One Thousand Ropes
Set against the grey backdrop of a Wellington suburb, this film describes the effects of a violent history and the discrimination experienced by many Samoan migrants during the 1970s. Somehow, the past is always present. Intimate close-ups of faces, hands and bellies being massaged convey how pleasure and pain, and individual and collective histories are all felt in the body. Juxtaposing quietness with moments of violent outbursts and animated sequences, director Tusi Tamasese and cinematographer Leon Narbey have created a visually evocative story of one man’s attempt to address his past wrongs in order to build a more hopeful future.
With
- Frankie Adams (Ilisa)
- Uelese Petaia (Maea)
- Sima Urale (Seipua)
Crew
Written and Directed by | Tusi Tamasese |
Cinematography | Leon Narbey |
Editing | Annie Collins |
Music | Tim Prebble |
Sound Design | Tom Scott-Toft |
Production Design | Shayne Radford |
Costumes | Nic Smillie |
Make-Up | Frankie Karena |
Producer | Catherine Fitzgerald |
Executive Producers | Andrew Mackie, Richard Payten |
World sales
Mongrel International
Produced by
Blueskin Films
Tusi Tamasese
Born in Samoa in 1975, he studied social sciences at the University of Waikato before graduating from the New Zealand Film & Television School. He went on to take a master’s in screenwriting at the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University in Wellington where he now lives with his wife and three children. His film O Le Tulafale (The Orator) screened in the Berlinale’s NATIVe – A Journey into Indigenous Cinema programme in 2013; One Thousand Ropes premiered in Panorama in 2017.
Filmography
2009 Va Tapuia (Sacred Spaces) 2011 O Le Tulafale (The Orator) 2013 Venice 70: Future Reloaded 2017 One Thousand Ropes; Panorama
Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019