Goldson wins top honours for 'An Island Calling'

Media Release
9 February 2009

Annie Goldson wins top FIFO honours for An Island Calling

Annie Goldson has won the Grand Prix at the 6th Pacific Documentary Film Festival (FIFO, Festival International du Film Océanien) in Tahiti for her acclaimed documentary, *An Island Calling*.

The film 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. Based in part on a book *Deep Beyond the Reef* by John's brother, Owen Scott, *An Island Calling* tells a postcolonial tale of a country deeply divided along tribal, class and ethnic lines.

The jury commended the film for its ability to interweave numerous complex story strands while retaining clarity and great story telling, as well as for its openness and refusal to pass judgement. President of the Jury, Pierre-Henri Deleau said that "the films on offer were impressive, but An Island Calling was the clear winner".

During the award ceremony, Goldson thanked the festival for putting "the Pacific in the center of the world. In other festivals, you often have the impression that our region is on the periphery -- but as this festival testifies, there are a wealth of stories and extraordinary talents in the Pacific that are too often unnoticed".

In addition to the Grand Prix of the Jury, the FIFO awarded three special awards to *River of No Return* (Darlene Johnson, Australia), *Sevrapek City*(Emmanuel Broto and Fabienne Tzerikiantz, France), *The Oasis* (Sascha Ettinger-Epstein and Ian Darling, Australia), and a special prize from the public to *Marquisien, mon frère* (*Marquisian, My Brother*, Jacques Navarri-Rovira, France, French Polynesia). The five films that received awards were selected from 16 documentaries chosen for this year's competition: two other New Zealand works, *From Street to Sky* (Bryn Evans)* *and *Let my Whakapapa Speak* (Tainui Stephens) were included in competition. A further 21 screened out of competition. Nearly 160 films with Pacific themes were received.

The Grand Prix is *An Island Calling'*s sixth award: it also received Best Documentary and Best Director at the Madrid International Film Festival; Winner of Best Documentary and Achievement in Cinematography at the Qantas Film and Television Awards, and the South Pacific Pictures Award for Achievement in Film at the Women in Film and Television (WIFT) Awards.

The broadcast version of *An Island Calling, *titled *Murder in the Pacific, * aired on TV3 late last year. The film is being distributed in North America by Icarus Films (New York) and in Europe and Asia by Java Films (France). It has shown in several other international film festivals, including Hotdocs in Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne, Newfest (New York) and FIPA (France).

View the trailer on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzozLHu_Oxw

www.op.co.nz

ENDS

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