Cinechico Short Film Screening

Cinechico is a platform for underground short films and alternative cinema. Its aim is to inspire the local film community, providing independent directors from Aotearoa and around the world with an exciting vehicle for film promotion.

Cinechico is proud to present a special screening for the Aroha Festival, showcasing a New Zealand film that offers a reflection of contemporary gay issues in the Pacific.

• An Island Calling: (New Zealand, 2008)

The murder of Fiji Red Cross Director-General John Scott and his partner Greg Scrivener in their home in Suva on July 1, 2001, is still clouded in media rumour and political mystery.

They were out as a gay couple – an unusual choice of lifestyle in Fiji. Although the country has a visible transgender culture, Fiji has become increasingly fundamentalist and homophobic since the 1987 coup, a shift reinforced by the introduction of new religious strains from the United States.

This feature documentary is based on the book Deep Beyond the Reef by Scott’s brother Owen, and traces the extraordinary story of the Scott family, the political crises that mark Fiji’s recent history, the killings and their aftermath, and the complex mix of tribal authority and democracy that exists in the Pacific.

Funded by New Zealand on Air, TV3, SBS-TV and the Sundance Institute, An Island Calling won three Qantas Film and Television Awards, as well as the Gran Prix at the Festival International du Film Documentaire Oceanien.

Director/Producer: Annie Goldson
Co-producer/Research: Theresa Koroivulaono
Screenplay/Presenter: Owen Scott
Photography: Wayne Vinten
Sound: David Madigan

Event listed by ArohaFestival

View their other events or contact promoter