5:30pm
Sat, Oct 08
Guam Museum Indoor Theatre
General Admission
$5.00 USD
at the door
(cash only)
LOIMATA The Sweetest Tears
GRAND JURY AWARD NOMINEE – BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
New Zealand | 95 min. | Guam Premiere
Documentary, Cultural, Social Issues, Family | GIFF Guide: Parental Guidance – some material may be inappropriate for children under 13
Synopsis
Director Anna Marbrook honours the last voyage of the great waka maker, sailor and mentor Ema Siope, whose journeys between Aotearoa and Sāmoa in search of healing, and her family’s reckoning with systemic abuse, are powerfully documented.
The redemptive tale of waka builder and captain Lilo Ema Siope’s final years, the stunning LOIMATA, The Sweetest Tears is a chronicle of journeys – journeys of migration, spirituality, voyaging, healing and coming home. Confronting intergenerational trauma head on, the Siope family returns to their homeland of Sāmoa. For Ema’s father, this is his first time back to his birthplace since leaving in 1959. The result is a poignant yet tender story of a family’s unconditional love for each other, and a commitment to becoming whole again.
Screenings and Awards
Grand Prix France Televisions FIFO Film Festival; Winner Best New Zealand Documentary 2021 NZTV Awards
Anna Marbrook (Producer, Writer, Director)
Anna has a directing career spanning nearly 30 years and has directed extensively across the Pacific. Her work connects media with social change and activates communities in both process and presentation. She has forged a highly collaborative approach to story and has partnered with key community leaders to develop rich storytelling projects. She created and series directed the 10-part Waka Warriors and co-directed the feature documentary Te Mana o Te Moana, the Pacific Voyagers, winner of a silver world medal at the New York Film and TV awards. She created and series-directed Real Pasifik Season 1 and 2 for TVNZ – both finalists in the New York Film and TV awards.
In 2018 Anna created Waka Odyssey with Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr and Kasia Pol and directed the NZ Festival Opening , drawing a live audience of 20,000 and 200,000 online viewers of the live feed. 50,000 visitors participated in the event over its nine-day duration. In March 2019 this event won best Arts or Cultural Event 2018 at the National Events Awards and was nominated for a Wellington City Award.
For TV3’s Inside New Zealand she wrote and directed the one-hour documentary A Little Love Story. With Scottie Productions she directed Te Araroa Tales From The Trails, which was a finalist in the NZ Film and TV awards 2018. Anna directed over 150 episodes of serial drama Shortland Street. She co-produced short film Jumbo (Auckland, Melbourne and Clairmont Ferrand festivals) and co-directed short film The Rules of Dogs and Men with her brother Jim Marbrook. In theatre, Anna co-founded Theatre at Large, devising and directing both new work and classics including King Lear starring Ian Mune, Rachel House and Miranda Harcourt; Manawa Taua/Savage Hearts with Cliff Curtis and Rachel House; Cyrano de Bergerac with Cameron Rhodes and Jacob Rajan. These works toured New Zealand and international festivals.
Lilo Ema Siope
Fetaui Iosefo
Su’a Malaeulu Muamai Vui Siope
Fuimaono Luse Momoi Faavagaga Siope
Paul M V Siope
Malaeulu Rebekah Luse Rimoni
Leah Purea
Producer/Writer: Jim Marbrook
Executive Producers: Dr Tamasailau Suaalii-Sauni, Dame Gaylene Preston
Cinematographer: Jess Charlton
Editor: Malcolm Clarke
Composer: Matthew Suttor
Sound recordist: John McNicholas
Funding has been provided to Guam International Film Festival, Inc. from Humanities Guåhan and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the federal ARP Act of 2021.