sione or know what country the name is referencing. The name change, however,

bestows Samoan Wedding with a responsibility to authentically represent all Samoan

weddings, an intention that the film’s original creators did not set out to do.14

14 As for Kightley’s advice that critics should either stop criticizing him and set out

instead to make their own films, the reality is that the playing field is not level, and not

everyone has equal access to funding or resources. Filmmaking is an expensive

business, and if a filmmaker from a minority culture is lucky enough to receive

funding, perhaps authentic representation should be a consideration, if not a priority.15

My opinion is that filmmakers or artists should be free to create according to the

dictates of their talents, but with freedom, they should expect criticism, if this freedom

is not carried out with responsibility. Part of the reason why viewers expect authentic

representation from indigenous filmmakers is because there are so few (if any)

narrative features from each of the Pacific Island nations or countries. Until there are

more than a dozen or so narrative features about any island culture or Pacific nation,

viewers will continue to expect a single feature to authentically represent the whole,

which may be at odds with the intentions of the filmmaker.

15 Financing through grants, personal funds, monetary contributions from friends or

supporters, and maxing out our credit cards, my wife and I made a narrative feature



5

film called Pear Ta Ma ʻOn Maf: The Land Has Eyes (2004) on my home island of Rotuma.

This way of financing an independent narrative film is one that determined

independent filmmakers resort to when there are no other avenues for funding. In

these instances, filmmakers benefit from having creative control over their own work.

As someone from within the culture, I was more concerned about representing it

accurately (or authentically) because ultimately, I felt accountable to my own people.

Further, I didn’t have a studio or another entity telling me how to tell my story.16 Thus

when some in the industry (as well as some Rotumans) advised us to use the English

language instead of Rotuman in order to reach a global audience, we decided that to be

authentic, we had to use the Rotuman language since that was the actual language

spoken all the time in the period in which the story takes place (1960s), except for the

western-styled court and at school. If we didn’t have this kind of independence, the

English language would have displaced and replaced the Rotuman language.

PHOTO 1. – Sapeta Taito as Viki in Pear ta ma ’on maf: The Land Has Eyes (2004) by Vilsoni Hereniko

(© Te Maka Productions. Reproduced with permission)

16 There are varying degrees of authenticity in indigenous films and no film can claim to

have complete authenticity. However, there is one Pacific film that I think has more

authenticity than any other film I have seen, and this film is Tusi Tamasese’s One

Thousand Ropes (2016). The story of this film is deeply rooted in Samoan worldviews,

aesthetics, values, and ways of knowing and being. Instead of making compromises in

order to reach a global audience or to sell tickets at the box office, Tamasese tells his

story from the inside out, and if viewers cannot understand completely what is going

on as his story unfolds, he makes no concessions in his efforts to represent his culture

and his people with authenticity. The intended audience appears to be other Samoans

as well as thouse who care about Samoan culture.17 The characters in this film are

complex and multidimensional, and the cultural milieu in which they operate and



6

function in urban Auckland is complicated, impenetrable for the uninitiated, and

mysterious. And yet, at the end of the film, I felt privileged to have been given an

opportunity to peek into Samoan culture through the eyes of an auteur, whose vision is

“fearlessly independent” as well as “immune to the dictates of popular or commercial

cinema.” For me personally, this rare gem of a film stands out and stands apart from

the other narrative features that were in the 2017 NETPAC competition at the HawaiʻiInternational Film Festival.18

PHOTO 2. – Uelese Petaia as Maea in One Thousand Ropes (2016) by Tusi Tamasese

(© Blueskin Films. Reproduced with permission)

17 In conclusion, authenticity in cinema still remains for me an elusive ideal that is

difficult to attain because there are so many competing factors at play in the making of

a film, least of which is the fact that filmmaking, ultimately, is a business. For those

interested in pursuing or exploring this elusive ideal, a few ideas touched upon in this

paper are worth reiterating. The first is that audiences expect authenticity in dramatic

narrative features even though they are works of fiction. This is because most narrative

features aspire to represent reality accurately , thus the more authentic the

representation, the more likely that the viewer will be able to suspend their disbelief

and be totally immersed in the story unfolding before them on screen. Second, until

there is a significant number of films made about any one culture, the one or two

existing films about that culture will continue to carry the burden of representation,

with the general public looking to this one film (or two films) for accurate information

and representation. Third, misrepresentations of a culture in film can displace and

replace that culture’s actuality. Misrepresentations therefore can be dangerous. Fourth,

the business side of filmmaking complicates efforts at authentic representation,

especially when box-office success is a major concern. This concern with box office

success often leads to cultural specificity (or authenticity) being compromised in order

to accommodate the ignorance of global audiences about minority cultures, including

those from the Pacific Islands. When this happens, the film may become a box office

success, but it comes at the cost of diminished authentic representation.



7

BIBLIOGRAPHY

HERENIKO Vilsoni, 1994. Representations of cultural identities, in K.R. Howe, R.C. Kiste and B.V. Lal

(eds), Tides of History: the Pacific Islands in the Twentieth Century, Sydney, Allen & Unwin, p. 406.

IHIMAERA-SMILER Witi Tame, 1987. The Whale Rider (Paï), Auckland, N.Z., Heinemann, traduit en

français par Francine Tolron, Paris, Thélès, 2003.

MEAD Margaret, 1928. Coming of Age in Samoa, New York, Morrow, 1928.

TAMAIRA Mārata Ketekiri, Vilsoni HERENIKO et al., 2018. Moana by Jared Bush (review), The

Contemporary Pacific 30 (1), pp. 216-224.

FILMOGRAPHY [all films are works of fiction, unless otherwise

specified]

CARO Niki, 2002. Whale Rider/Paï, New Zealand/Germany, 101 min (DVD, version française, Aventi

Distribution, 2002, avec bonus de 18 min).

CLEMENTS Ron et John MUSKER, 2016. Moana, Animated film, Walt Disney, USA, 107 min.

GRAHAM Chris, 2006. Samoan Wedding/Sione’s Wedding, New Zealand, 97 min.

HERENIKO Vilsoni, 2004. Pear Ta Ma ʻOn Maf: The Land Has Eyes, USA/Fiji, 87 min.

MITA Heperi/Hepi, 2018. How Mum Decolonised the Screen, Documentary, New Zealand, 89 min.

TAMASESE Tusi, 2011. The Orator/O le tulafale, New Zealand/Samoa, 110 min.

TAMASESE Tusi, 2016. One Thousand Ropes, New Zealand, 98 min.

WAITITI Taika, 2004. Two Cars, One Night, Short, New Zealand, 12 min.

WAITITI Taika, 2012. Boy, New Zealand, 87 min.

WAITITI Taika, 2014. What We Do in the Shadows, New Zealand/USA, 86 min.

WAITITI Taika, 2016. Hunt for the Wilder People, New Zealand, 101 min.

WAITITI Taika, 2017. Thor Ragnarok, Marvel, USA, 130 min.

ZEMECKIS Robert, 2000. Cast Away, USA, 143 min.

ZWICK Joel, 2003. My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Canada/USA, 95 min.

NOTES

1. Preceding One Thousand Ropes is The Orator/O le tulafale (2011), Tamasese’s first narrative

feature. This film also has Tamasese's singular vision as a storyteller.

2. I was one of three on this jury: the Head of the jury is a professor from the Beijing Academy,

and the other is a Spanish filmmaker. There were about a dozen films from Asia and the Pacific

that were in competition. When we listed our top three films, One Thousand Ropes was the only

one that appeared in all our lists.



8

3. This word "authenticity" is a loaded term. This is because it's difficult to know what is

authentic and what isn't, especially when evaluating storytelling in cinema. And yet, this word

keeps coming up when critics discuss indigenous films around the world. It doesn't seem to be a

concern of certain genres, such as fantasy, horror, or comedy, but a concern with dramatic

narrative features (live action or animation) about indigenous peoples or cultures, which justifies

this exploration.

4. A problem with inaccurate representation is that the engaged viewer could end up believing a

falsehood, which is that green coconuts fall off coconut trees without cause. As a side note,

coconuts on coconut trees on Waikiki beach in Honolulu are non-existent, their nuts having been

removed so that they don't fall on the heads of unsuspecting tourists. There are probably

millions and millions of tourists who have visited Waikiki who have no idea that those coconut

trees are supposed to have green coconuts on them. In this instance, they would not have learned

this falsehood from Cast Away, the movie, but from real life experience as a tourist lounging on

Waikiki beach.

5. For an extended review of Disney's Moana, see Tamaira, Hereniko et al., 2018.

6. I became involved because I was the Director of the Oceania Center for Arts and Culture at the

University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji, when Clements and Musker arrived to undertake

research during the development phase of their film.

7. Maui provides comic relief with his shape-shifting antics, his buffoonish appearance, and his

inflated ego. As I had suspected, some Pacific scholars criticized Disney for its portrayal of Maui,

and I came under attack for being a member of the Oceanic Story Trust.

8. Public presentation by Ron Clements and John Musker at the Doris Duke Theater in Honolulu

on April 3, 2019. The directors also made clear during their presentation that their decision to

use Maui was already made when they came to the Oceania Center in Fiji in 2010. The decision to

have Moana the 16-year old as the protagonist was made later, after their visits to the South

Pacific.

9. See the recently made film How Mum Decolonized the Screen (2018), written and directed by

Heperi Mita. This is a film about Merata Mita, the first Maori woman to make films, who was also

very much involved with the indigenous section of the Sundance Film Festival.

10. The films of Taika Waititi, such as Boy (2012), Hunt for the Wilder People (2016), and What We Do

in the Shadows (2014), were also very successful at the box office. His marvel movie Thor Ragnarok

(2017) was a blockbuster. Waititi's use of humor even as he scores political points is one of the

reasons for his success. He even infuses Thor Ragnarok with Polynesian humor and aesthetics,

causing some Pacific Islanders to think that this marvel movie qualifies as an indigenous film!

Waititi's body of creative work deserves a paper of its own, one that should begin with the Oscar

nomination of his short film Two Cars, One Night (2004), which propelled him into the limelight.

11. Personal Communication – when my feature film Pear ta Ma 'On Maf: The Land Has Eyes

screened at a movie theater in New Zealand, Barclay turned up to the screening. And so did

Rawiri Paratene, the father of Paikea, in Whale Rider. During the Q and A, I said complimentary

things about Whale Rider, and Barclay stood up and contradicted my comments. Barclay was also

quite vocal in the press about his criticisms of Whale Rider, most of which I do not share. I think

Whale Rider is one of the few examples we have of a narrative feature that is culturally authentic

(for the most part) and also successful at the box office.

12. After the release of the film, Oscar Kightley was brought over to the University of Hawaiʻi by

the Center for Pacific Islands Studies (2007, cf. https://manoa.hawaii.edu/news/article.php?

aId=1733) where he was interrogated about his representation of Samoans. I was present at this

seminar, and so were two prominent Samoan women scholars.

13. Although Kightley co-wrote the screenplay (with James Griffen), Chris Graham (a pakeha or

white New Zealander), directed the film. Kightley said during a public presentation I attended



9

that the director took certain liberties with his screenplay, including the portrayal of a seduction

scene involving the character played by the former "Miss Samoa."

14. It is possible that the U.S. distributor was hoping that viewers who enjoyed well-known films

such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding (by J. Zwick, 2003) would also flock to see Samoan Wedding.

15. The digital revolution has made filmmaking less expensive, although the cost is still

prohibitive for the vast majority of Pacific Islanders.

16. The main producer of this film is my wife, Jeannette Paulson Hereniko. Fortunately, she gave

me total control over the story of this film. The executive producer was Merata Mita, who also

wanted me to tell my story in my own way, although she was instrumental in finding the

resources for the post-production of this film. It is not always the case that the director of a film

is given total creative control over a film.

17. I believe the use of humor in this film would have made the telling of this story more

accessible or appealing to foreign viewers. Samoans have a comedic social institution called fale

aitu, which translates as "house of the spirits," and Tamasese could have drawn from this cultural

tradition. But he didn't, and the result is a very intense drama lacking in comic relief.

18. Critical success does not necessarily translate into commercial success. In fact, the opposite

seems more likely, which is that films that are preoccupied with authenticy tend to attract fewer

audiences. But because such films are "cultural treasures", they are important films, and deserve

funding from their governments and the original homelands of the people whose lives are

portrayed. Thus Pear Ta Ma ʻOn Maf:The Land Has Eyes received funding from the Fijian

government (as well as Pacific Islanders in Communications in Hawaiʻi), and One Thousand Ropes

received funding from the Samoan government (as well as the New Zealand Film Commission).

This kind of support makes it possible for filmmakers to make culturally significant films that

may not be popular with the masses who tend to prefer films that entertain rather than ones that

illuminate a culture or represent it with authenticity.

ABSTRACTS

Authenticity in cinema is elusive and difficult to explain or analyse, especially in narrative

feature films that are, ultimately, works of fiction. And yet audiences expect dramatic fictional

films to be authentic because they are supposed to be realistic representations of a people or

culture. Working against authentic representation are many factors, including the business side

of filmmaking that often leads to compromises in order to entertain or to make indigenous

cultures accessible to a global market, unrealistic expectations that a single film with its time

constraints can fully represent a culture or a people, and the difficulties and challenges of

achieving complete authentic representation in a work of fiction. The pursuit of authenticity,

however, is important for indigenous people or minority cultures because misrepresentations

can displace and replace their actual experiences or realities.

L’authenticité au cinéma est une notion difficile à saisir, à expliquer ou à analyser, en particulier

dans les longs métrages de fiction. Pourtant, les spectateurs attendent des films de fiction qu’ils

soient authentiques, car ils sont censés être des représentations réalistes d’un peuple ou d’une

culture. De nombreux facteurs s’opposent à cette recherche d’authenticité, dont la dimension

commerciale du cinéma qui conduit souvent à des compromis car il s’agit de divertir et de rendre

les cultures autochtones accessibles à un marché global. L’idée qu’un film, avec sa durée limitée,



10

puisse représenter fidèlement un peuple ou une culture, est illusoire, et trahit les difficultés et les

obstacles qui s’opposent à une représentation authentique dans une œuvre de fiction. La

recherche d’authenticité, cependant, est importante pour les autochtones et les cultures

minoritaires, car les représentations erronées peuvent supplanter et se substituer à leurs

expériences et conditions de vie réelles.

INDEX

Keywords: authenticity, cinema, Disney, Rotuma, indigenous filmmakers

Mots-clés: authenticité, cinéma, Disney, Rotuma, cinéastes autochtones

AUTHOR

VILSONI HERENIKO

Fiji Islander playwright, film director and academic, [email protected]



11

mailto:[email protected]

l'authenticité au cinéma : notes des îles du pacifique

Documents