Following its successful launch at the World Cinema Showcase, An Island Calling, a new feature documentary produced and directed by Annie Goldson will open in cinemas in Auckland (Academy) and Wellington (Paramount) for a theatrical run. The film season will begin in both centres on April 17th 2008.

An Island Calling explores a double gay murder in Suva, Fiji in 2001. Fiji Red Cross Director-General John Scott and his partner Greg Scrivener were murdered in the name of God by a young indigenous man. In the process of exploring this incident, An Island Calling tells a postcolonial tale of a country deeply divided along tribal, class and ethnic lines.

Following its successful launch at the World Cinema Showcase, An Island Calling, a new feature documentary produced and directed by Annie Goldson will open in cinemas in Auckland (Academy) and Wellington (Paramount) for a theatrical run. The film season will begin in both centres on April 17th 2008.

An Island Calling explores a double gay murder in Suva, Fiji in 2001. Fiji Red Cross Director-General John Scott and his partner Greg Scrivener were murdered in the name of God by a young indigenous man. In the process of exploring this incident, An Island Calling tells a postcolonial tale of a country deeply divided along tribal, class and ethnic lines.

The premiere of the film was opened by Helen Clark and played to full audiences during the Showcase Festival. It is continuing its festival run in Christchurch and Dunedin towards the end of April.

An Island Calling has also been accepted into competition at the Hotdocs International Documentary Film Festival held in Toronto at the end of April, one of 40 international works selected from over 1200.

It has already been described as "One of the most memorable films at the Festival" by Toronto critics, Sholem Krishtalka and Jon Davies.

The film also been accepted into two other major international festivals, which are currently embargoed but will announce their line-ups soon.

Length: 78 minutes
Director/Producer: Annie Goldson
Co-producer/Research:Theresa Koroivulaono
Screenplay/Presenter: Owen Scott
Photography: Wayne Vinten
Editor: Eric de Beus, Bill Toepfer
Music: David Long, Calvin Rore
Consultant: Theresa Koroivulaono
Archivist: Briar March
The film was commissioned and funded by TV3 and NZOA, with additional funding from SBS and the Sundance Documentary Institute. A shorter version of the film, titled Tabu Soro: Murder in the Pacific, will air on TV3 later this year

Press reviews

"As always, Annie Goldson's clear, calm story telling is structured for revelation without sensation. The camera - captures the beauty and the personality behind the faces we see." -- Helene Wong, The Listener.

"Powerful" -- The Sunday Star-Times

"Brilliant" -- Bill Gosden, programmer at World Cinema Showcase, "Annie Goldson's bracingly level-headed film fixes their horrific deaths within Fiji's volatile heritage of colonial privilege, evangelical Christianity, immigrant work force and indigenous entitlement."

Photo: Fiji Red Cross Director-General John Scott being "escorted" from Fiji's Parliament building, 2000.

14/04/08