Posted on: Friday, September 17, 2004
Cinema Paradise screens 'Land'
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
"The Land Has Eyes," a film by Honolulu residents Vilsoni Hereniko and Jeannette Paulson Hereniko, screens at 6 p.m. today at the Varsity Theatre — as part of Cinema Paradise, opening tonight.
Te Maka Productions If past festival flurry is a barometer, sell-out audiences are anticipated.
The film had its world-premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and since has played to packed theaters in festivals in Rotterdam, Brisbane, Moscow and the Montreal World Film Festival. It also closed the Hawaii International Film Festival's "Spring Fling" and enjoyed full houses in Fiji and Palau during the recent Pacific Arts Festival, held once very four years.
After Cinema Paradise, the Herenikos head for New York for screenings Sept. 30 and Oct. 1-2 at the Smithsonian's Museum of the American Indian on One Bowling Green.
The latest print features new music composed by Audy Kimura.
After that, although festival offers still pour in, the couple is saying, "Enough already," and they plan to remain in Honolulu for some rest — until 2005.
The first feature to be set and shot in Fiji, "Land" tells the story of a young girl, Viki, whose father has been unjustly accused of a crime by British colonial authorities. The film is set just before Fiji became independent from the United Kingdom in 1970.
"The Land has Eyes," made by Honolulu residents Vilsoni Hereniko and Jeannette Paulson Hereniko, is set in Fiji, where it was filmed. The film has drawn international attention.
