SLIFF 2017 Review – TANNA

TANNA will screen at Plaza Frontenac Cinema (Lindbergh Blvd. and Clayton Rd, Frontenac, MO 63131) as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival. Showings are Saturday, November 4th, at 12:05pm (purchase tickets HERE) and Friday, November 10th, at 4:40pm (purchase tickets HERE).

TANNA is a gripping tale of adventure and star-crossed love on a beautiful Pacific island. Based on a true story of the Yakel people and performed by them, this stirring, moving drama offers intriguing insights into the culture and history of these island people through a story of two people, a tale that has a little of both James Fenimore Cooper and Shakespeare.

Beautifully shot by co-director Bentley Dean, the script was written by co-director , Martin Butler and John Collee with the help of the Yakel. Visually stunning, TANNA immerses us in a lovely green natural setting, a Pacific Island paradise where the happy, peaceful lives of a little village seems untouched by time.

The people of this village call themselves Tanna. We see images of the happy, peaceful Tanna people of the village smiling and laughing as they go about their daily chores. The forest village looks lush and idyllic, with happy, singing children in grass skirts playing, but the film opens with text on-screen noting that “since time began” elders have arranged marriages, so there is a little foreboding under the idyllic setting.

The story is told partly through the eyes of a mischievous little girl named Selin (Marceline Rofit). Selin is the younger sister of pretty teen Wawa (Marie Wawa), who is secretly meeting the chief’s handsome grandson Dain (Mungau Dain) in the forest. The two are just talking and flirting, but a romance between them is forbidden. Girls are supposed to marry outside their village, and all marriages are arranged by the elders, following their tradition of beliefs and rules, called the “Kastom Road.” When Wawa catches little Selin spying on them, she asks her sister not to tell their parents. Selin, who looks to be about seven, is a bit of a rebellious child, running off to play instead of doing chores like her parents ask, and pranking playmates. It isn’t clear if she will do what her sister asks.

Breaking the rules is a serious offense in this traditional village, where family and community mean everything, not just emotional connection but the ability to simply live. The women wear long grass skirts and the men wear loin cloth-like coverings made of woven grass, and adults wear headbands variously made of grass, leaves or feathers. The huts they sleep in, under grass blankets, are thatched and cooking is often outside and communal.

Everything in the village is gentle and peaceful, and children are scolded but not punished. Waka’s mother Yowayin (Linette Yowayin) and feisty grandmother (Dadwa Mungau) tease and joke as they prepare the teen for the ceremony that will proclaim her a women, telling her a marriage soon will be arranged for her with another village. Meanwhile, Wawa’s father, worried about his wild second daughter, asks her grandfather (Albi Kowia), who is also the village shaman, to take her in hand. Grandfather takes Selin to visit a sacred place, Yahul, where their deity lives, which turns out to be an active volcano.

The time period of this story is not clear, but there are no signs of the modern in this village. It is some time after Capt. Cook landed there, as Selin’s shaman grandfather points out the landing spot from a hilltop. He tells her many villages have converted to Christianity and left traditional ways, but not the Tanna people, who still follow the “Kastom Road.”

Yet, the Tannas’ peaceful life is distupted by a neighboring enemy tribe, the Imedin, whose new attack brings the prospect of war.

The story that unfolds is gripping stuff, drama heightened by the beautiful setting, a strong script of romance and conflict, and the surprisingly good performances by the actors. Young Marceline Rofit as Selin is particularly effective, often staring into the camera with a mix of playful charm and wisdom beyond her years.

TANNA is a completely winning film, packed with beautiful images, sprinkled with insights into a remarkable culture and a moving and engrossing story that is both specific to that them and universal.