Testimony

A 50-year-old family secret makes national news when a Tongan man finally speaks out about his experience of the dawn raids. 

Set to give evidence at the first Pacific Hearing for the Abuse in Care Inquiry, a Tongan man must relive the part he played in his parent’s arrest.

We need your support to tell this very important story on Loading Docs’ award-winning platform.

THE FILM

Testimony explores the journey of a 66 year-old Tongan man as he reflects on a five-minute event that occurred when he was 20; a moment forgotten by the public, but a memory which changed his family forever. 

The story begins in the 1970s with a simple game of pool, interrupted by two police officers asking for their passports. As a young man, our subject was here in New Zealand on a medical visa but this matters little to the officers who demand his home address, which our subject reluctantly gives. It is this simple action which leads to a lifetime of pain and sorrow as he and his family are dawn raided, and his parents unjustly thrown in prison. 

Our documentary subject shared his testimony last year at The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, Pacific Hearing. This was an opportunity to hear the experiences of Pasifika people who had experienced abuse in state and religious care. For our subject, it was the first time in 50 years that he spoke about what happened to him and his family during the Dawn Raids of the 1970’s.

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During the 1970’s, the government sanctioned the dawn raids which saw scores of police officers raiding Pacific homes in the early hours of the morning in search of overstayers. These events were traumatic for Pacific communities and very rarely have they been given the chance to speak about their experiences. Testimony will explore the mental, emotional and physical impacts the raids had on these communities through the eyes of our documentary subject. 

OUR TEAM

Alice Lolohea is currently working as a Journalist and Director for TVNZ1’s Tagata Pasifika programme. Sandra Kailahi co-created, co-wrote and produced the Tongan bilingual drama web series, Brutal Lives – Mo’ui Faingata’a and is about to start production on the second series. Both the director and producer are personally connected to our subject’s story as daughters of Pacific migrants and children of those directly affected by the dawn raids.

THE TARGET

We need your support to tell this story on Loading Docs’ award-winning platform to develop New Zealand filmmaking talent. We need to raise a minimum of $3,500 through Boosted. This money will be used to hire the best crew and gear to help us with our filming. 

Once we reach our minimum target, it will unlock funding from Loading Docs. But, this is an all or nothing campaign. If we don’t reach our target, we get nothing! That’s why we need your help.

How can you help? Donate, share this link, tell your friends and family about this campaign, we’d really appreciate it.

Loading Docs is funded by NZ On Air with support from New Zealand Film Commission and Te Māngai Pāho. 

THE FILMMAKERS 

Alice Lolohea – Director

Alice (Tongan) is currently working as a Journalist and Director for TVNZ1’s Tagata Pasifika programme. Covering a wide variety of issues, Alice directed the show’s half-hour special for the Polynesian Panthers 50th anniversary. She has also directed numerous stories for the show’s online platform, including the 6-part Te Maeva Nui series Araura Enua: Road to Te Maeva Nui. 

Sandra Kailahi - Producer

Sandra (Tongan/Kiwi) co-produced the documentary film, For My Father’s Kingdom which had its World Premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in 2019 and won Best Documentary at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. She also produced The Messiah and the Loading Docs film, Meet Munch Jnr. Sandra also co-created, co-wrote and produced the Tongan bilingual drama web series, Brutal Lives – Mo’ui Faingata’a and is about to start production on the second series. 

John Pulu - Cultural Advisor

John (Tongan/Fijian) is the face and co-host of TVNZ1’s Tagata Pasifika programme, where he has been a Journalist and Director for over 10 years. John also hosts the Radio 531pi Tongan afternoon show on Wednesdays and has worked as a cultural advisor on a number of film/television projects, including the Briar March-directed documentary on Dame Valerie Adams.