Co-producer Sandra Kailahi with some of the community who attended the Aotearoa New Zealand screening of Descendants of Niue: Tau Hologa Niue, at Mangere Arts Centre.
By Michelle Curran
Executive Communications Manager, Pasifika TV/PCBL
Co-producer Esther Pavihi hopes Descendants of Niue: Tau Hologa Niue is a catalyst to encourage more Niueans to share stories from their magafaoa and their island home.
The senior reporter for Broadcasting Corporation Niue (BCN) joined forces with Aotearoa New Zealand-based Sandra Kailahi of Kingston Productions to film the five-part documentary series.
Esther Paivihi (left) and Sandra Kailahi are delighted with how the co-production Descendants of Niue – Tau Hologa Niue turned out.
Descendants of Niue: Tau Hologa Niue is one of six co-production projects supported by the Aotearoa New Zealand Pacific Regional Media Fund (PRMF), which pairs Aotearoa Pasifika producers with Pacific-based producers and broadcasters, to create content in the Pacific.
The initiative is funded by NZ On Air in collaboration with Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Limited (PCBL), which champions local voice and story sovereignty in the region.
Esther, who juggled her BCN work commitments while co-producing Descendants of Niue: Tau Hologa Niue, describes the series as being about one island with many different stories, many journeys to uncover and stories of Niue’s people, culture, language and way of life on the island and the diaspora in Aotearoa and Australia.
She says working on the project has shown her, that despite Niue’s small population, it has people with the right skillsets and experience in the media/production industry.
When opportunities such as the PRMF initiative crop up, it is essential to grab hold of, to be able to hone this experience, she adds.
“Small media outlets like BCN don’t have the resources to regularly produce stories for our local audience but especially to share with the rest of the world, so when this opportunity was presented to us, we could not ignore it,” Esther says.
“This is one of the largest projects BCN has been involved with and to collaborate with Kingston Productions has been very productive and resourceful in understanding the many moving parts of such large productions.”
Learning curve
The BCN team is small, tasked primarily with producing the news, so this project was a huge learning experience – from coordination, management of schedules, location and understanding the many moving parts of the production and postproduction.
“I would have loved to learn a bit more about the budget planning because New Zealand standards are what we aspire towards, so to be able to understand the details was a good start,” Esther says.
“Juggling the news and this project was not easy and I was always very cautious to make sure that we did not compromise the news or the project in any way.
“In that regard, I am truly grateful to Sandra and the team for their patience and understanding of our predicament and making that extra effort to deliver the best quality production that we as a team set out to do.”
Maintain the momentum
With years of storytelling experience as a journalist in Niue, Esther realises it is not an easy task to get people to tell their family stories to the world, without some hesitation.
However, she hopes these five stories will resonate with locals in Niue, so they will feel confident to share their stories.
“I believe this series is going to be the catalyst hopefully to promote Niue and our stories,” she says.
“We need to keep the momentum going and continue to collaborate with Niueans living on Niue, and those living abroad.
“There are young Niueans out there who probably need a bit of funding to encourage them to start producing content and go from there – use the different platforms available to learn and harness and sharpen their skills in storytelling.”
Esther says living on a small, isolated rock in the middle of the Pacific, is a unique setting.
“When Niueans around the world want to discover their roots, each and every story is equally unique,” she says.
“For the international audience, I hope the scenes captured of Niue and its natural and tranquil beauty will encourage more international visitors to come and visit us.”
L-R: Esther Pavihi with New Zealand High Commissioner Mark Gibb, Glen Jackson and Australian High Commissioner Paul Harrington at the Descendants of Niue: Tau Hologa Niue community launch in Niue.
Descendants of Niue: Tau Hologa Niue recently launched in Aotearoa and Niue, at community-focused screening events.
Visit TV Niue and Pasifika TV for information about screening times for Descendants of Niue: Tau Hologa Niue.