Pacific Voices Through Film: Film As A Vehicle In Uniting Oral and Written Traditions In Polynesia

Abstract

Film is a powerful tool in bridging oral and written traditions, as well as in the process of forming our own cultural identity. With this tool we Pacific Islanders are able to express ourselves through film, image, storytelling, through a linking of oral tradition and Western film technology. This thesis investigates the role that oral tradition plays in telling our stories through film and the role that film plays in reproducing oral traditions. Filmmaking is a medium well suited to share those stories in an non-oral society. Aotearoa has successfully made that link within its indigenous filmmaking community. While in Aotearoa, I was fortunate to interview several of these groundbreaking filmmakers (see interviews in Appendix). It is through film that we are finally able to put a familiar face to those previously created celluloid images on screen. Perhaps with indigenous Pacific Island filmmakers controlling the image, it will be a more acceptable face for us as Polynesians.