FEMSPECTIVES 2020 - VAI
VAI - Vendetta Films
Vai is a collection of shorts by nine Pacific Islander women that come together as a portmanteau feature film. Filmed in Fiji, Tonga, the Solomon Islands, Kuki Airani (Cook Islands), Samoa, Niue, and Aotearoa (New Zealand), Vai follows the titular character in different stages of life, in different Pacific nations. In each vignette, Vai is played by a different indigenous actress.
In Fiji, Sevaia (Mereani Tuimatanisiga) age 7, struggles with having to leave her home and family behind to go abroad with her pregnant mother. In Tonga, Vai Mo’ui (‘Ar-Ramadi Longopoa) at age 13, longs to leave for New Zealand to become a famous singer. She feels trapped as she begs for water alongside her brother to help their grandmother make traditional medicine. In the Solomon Islands, Vaelusa (Betsy Luitolo) age 16, grapples with trying to bait a fishhook. Her mother visits her in a canoe, and the two argue about why Vaelusa’s mother had to leave the Solomon Islands. At age 21, Vaisea (Agnes Pele), a New Zealand born Samoan, tries to balance being a model student with a hectic work schedule, an ailing father, and the need to support her family back home.
In these four shorts by the Whippy Sisters, Ofa-Ki-Levuka Guttenbeil-Likiliki, Matasila Freshwater, and Amberley Jo Aumura respectively, Vai has to endure the pressure that comes with growing up as a Pacific Islander woman. Oftentimes family members leave behind their island nations as this often presents a chance at improving the future of the entire community. Each Vai deals with this concept in a different way, with some unhappy with leaving their homes or losing loved ones to distance, and others longing for promised prosperity. The segments from Fiji and the Solomon Islands are especially intimate, filled with tears and anger at what life has brought them. The Tongan and New Zealand shorts have a sense of female empowerment. While Vai Mo’ui feels trapped in Tonga she still holds onto her dreams, and Vaisea finds her voice as a Samoan woman.
As Vai grows older, the second half of the film deals with preserving ceremonial and cultural practices. In Kuki Airani, 30-year-old Vai (Evotia-Rose Araiti) speaks out against purse seining, a type of fishing that causes detrimental environmental damage and puts pressure on fish stocks. In Samoa, Sevai (Fiona Collins), age 42, is asked to lead a ceremonial procession, but feels unable to connect to her culture after being away from the islands for so long. At age 64, Vai of Niue (Maliaga Erick) holds a ceremony in which her granddaughter’s achievements are celebrated and she is given money to prepare her for leaving Niue and studying abroad. Lastly, Rupuwai (Hinetu Dell) at 80 years old in Aotearoa is joined by her family on sacred Māori land to perform a naming ceremony for her great granddaughter, Vai.
Miria George, Marina Alofagia McCartney, Maliaga Erick and Becs Arahanga use the latter half of the film to bring Vai back into her culture. In Kuki Airani, Vai is protecting the land left behind by her ancestors, later Sevai is reconnecting with her Samoan roots as she pays homage to the local church. Despite centuries of imperialism that tried to eliminate indigenous practices, Pacific Islanders have still managed to maintain their identity through acts of decolonization such as protecting their homes and reconnecting with their cultures. In Niue and Aotearoa, both Vai and Rupuwai, now elderly, are passing down rituals and traditions to the next generation of Pacific Islander women. With Vai of Niue, the concept of going abroad to help one’s family is seen through the opposite lens. Vai tells her granddaughter to “go and return”, her culture will always be there for her. In Aotearoa, Rupuwai ensures that her family will know the significance of Māori sites and rituals, in order to keep their culture alive.
Vai is the story of the same Pacific Islander woman told in different nations and in different stages of life. Through each short, the audience sees what it means to be an indigenous woman living in the Pacific, as told by Pacific Islander women. Though each short is written and directed by a separate woman, Vai maintains a sense of uniformity. The vignettes feature long, continuous shorts, and each are helmed by the same production crew making the film cohesive despite using different locations and actresses. It is easy to see how each writer and director puts a piece of themselves into their respective shorts. The imagery of water, whether it be the ocean or plastic water bottles, is heavily used throughout the shorts as “Vai” means water in each of the portrayed countries. Vai is a beautifully endearing piece that explores the connections between the Pacific Islands. Their cultures are different, they speak different languages, but they are all connected by their ancestors, the voyaging canoe people, that spread throughout the Pacific. Vai is an empowering piece that shows the resilience of Pacific Islander women at each stage of life.