Film: One Thousand Ropes has its New Zealand premiere
The second film from MA in Creative Writing graduate Tusi Tamasese opens at home, following its world premiere in Berlin.
One Thousand Ropes, the much-anticipated new film from writer/director Tusi Tamasese, began screening in New Zealand today. The film, which follows Tamasese's highly acclaimed debut The Orator | O Le Tulafale, had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February.
One Thousand Ropes tells the story of a traditional midwife and former Samoan fighter seeking atonement for the violence that divided his family, and reconciliation with his pregnant daughter. It's also a kind of ghost story.
Like The Orator, Tamasese's new film is told in both the English and Samoan languages.
The film was warmly received by a packed audience at its Berlin premiere and has been well reviewed, both internationally and at home. The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney described it as quietly powerful and 'deeply felt', while Francesca Rudkin, writing in the NZ Herald, praised the performances, cinematography and minimal soundscape, but above all: 'Tamasese's ability to draw us into a world brimming with culture, complex characters, sadness and hope - a world that lingers in the mind days after viewing.'
Tamasese completed the MA in Creative Writing (Scriptwriting) at Victoria's IIML in 2007, winning that year's David Carson-Parker Embassy Prize in Scriptwriting for the screenplay of The Orator. Read about Tusi's MA experience.