Making An Island Calling

The story behind An Island Calling has a complex moral nature, which has made it a fascinating and challenging film to produce. Fiji is a group of islands known for its extraordinary beauty, a romantic tourist destination. But it is a highly complex culture, fissured by its colonial history, cultural differences, poverty and religious beliefs.

I attempt to address this complexity through exploring the context surrounding the violent incident at the film's heart -- the double murder of a gay couple by a younger indigenous friend of theirs. I needed to be highly sensitive to the family members of "both sides" as I negotiated the process of filmmaking. In addition, soon after I began shooting the film, Fiji's fourth coup erupted, complicating matters further.

An Island Calling is the only recent film to address Fiji's fascinating history and culture, using the intimate story of two families to do so. But the themes and conflicts it engages with - indigenous rights and colonial histories, minority rights, class differences, homosexuality, homophobia and fundamentalism - are relevant the world over. I have received significant funding from local funders, New Zealand on Air as well as from Australian (SBS-TV Australia), and US sources (Sundance Documentary Institute) indicating that even before completion, the universalities, as well as the specificities, of the film were appreciated.

I am trying to reach a broad-based educational and activist audience through film festivals, theatrical releases, television and DVD distribution. I have produced a number of documentaries in New Zealand Aotearoa, such as Punitive Damage, Georgie Girl, Sheilas: 28 Years On, Pacific Solution: from Afghanistan to Aotearoa, and Elgar's Enigma that have found significant international audiences as well as resonating at home. I aim to make accessible works that do not, I hope, compromise their political vision and believe that this new film will achieve these goals.

- Annie Goldson, Director and Producer