11th(2009)
Justine SIMEI-BARTON
Synopsis
A young New Zealand Samoan girl¡¯s commitment to a science project investigating worm farming creates misunderstandings that lead to an explosive conflict with her parent¡¯s religious and cultural beliefs. Although the girl is given a severe beating she continues to secretly work on her project, winning an important science prize. Her parents proudly boast to their church minister about their daughter¡¯s achievement, offering him her trophy as a donation to the church.
Program Note
Kasa lives in a slum in New Zealand. She is working on a project that shows how to use earthworms in processing wastes for a science fair at her school. Her father hits her because he finds earthworms she¡¯s put under her bed; but she never gives up her research. It¡¯s painful for her to endure poverty and oppression, but this kind of external pain cannot stop Kasa from embracing the challenges before her. Through stories of devastation vs. hope, oppression vs. challenge, and tradition vs. change, the director reveals the voice of Samoan immigrants in New Zealand which has seldom been heard. (Jay SOHN)
Synopsis
A young New Zealand Samoan girl¡¯s commitment to a science project investigating worm farming creates misunderstandings that lead to an explosive conflict with her parent¡¯s religious and cultural beliefs. Although the girl is given a severe beating she continues to secretly work on her project, winning an important science prize. Her parents proudly boast to their church minister about their daughter¡¯s achievement, offering him her trophy as a donation to the church.
Program Note
Kasa lives in a slum in New Zealand. She is working on a project that shows how to use earthworms in processing wastes for a science fair at her school. Her father hits her because he finds earthworms she¡¯s put under her bed; but she never gives up her research. It¡¯s painful for her to endure poverty and oppression, but this kind of external pain cannot stop Kasa from embracing the challenges before her. Through stories of devastation vs. hope, oppression vs. challenge, and tradition vs. change, the director reveals the voice of Samoan immigrants in New Zealand which has seldom been heard. (Jay SOHN)
Justine SIMEI-BARTONJustine SIMEI-BARTON
Justine Simei-Barton has been a key figure in the emergence of a ¡®Pacific Voice¡¯ in New Zealand drama on both stage and screen. In 1987 she formed New Zealand¡¯s first Pacific Island drama company which aimed to bring the vitality of Pacific Island performance traditions into the context of contemporary theatre. The company produced a number of original devised works as well as a major out-door production of Rome & Juliet which transposed the drama to a nineteenth century Samoan setting. In 2000 she made the short film Brown Sugar for He Taonga Films. This was part of a broader project in which Justine worked as script development coordinator for a group of young Pacific Island writers whose scripts were produced as the Tala Pasifika series of short films. This series of six short films screened on NZ television and at numerous indigenous film festivals in the Asia Pacific region.