PFH/Tagata Pasifika Film To Be Screened At Tahiti Film Festival
11/25/09
The 30-minute documentary film Olohega: Lost in Time has been chosen by the festival selection committee to be screened at the 7th Annual Pacific International Documentary Film Festival of Tahiti (Festival International du Film Documentaire Oceanien/FIFO Tahiti) in January 2010.
A Google Earth image of Olohega
Produced this year in a partnership between Pasifika Foundation Hawai‘i and TV New Zealand/Tagata Pasifika, this film chronicles the poignant and heartbreaking story of Tokelau’s fourth island, Olohega, which was claimed by an American whaling captain, Eli Jennings, in 1856.
In 1925, Jennings’ descendants utilized their American connections to successfully annex Olohega, known then as “Swains Island,” to the United States and continue to maintain their ownership of the island today.
The film tells the stories of the Tokelauan people of Olohega who were forcibly evicted from their island home in the 1950s. In their own words, the elders who now live in a tight-knit community on Oahu in Hawai‘i, describe their shock, sadness and shame at their eviction, as well as their longing to return to their beautiful and fertile island. Only a handful of people now live on Olohega, an island that once, as communal farming land, supported many Tokelauan communities with its bounty of crops.
Tokelau elders in Wahiawa discuss their love of their home island Olohega and their forced eviction from there in the 1950s.
Te Vaka's Opetaia Foa'i dances with Tokelau community in Hawaii.
One of Olohega's beautiful beaches
The movement for the return of Olohega to the people of Tokelau continues and is gaining momentum throughout the Pacific. The documentary includes interviews with Tokelauans in New Zealand and Hawai‘i who are working towards that goal. The word-renowned musical group Te Vaka is also featured in the film; their popular song about the issue was instrumental in spreading awareness about Olohega.
Pasifika Foundation Hawai‘i executive director Ana Currie explains that the goal of the film is to educate others about the issue and to advocate for a solution.
“Eli Jenning’s descendents who currently claim ownership of Olohega can’t be faulted for their ancestor’s appropriation of Olohega from the people of Tokelau. However, along with the United States, they now have an opportunity to right that wrong. The legacy that the Jennings family can create from the act of returning the island to Tokelau is far, far greater than that which is generated by holding it to themselves, and it is our hope that the film may open the way for discussions on how to create a resolution that will benefit all parties involved.”
Olohega: Lost in Time was selected as one of 37 films, out of almost 200 entries, to be screened at the festival, which runs from January 26-31 at Te Fare Tahiti Nui in Papeete. The FIFO Festival is one of Pasifika’s major film events, a gathering of filmmakers and others from throughout the region to meet, network, and develop projects together.
Festival officials describe the event as a “meeting place for lovers of the Pacific, our vast region, which boasts such a varied and thriving cultural heritage, synonymous with dreaming, mystery and exploration. This vast maritime continent will emerge in images over the four days of the event. The Festival will offer an enriching, sometimes astonishing, often surprising experience ranging over characters, identities, history and current affairs.”
For more information on the festival: http://www.fifotahiti.org
For more information on the film: email Ana Currie
To view the film in 3 parts: