VC Connect #6: Past Pasifika

Welcome to VC CONNECT, an online destination through which just some of the hundreds of films and media productions created by Visual Communications can be found for your enjoyment. Featured films include some of our VC Classics, as well as films made in the Digital Histories production program for older adults and the Armed With a Camera Fellowship for Emerging Artists. Each week, we’ll roll out a new batch, specially themed for our audience’s diverse cinematic palate. Click here to watch the complete showcase.

The next few releases are special, as these works will be part of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Virtual Showcase in May. The LAAPFF Virtual Showcase aims to highlight artists whose stories are critical at this moment. From celebrating our histories and cultures, to mobilizing our communities to be socially and politically active, we are looking forward to presenting FREE films and panels to keep us connected. We will be hosting Monday Nite VC, where we discuss these films with the Visual Communications family.

Past Pasifika

As Visual Communications celebrates 50 years, we look back at VC Classic films centered around our Native Hawaian & Pacific Islander communities. On Monday, May 11, 2020 at 5 pm PT, join Visual Communications and friends for a Monday Nite VC event in an engaging conversation about how they utilize media to build, connect, and empower communities. Click here to learn more.

OMAI FA'ATASI: SAMOA MO SAMOA (1978) by Takashi Fujii
One of the crown jewels of Visual Communications’ landmark video docu-drama series “Hidden Treasures,” OMAI FA’ATASI profiles the Samoan American youth development organization of L.A.’s South Bay communities, and unveils the history of Samoan migration to America. Offering a crucial voice to the perspectives and aspirations of Samoan American youths and young adults, OMAI FA’ATASI provides a glimpse into a largely misunderstood community whose members strive to become integrated into American society without losing their traditions and values.

VAITAFE: RUNNING WATER (1981) by Takashi Fujii and Foe Alo, Jr.
Vaitafe is a gifted Samoan student who comes to Southern California to pursue his goal of higher education, but encounters numerous obstacles standing in the way of academic success. Through Samoan traditions of fa’alavelaves (family concerns), the bonding of family, church and community in the Fa’a Samoa spirit of mutual support unite to come to Vaitafe’s aid. A fictional follow-up to Visual Communications’ landmark documentary production OMAI F’ATASI: SAMOA MO SAMOA, VAITAFE is an inspiring story about community support and self-determination.

NA PUA O LAKA (1987) by Rick Chun
NA PUA O LAKA foregrounds the perpetuation of the Hawaiian culture in Southern California. Sissy Ka’io is a kumu hula, or teacher of Hula, who both explains and demonstrates how to teach the Hula. The focus is on her male students, which harks back to the origins of the dance and breaks the stereotype of the hulas as mere exotic entertainment.