Vilsoni Hereniko (born October 13, 1954) is a Rotuman playwright , film director and academic . He was the writer and director of Rotuma's first ever (and so far only) feature film , The Land Has Eyes (Pear ta ma 'on maf ).
Biography
Hereniko is a Rotuman , born in Mea village, Hapmak, Itu'ti'u District, Rotuma , Fiji. He was schooled in his native Rotuma, obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Graduate Certificate in Education from the University of the South Pacific in 1997, a Master's degree in Education at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne , and, in 1991, a PhD in literature and language at the University of the South Pacific.[ 1] [ 2] He is now a professor at the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa , where he teaches literature, theatre and film.[ 1]
Career
Literary
Hereniko published his first plays in the mid-1970s, including Don't Cry Mama , A Child For Iva , Sera's Choice and The Monster . In 1997 he received the Elliott Cades Writing Award for his overall contributions to literature.[ 1]
Film
Hereniko has served on the jury and selection committee of the Hawai‘i International Film Festival . The Land Has Eyes , set in his native Rotuma, was his first feature film, in 2004. It was presented at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004,[ 3] and was Rotuma's official submission to the 2006 Academy Awards.[ 4] It received the "Best Overall Entry" award at the 2005 Wairoa Maori Film Festival , and the "Best Dramatic Feature" award at the 2004 ImagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival .[ 5]
Filmography
Bibliography
Two Plays , 1987, ISBN 982-02-0015-6
The monster and other plays , 1989, ISBN 982-02-0028-8
The wicked cat , 1991, ISBN 982-01-0073-9
Last virgin in paradise: A serious comedy , 1993, ISBN 982-02-0084-9
Woven Gods: Female Clowns and Power in Rotuma , 1995, ISBN 0-8248-1655-2
Sina & Tinilau , 1997 (children's book), ISBN 982-02-0127-6
Inside Out: Literature, Cultural Politics, and Identity in the New Pacific , 1999 (as co-editor), ISBN 0-8476-9142-X
References
External links
International National Other