The Land Has Eyes

The first feature film set and shot on the Fiji islands, more specifically the small island of Rotuma with 2500 inhabitants. Vilsoni Hereniko, born on Rotuma, was previously best-known as a writer of children’s books and writer and director of plays. The budget for the film, less than one million dollars, was brought together by Hereniko and his wife Jeannette Paulson (one of the founders of the Hawaii Film Festival) and by several donations of money and goods. The film was largely shot with a cheap digital video camera. The Land Has Eyes is set in the time of Hereniko’s childhood, just before Fiji became independent from the United Kingdom in 1970. The story is about the young Viki, who wants to clear the name of her father. He has been unjustly accused of a crime by the British authorities. The girl resists the colonial Christian values imposed on them and prefers to be inspired by the local mythical figure of the Warrior Woman, played by Rena Owen (well-known from Once Were Warriors). This Warrior Woman gives Viki the power she needs. This female primeval power is one of the themes of the film, alongside for instance imperialism. The title comes from the island wisdom that `the land has eyes and teeth and the land knows the truth.’