Pasifika On Air (POA) is a funding programme for Pacific broadcasters to create and tell their own stories. Funded by Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Limited (PCBL), it is the first initiative of its kind, empowering Pasifika broadcasters to share local stories on a global stage. Working closely with Sunpix, broadcasters across the Pacific wrote, rewrote, shot, and edited a series of stories to share with the world.
MaiTV, the team pictured above, created two shows as part of the Pasifika On Air programme: We Shall Rise Again and Frontliners.
We Shall Rise Again is comprised of five 7-minute vignettes showing individuals coping in the face of Covid 19. Each story focuses on an individual’s reaction to the pain and suffering caused by the pandemic showing how they managed to triumph against the odds. Ranging from picking up the pieces of losing family to rediscovering traditional methods of art, We Shall Rise Again is an intimate look at the lives of five determined individuals.
Frontliners is a series of 5 longer format episodes that looks at the wider community response to the pandemic. The stories cover a range of communities during the pandemic, from front line medical teams to the determination of local musicians surviving the pandemic.
Stanley Simpson, produced of both shows, says the process of creating the documentaries was “exciting, education and inspiring.”
Simpson hopes the impact of these documentaries goes far beyond what is shown on screen, hoping people refer to them “long into the future.”
“I was really inspired and touched by the stories we managed to do. They were stories of hope and resilience” says Simpson.
Now that the production of these two shows has finished, Stanley and the team behind them are eagerly looking for the next story to tell.
“It has really inspired us to do more documentaries which is often challenging in Fiji” says Simpson. “It has made us look beyond what is just in front of us to the great stories yet to be told about our people.”
We Shall Rise Again and Frontliners is now airing across the Pacific on PasifikaTV