Cinema
Sons for the Return Home
Paul Maunder · 1979
Synopsis
Sione, a young Samoan raised in New Zealand, and Sarah, a white middle-class New Zealander, both students, love each other. Their families and their friends do not support them, still less when Sarah finds herself pregnant; Sione's mother proves the harshest. The story moves from Wellington to London and to Samoa, as Sione seeks who he is.
Context
The film adapts the novel that Albert Wendt published in 1973. It was shot in New Zealand, in Western Samoa and in London, and ran for five weeks in an Auckland cinema. It is regarded as the first feature film devoted to the experience of Pacific Islanders in New Zealand. Uelese Petaia, who plays Sione, shared with Al Pacino the best actor award at the Karlovy Vary festival in 1980.
Who it is for
For seeing the exile of Samoans in New Zealand through a love story, on screen for the first time.
Prizes and reception
An acting award at Karlovy Vary for its lead actor; a box-office success in Auckland.
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