Producers and guests share insights about the Aotearoa New Zealand Pacific Regional Media Fund, at a private screening in Auckland.
By Michelle Curran
Executive Communications Manager, Pasifika TV/PCBL
The Pacific, and its rich array of stories are in the limelight as the pilot Aotearoa New Zealand Pacific Regional Media Fund (ANZPRMF) wraps up.
Six films were produced as part of the unique initiative launched in 2024, between Aotearoa-based Pacific producers, and Pacific-based producers and broadcasters, with aims to encourage more Pacific storytelling, by Pacific storytellers.
Funded by NZ On Air and supported by Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Limited (PCBL), most of the ANZPRMF projects have been launched over the past few months in respective Pacific countries.
As part of the recent PCBL Navigating the Digital Landscape Conference, all the trailers were shown to an enraptured audience at a private screening, in Auckland.
Speaking at the event, Nicole Rex Taofinu’u, General Manager, Pasifika On Air, says she has been involved in the initiative since its inception and is hugely proud of how the producers collaborated to deliver exceptional content.
“There are so many brilliant storytellers and creatives throughout the Pacific and by providing extra resources, their talent has shone through,” Nicole says.
New Zealand and Pacific-based producers attended the Auckland screening, along with guests such as Niuean actor Alex Tarrant, who appears in Descendants of Niue – Tau Hologa Niue, a co-production between Kingston Productions and the Broadcasting Corporation of Niue (BCN).
Alex is among five Niueans, who explore their identity and heritage in the five-part documentary series.
He says being part of the series, and returning to Niue to explore his roots, has been a cathartic and special experience for him, and his family.
Meanwhile, Nicole says outcomes from the ANZPRMF initiative have exceeded expectations, with the likes of The War Below: Restoring Hope in the Solomon Islands winning the Prix Demain/ ’Ananahi (Future/Tomorrow Prize) at the 23rd Festival International du Film Océanien (FIFO) in Tahiti, in February 2026.
The War Below is directed by Sāmoan BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Tuki Laumea (Nine Islands Media), and co-produced by Tuki Laumea, Elizabeth Osifelo (SILMA), and Cleo Fraser (Nine Islands Media), who are trying to put the film forward to show at as many festivals as possible.
“The quality of the storytelling is really exciting for the future of all the Pasifika producers that were involved in this kaupapa,” Nicole says.
Three of the six projects, including Descendants of Niue – Tau Hologa Niue, Aitutaki: A Changing Tide, and Love and Kastom can now be viewed on Pasifikatv.co.nz, within Aotearoa.