Middle-aged Maea is a gentle Samoan man in Wellington who helps bring babies into the world. It’s a far cry from the past when he was a tough fighter known as ‘The Lion’. Maea lost his family long ago and now lives with painful memories and a volatile spirit that lingers in his house and won’t let him forget. When his estranged daughter shows up pregnant and distressed Maea is presented with an opportunity to begin the healing process. The second film by Samoan New Zealander Tusi Tamasese (The Orator) is both tender and tough. The immediate and illuminating perspective is Samoan, but the broad and richly rewarding emotional terrain is universal.

Director, Screenwriter: Tusi Tamasese
Producer: Catherine Fitzgerald
Cast: Frankie Adams, Uelese Petaia, Sima Urale
Distributor: Transmission Films

Director Tusi Tamasese will be joining this screening as a guest of the Sydney Film Festival.