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SAVAGE
SYMBOLS FILM BY MAKERITA URALE |
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Courtesy of Creative New Zealand |
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The “quirky and exotic”
documentary called Savage Symbols, explores the use of tatau (Samoan
tattoo) as a symbol of identity, artistic expression and cultural ties
for the urban Samoan male. A release by the New Zealand Film Commission
and Creative New Zealand.
Director, Makerita Urale, says she chose the title Savage Symbols
because it was catchy and easy to remember.
“It was also playing on the word 'savage' and all the connotations that
go with it from a non-Samoan perspective,” says Urale. “The word
'symbols' denotes the various meanings of the pe'a (Samoan male
tattoo).”
Shot in Samoa and New Zealand, Savage Symbols, represents Urale’s
directorial debut on film. Better known as a theatre producer and
writer, Urale’s previous work includes Frangipani Perfume, Magic
Seashell, Popo the Fairy (writer/producer) and International Festival
of the Arts productions A Frigate Bird Sings, Classical Polynesia,
Ricordi!, Tu Fa’atasi and Beauty & the Beast (producer).
Urale comes from a talented family whose siblings include brother Bill
(aka singer King Kapisi), award winning filmmaker sister, Sima, and
brother, Tati, who works as a news producer for Television New Zealand.
Savage Symbols garnered huge praise nationwide from film critics and
audiences at the past Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch
International Film Festivals.
“I’ve just gotten back from final screenings at the Christchurch
International Film Festival and will be looking at where else the doco
can be screened,” says Urale. “I’ll visit the NZ Film Commission to see
if they can help send it to festivals overseas…and I will definitely
screen it on television in Samoa as it needs to be seen there.”
Savage Symbols provides a rare portrayal of this Polynesian body
adornment with an often-humorous outlook on the Samoan personality.
Her Samoan based interview subjects include Tufuga Su’a Suluape, one of
Samoa’s revered master tattooists and Lemauga Nafatali, an orator and
chief with a love for music and the history of his people. Urale’s New
Zealand subjects are equally fascinating. The Kiwi soga’imiti (tattooed
men) include a King Cobra gangster, a |
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Savage Symbols the documentary, explores the use of tatau
(Samoan tattoo) as a symbol of identity, artistic expression and
cultural ties for the urban Samoan male. |
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Savage Symbols reveals that art of tattooing is not just skin
deep. Samoa is the only country in the Pacific where this
ancient tradition and rite of passage has survived colonialism
and Christianity. |
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Subjects include master tattoist Su’a Suluape, orator Lemauga
Fiso Nafatali, a King Cobra gangster, a blues guitarist, a
visual artist, a film crew, a church minister, a dreadlocked
music lover and a league club manager.
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guitarist, a visual artist, a film
crew worker, a young church minister defying ecclesiastical rule, a dreadlocked
music lover and a league club manager.
Savage Symbols reveals that for these Samoans, the popular art of tattooing is
not just skin deep. Samoa is the only country in the Pacific where this ancient
tradition and rite of passage has survived colonialism and Christianity. And,
the tradition of the tatau continues to flourish in Samoa today.
“I wanted to do a Pacific theme,” says Urale. “The tatau is very filmic and
allowed me to be creative on film while dealing with social issues e.g.
immigration, urbanism, male expectations etc.”
The documentary was edited by Mara Finau of the Holidaymakers, and cut to the
rhythm of Polynesian sounds. Filmed on a shoestring budget, the 55 minute
documentary was funded by the Screen Innovation Fund, a partnership between
Creative New Zealand and the NZ Film Commission to support emerging filmmakers.
Urale’s other project was event producing for Smokefree Pacifica Beats 2002. She
also toured her play Frangipani Perfume in Samoa and Rarotonga and a NZ film
screening in Samoa with her sister Sima.
For more information, contact: The New Zealand Film Festival Trust, PO Box 9544
Marion Square, Wellington 6001. Fax +64-4 801-7304; Telephone +64-4 802-2576;
E-mail
shelley@enzedff.co.nz; website
www.nzff.co.nz
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Copyright Event Polynesia Ltd.
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