Samoa's first ever feature film, '' The Orator'' (''O Le Tulafale''), was released in 2011. Shot and set in Samoa, in the

Samoan language Samoan ( or ; ) is a Polynesian language spoken by Samoans of the Samoan Islands. Administratively, the islands are split between the sovereign country of Samoa and the United States territory of American Samoa. It is an official language, alon ...

, it features a Samoan cast. It was produced with financial support from the Samoan government, in the hopes of showcasing Samoan culture to an international audience, and of promoting Samoa as a tourist destination. Prior to this, Samoa had only produced short films.

Tusi Tamasese Tusi Tamasese (born in 1975 or 1976 in Samoa) is a Samoan New Zealander film director. He is of high chiefly descent, of the Tupua Tamasese lineage. He came to New Zealand at the age of 18 with the intention to go to university, but, lacking a ...

, the writer and director of ''The Orator'', had previously written and directed short film '' Sacred Spaces'' (''Va Tapuia''), which was screened in 2010 at the New Zealand International Film Festival, then at the ImagineNative International Film Festival in Toronto, and the Hawaii International Film Festival. Samoa has only one cinema, the Magik cinema, owned by

Maposua Rudolf Keil Maposua Rudolf Keil (died May 2018) was a Samoan businessman and owner of the Radio Polynesia 98FM radio station. In 1997 it was one of the only radio stations in Western Samoa that were independently owned.IFESamoan government discusses closi ...

. The screening of films there is subject to censorship, and foreign films may be banned, in accordance with the ''Film Act'' 1978, for undermining the Christian faith of viewers. Both '' The Da Vinci Code'' and '' Milk'' have been banned from screening in Samoa's cinema, the latter for being "inappropriate and contradictory to Christian beliefs and Samoan culture.""Samoa bans 'Milk' film"
, ABC Radio Australia, 30 April 2009

References

{{samoa-stub

See also

References