Tinā

Miki Magasiva's debut feature follows a Samoan woman who lost her daughter in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and takes a job as a substitute teacher at an elite private school. Mareta finds students there with no guidance and no care, and starts a choir. The template is familiar: the outsider teacher transforms the privileged children. What separates this film from the template is placing Samoan culture, language and music at the centre, and refusing to reduce the teacher's grief to a motivating device. Anapela Polataivao's performance carries the entire weight, holding hardness and tenderness in the same scene. The film became an unexpected box office success in New Zealand, ranking among the country's highest grossing, and won audience awards at the Palm Springs and Seattle festivals. The dose of emotional manipulation is high and the ending ties off too neatly. Who it's for: viewers interested in Pacific Islander cinema, choir films and New Zealand production. Who it's not for: anyone avoiding content about grief and earthquakes, or who will find the inspirational-teacher template exhausted.