“These storytellers, our Sunday school singers, grandparents, aunties, and uncles… it’s critical that their authentic narratives are brought to life” – Director Herman Aviu
It was another milestone for Pacific Kids Learning digital creators who celebrated the premier of their second feature film, Guardian of Tomorrow, Stories of Land, Sea, and Sky.
The film debuted last Friday at the fifth annual PKL showcase.
The film’s narrative, written and directed by Herman Aviu, is guided by the PKL family characters ‘Alisi and Semisi, who introduce audiences to diverse Pacific stories during a family trip.
“My goal for this film was to amplify the voices and showcase the gifts and talents of our grassroots community,” Aviu says.
“These storytellers, our Sunday school singers, grandparents, aunties, and uncles, have not come through a traditional pathway, and it’s critical that their authentic narratives are brought to life.”
The 90-minute animated feature marks a significant milestone in Pacific Pacific language preservation.
PKL co-founder and education director Theresa Tupuola-Sorenson explains the film weaves together the stories and songs of seven Pacific cultures with 60% of the narration spoken in Pacific languages.
“The film prioritises Indigenous Pacific languages, with all content subtitled in English. This extensive use of language is a conscious decision to promote the revitalisation of Pacific languages,” Tupuola-Sorenson says.
Guardians of Tomorrow is a culmination of about two years of work, featuring community-written and community-authored stories and songs focused on connection to the environment and the crucial theme of climate change.
The stories and songs originated from the Mātala project, supported by the Ministry of Pacific Peoples.
A particularly poignant segment of the film highlights the Tuvalu community’s reality concerning climate change and mass migration.
The story, written by Saute Boreham, was inspired by Cyclone Pam, which disrupted a cemetery site, causing ancestors’ bones to float away. The animation confronts this harsh reality while emphasising that Tuvalu people are the least responsible but the most affected by climate change.
First Secretary of the Tuvalu High Commission in Wellington, Niuone Eliuta stressed the importance of preserving such stories for future generations to learn from.
“It’s very important for our communities to keep telling our stories so that our children can continue to learn their mother tongue as well as to remember our stories. The Pacific Kids Learning platform is a way this can happen,” Eliuta says.
Tupuola-Sorenson underscores the showcase’s philosophy of reciprocity.
“The Pacific Kids Learning showcase and this film is an enactment of reciprocity and gifting back a feature film to the community that entrusted us with their stories for our library. It is a celebration of our grassroots efforts to truly preserve language and culture, showing that our stories deserve the big screen.”
