NZIFF 2019 Q&A Vea Mafile’o Jeremiah Tauamiti - directors of For My Father's Kingdom

NZIFF 2019 Q&A Vea Mafile’o Jeremiah Tauamiti - directors of For My Father's Kingdom

My film is .... For My Father's Kingdom, It's a film about family, about hope, understanding, and ultimately about unconditional love. 

The moment I'm most proud of is....
When we took our film to Berlin and being able to present our film together as a family on the world stage. Being able to honour them for giving their all to the film because it's our story. Closely followed by getting the thumbs up from Her Royal Highness Princess Selikatapu at a preview screening we had with her.

The reason I carried on with this film when it got tough is.....
Family. There's nothing more important to me. And like my Mum always taught me, to always fight for what you believe in, and how Dad says, always go until the work is done.

The one moment that will resonate with an audience is.......
Probably the amount of food haha. But hopefully the moments of love, the moments of forgiveness. 

The hardest thing I had to cut from this film is........
Every family is complex, so not being able to include my half brothers and sisters story was the hardest thing to cut, because they're important to me as well and a big part of our family's lives. It was something that was covered at length during early development, but ultimately we decided we had to focus our story so that it was easier to get clarity on a lot of Dad's and our own issues.

The thing I want people to take from this film is ...... Healing. Communication, and hope.

The reason I love the NZIFF is.......
The variety of films on offer, in a nice and short timeframe. You know every film is going to be great viewing. 

What I want to see at this year's NZIFF is...... Bellbird, Herbs Songs of Freedom, The Farewell. 

The one thing I'd say to aspiring filmmakers is.....
Don't give up. Never give up, and stay true to yourself.