Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

only began producing its own

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

s in 2004, and has produced just one to date.

Vilsoni Hereniko Vilsoni Hereniko (born October 13, 1954) is a Rotuman playwright, film director and academic. He was the writer and director of Rotuma's first ever (and so far only) feature film, ''The Land Has Eyes'' (''Pear ta ma 'on maf''). Biography Hereniko ...

's ''

The Land Has Eyes ''The Land Has Eyes'' ( Rotuman: ''Pear ta ma ʻon maf'') is a 2004 Rotuman film written and directed by Vilsoni Hereniko. It is the first ever (and so far only) feature film from Rotuma. Plot The main character, Viki ( Sapeta Taito), is a young ...

'' (2004) is set in

Rotuma Rotuma is a Fijian dependency, consisting of Rotuma Island and nearby islets. The island group is home to a large and unique Polynesian indigenous ethnic group which constitutes a recognisable minority within the population of Fiji, known as " ...

and stars indigenous Rotuman

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

Sapeta Taito in her début role, alongside

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

actress

Rena Owen Renas may refer to: Places *Rena, Badajoz, a municipality in Extremadura, Spain *Rena, Norway, a village in Innlandet county, Norway *Rena, Washington, a community in Clallam County, Washington, United States People *Rena (given name), list of pe ...

. 2004 was also the year in which the film ''Reel Paradise'' (

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

) was produced. The film depicts the real-life story of American independent filmmaker John Pierson, who, in 2002, took his wife and two children to the island of Taveuni in Fiji to live for a year, and used a vacant cinema to show films free of charge. '' Boot Camp'' (2007), starring

Mila Kunis Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis (born August 14, 1983) is an American actress. Born in Chernivtsi and raised in Los Angeles, she began playing Jackie Burkhart on the Fox television series ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) at the age of 14. Since ...

and

Peter Stormare Rolf Peter Ingvar Storm (born August 27, 1953), better known as Peter Stormare (), is a Swedish actor who holds both Swedish and American citizenship. He played Gaear Grimsrud in the film '' Fargo'' (1996) and John Abruzzi in the television ser ...

, is partly set in Fiji, but is not a Fiji-made film. Although Fiji has only ever produced one film, the Fiji Audio Visual Commission aims to attract foreign film-makers and incite them to use the country as a setting. The Commission stated in July 2008 that it hoped Fiji would become known as "Bulawood", the

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

of the South Seas. Fiji has a large ethnic Indian minority, and

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

films are popular both among

Indo-Fijians Indo-Fijians or Indian-Fijians (also known as Fiji Indians) are Fijian citizens of Indian descent, and include people who trace their ancestry to various regions of the Indian subcontinent.Girmit by Suresh Prasad Although Indo-Fijians constitu ...

and indigenous Fijians, with some being dubbed in Fijian. LAL, Brij, ''Islands of Turmoil'', , p.xi

References

{{fiji-stub

See also

References