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Daughters of the Pacific

Television (Full Length) – 2005

This 2005 documentary tells the story of four New Zealand-born women whose parents come from villages in Samoa, Tonga and Niue. Social worker and photographer Emily Mafile'o, students and mothers Pule Puletaua and Lanni Liuvaie, and playwright Louise Tu’u face the challenges of combining two cultures to forge an identity in Aotearoa — from family, language, food and religion, to flatting and hair cutting rituals. As narrator Sandra Kailali says, "to be true to both is hard work: success in one often comes at a cost to the other." 

I think for Pacific Island women they’d probably get the shock of their lives that I was single at the age of 30 without a child, but I don’t think that they’d ever presume that I’d have a degree, let alone three degrees.
– Emily Mafile'o

Key Cast & Crew

Profile image for Margot Francis

Margot Francis

Editor

Generic Profile image for Caroline Harker

Caroline Harker

Director

Generic Profile image for Jennifer Lee Lewes

Jennifer Lee Lewes

Producer

Generic Profile image for Louise Callan

Louise Callan

Writer

Generic Profile image for Louise Tu'u

Louise Tu'u

Subject

Generic Profile image for Lanni Liuvaie

Lanni Liuvaie

Subject

See all 17 credits

Produced by

Harker Lee Lewes Films Ltd

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