Vai

No woman is an island. She is made up of a whole group of islands, its people, its environment, and their relationship to the land, the past and the present. For Vai, life on the South Pacific Islands is characterised by the constant tension between change and repetition and between moving to different places and returning to the traditions of her ancestors. Her world lies somewhere between Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Fiji, the Cook Islands, Niue and Aotearoa, and it is shaped by environmental threats, isolation, scarcity of resources and a tense relationship to New Zealand. Everywhere she goes, Vai is someone else, and yet she carries within her the experiences of many women. This delicate portrait of Vai’s life journey celebrates the strength of female kinship, of community, and a sense of responsibility for future generations. Interweaving the tender relationships that exist between women of all ages and their intimate ties to nature, the women’s collective behind this film describe a way forward that makes it possible to honour those who came before without becoming trapped in the past. (Berlinale)