How many Pacific-made or led films, excluding those featuring Dwayne Johnson or Jason Momoa, have you watched?

Every year, more of our stories are showcased in cinemas or added to the Netflix lineup, and we love to promote anything that highlights our people, culture, and humour.

I will admit that there are a number of Pacific movies I haven’t seen yet. To avoid “doom scrolling” on social media, I’ve decided to watch one of these films each month this year.

After reading through the lists curated by Pacific creatives on Rotten Tomatoes and BuzzFeed, I compiled my top picks for 2025.

So, grab some popcorn and M&Ms, and let’s go through 10 must-see films that celebrate the rich and diverse storytelling of the Pacific.

10. Tanna (2015)

Tanna is a ni-Vanuatu film based on a true story that explores a forbidden love affair between Wawa and Dain, members of rival tribes on the island of Tanna. When tribal conflicts and traditional customs dictate that Wawa must marry someone from an opposing tribe to secure peace, the lovers defy their elders and flee together, sparking a tragic series of events. The film highlights themes of love, loyalty, and the tension between cultural tradition and personal freedom.

9. For My Father’s Kingdom (2019)

This Tongan documentary follows the journey of Saia Mafile'o, a pensioner and devout Christian father whose unwavering commitment to his faith and cultural obligations forces his family to grapple with questions of identity, sacrifice, and generational duty. Directed by Saia’s daughter Vea, it explores the burdens of financial and familial sacrifices made to support his church in Tonga. For My Father’s Kingdom takes audiences into the real and raw emotions of generational cultural tension and the push and pull of two worlds. Like all families, it tells the story of resilient strength through unconditional love.

8. Sione’s Wedding (2006)

Everyone loves a throwback movie filled with quotes that define my generation's way of speaking (wow, I feel old!). Sione’s Wedding is pure nostalgia. This comedy-drama set in Auckland follows four rowdy Sāmoan friends notorious for causing mayhem. They are banned from their best friend's wedding unless they can each bring a respectable date. Their chaotic journey to find a partner leads to humorous and heartfelt moments, forcing them to confront issues of maturity, love, and responsibility. Although I’ve seen it a couple of times, it’s still ridiculously hilarious and reminds me of my mischievous friends from university days.

7. There Once Was an Island: Te Henua e Noho (2010)

A powerful documentary that follows the lives of the Takuu people, a Polynesian community in Papua New Guinea, facing the devastating impacts of rising sea levels on their small atoll. The film captures their struggle to preserve their culture and their decision to either leave their ancestral home or adapt to the environmental changes. It poses the question: Who will stay? Who will save them from the ever-rising sea? This documentary is an epic, universal portrait of the real threat that rising sea levels present to our Pacific people.

6. Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree (1989)

Photo/NZ Film Commission

Adapted from two works by the writer Tusitala Albert Wendt, this film was shot by a largely amateur crew, and that’s part of what attracts me to it. On the Sāmoan island of Sapepe, the rebellious prankster Pepe rejects imported Christianity and declares himself a descendant of the old gods, setting him on a path of alienation and conflict. Caught between his traditional upbringing and the allure of a freer, more modern lifestyle, Pepe grapples with cultural conflict, identity, and colonial influence to find his place in the world.

5. No. 2 (2005)

Set over the course of one eventful day, No.2 tells a contemporary, big-hearted, and exuberant story about what it takes to bring an estranged family back together. Nanna Maria is a fiery Fijian matriarch living in Aotearoa who demands a family feast be held to name her successor. The grandchildren reluctantly turn up, but as the day progresses, their preparations unravel into chaos, and an outraged Nanna calls the whole thing off. For anyone with a headstrong Nan like me, this could definitely strike a chord.

4. Leitis in Waiting (2018)

This documentary is a story about Joey Mataele and the Tongan leitis, an intrepid group of native transgender women who are fighting against the rising tide of religious fundamentalism and intolerance in their South Pacific Kingdom. Follow Mataele, a devoted Catholic of noble ancestry, as she organises a beauty pageant hosted by a princess, provides refuge to a young contestant shunned by her family, and battles American-funded evangelicals working to reinstate colonial-era laws that criminalise leiti existence.

3. The Orator (2011)

As someone who advocates for language preservation, I admit that I haven’t seen this iconic Sāmoan film, which is why it’s high on the watchlist. The film explores the Fa’a Sāmoa way of life through the story of Saili, a little person who works as a taro farmer and lives in exile with his wife and daughter. This tale of courage and resilience follows Saili as he must find the strength to defend his land, family, and mana in a society where status and oratory define power.

2. Rapanui (1994)

I’ll start with a disclaimer: my grandfather plays Ariki Mau, the “king” of one of the tribes depicted in the film, so I might be a bit biased. Nevertheless, Rapanui is the first and only movie about this small island country. It tells the story of boyhood friends who become fierce rivals over the same woman. They compete to win her hand in marriage and to lead the island leadership in a gruelling tribal contest. But their rivalry leads to a brutal civil war, and the fate of the isolated island hangs in the balance. The film explores the societal and ecological downfall caused by deforestation, overpopulation, and political strife while also highlighting a fictional creation story of the Moai statues (cue my Koro).

1. Lilo & Stitch (2002)

Rounding out my top picks is Lilo & Stitch, which serves as a nostalgic hug for my inner child. More importantly, I’m paying tribute to the original Pacific “Disney Princess”, Nani. Many of us know the story about an alien experiment gone wrong who escapes his galactic home, landing on the island paradise of Kaua’i, Hawai’i. Adopted by the lonely yet highly eccentric Lilo, they bond over Elvis Presley and their shared feeling of not belonging. But the unsung hero of the film, depicting true sacrifice, love, and determination, is Lilo’s older sister, Nani. At 17, she suddenly becomes the parental figure, and her character is one of the few females in Disney that doesn’t revolve around a romance plot or being a “damsel in distress”. Honestly, I relate to the film on a deeper level as an adult, and I just hope the live-action version gives Nani the recognition she deserves.