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| A LOOK BACK: CSULB Pacific Islanders Association Event Film Screening of "The Land Has Eyes" with Q&A Session |
REVIEW: Dr. Vilsoni Hereniko's Eyes, Teeth, Insight, and
Truth
by Pita G. Taase, Staff Writer
November 8, 2009 – Long Beach – Dr. Vilsoni Hereniko was in town to present his 2004
film, “The Land Has Eyes” to an audience of students at California State University, Long
Beach on Saturday, November 7th. Dr. Hereniko was joined by his wife, Jeanette, who
served as a producer to the film and together led one of the more impressive dialogues
the CSULB Pacific Islanders Association has been involved in for quite some time. Before
the film, Dr. Hereniko introduced it as a “semi-autobiographical” story intended for the
people from Rotuma.
“Rotuma?,” you ask. For many in the predominantly Pacific Islander student audience,
Dr. Hereniko’s introduction of the film is the first time the word Rotuma has been spoken
into their existence. The island of Rotuma is located 465 km north of Fiji. For the
American audience, that’s approximately 289 miles north of Fiji. (See Fig 1) The story
takes place before an airport was established. This translates to a 3-days / 3 nights trip
by sea to get to Rotuma from Fiji. Finally, Hereniko points out that although Rotuma is
politically part of Fiji, the people are said to draw their origins from Samoa. (Howard,
2009)
Truth
by Pita G. Taase, Staff Writer
November 8, 2009 – Long Beach – Dr. Vilsoni Hereniko was in town to present his 2004
film, “The Land Has Eyes” to an audience of students at California State University, Long
Beach on Saturday, November 7th. Dr. Hereniko was joined by his wife, Jeanette, who
served as a producer to the film and together led one of the more impressive dialogues
the CSULB Pacific Islanders Association has been involved in for quite some time. Before
the film, Dr. Hereniko introduced it as a “semi-autobiographical” story intended for the
people from Rotuma.
“Rotuma?,” you ask. For many in the predominantly Pacific Islander student audience,
Dr. Hereniko’s introduction of the film is the first time the word Rotuma has been spoken
into their existence. The island of Rotuma is located 465 km north of Fiji. For the
American audience, that’s approximately 289 miles north of Fiji. (See Fig 1) The story
takes place before an airport was established. This translates to a 3-days / 3 nights trip
by sea to get to Rotuma from Fiji. Finally, Hereniko points out that although Rotuma is
politically part of Fiji, the people are said to draw their origins from Samoa. (Howard,
2009)
Fig.1 - Cover Art (USA, 2005, 87 minutes)
Image courtesy of www.thelandhaseyes.com
Image courtesy of www.thelandhaseyes.com
Fig.2 - Dr. Vilsoni and Jeanette Hereniko
(Photo courtesy of www.thelandhaseyes.com)
(Photo courtesy of www.thelandhaseyes.com)
Fig.3. Map showing the location of Rotuma with respect to Fiji, New Zealand, and Samoa.