5.1. Tattooing at the Sacred Center of the Earth
52 min. ASCC Samoan Studies Inst. © 2005
(1999 International Tatau Convention in Samoa) Documents the five-day Convention in November 1999, capturing the event from beginning to end,
as it moves from Apia, to Savaii and to other parts of Samoa. Includes interviews with participants and sections on Samoan, Hawaiian, Maori,
and European tattooing, and the cultural meanings associated. Features Samoan art forms, legends and entertainments, and discussions about cultural borrowing
and appropriation.
5.2. Tatau: What One Must Do
27 min. A Flying Fox Film. © 1995 Micah Van der Ryn
(Revitalization of Samoan tattooing, and transplantation to USA.) This documentary focuses on the traditional Samoan tatau (tattoo)
and its contemporary revitalization, exploring both traditional roles and meanings within traditional Samoan society and
newer meanings it serves for Samoan identity within a globalizing world. Shot in both Samoa and in Los Angeles,
the film follows several Samoans as they pursue their quest to undergo the painful ritual, some back in Samoa and others in Los Angeles.
This film examines a Samoan tradition and its continued importance within contemporary contexts and issues.
5.6. Tufuga Samoa, Samoan Tapa Maker
30 min. © KVZK-TV.
(Traditional Samoan Art Forms ) This film, produced as part of the artists of America profile series, has two programs.
The first features Ve’a, the tufuga, a master maker of the va’a alo, (Samoan bonito fishing outrigger canoe).
The film documents Ve’a and his workers building a va’a alo from cutting the tree to the final launching on Ta’u Island in Manu’a.
No one is making the va’a alo anymore and this film carefully documents how it is made, and some of the traditional ceremonies that go with its construction.
The second film features Mary Pritchard, a famous tapa maker in the history of American Samoa, as she discusses and explains the tapa art she produces,
its traditional basis in Samoan culture, and her own inspirations within the art form. (no date given, but appears to be from the 1960’s)
5.7. Ili Samoa / Tama'i Fala
10 min. ASCC Samoan Studies Inst © 2010
A student project of SAM 151, Instructor, Alofa Nuusila. Shows the process of preparing and producing a Samoan fan using the young new coconut leaf frond,
as student learned the process from a Samoan elder.
Edited Video Programs