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One of the astir beloved figures successful the Pacific Islander community, Oscar Kightley is an actor, writer, director, comedian, and activist. There's thing this antheral can't do! He co-wrote and starred successful Sione's Wedding, the iconic movie that made Pasifika radical astir the satellite consciousness seen. As a subordinate of the Naked Samoans drama group, helium co-created the award-winning animated bid bro'Town. You tin besides find him successful heartfelt Pasifika movies similar Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Next Goal Wins.
In caller years, his play, Dawn Raids, returned to the stage, educating caller generations astir the favoritism Pasifika radical faced successful New Zealand during the '70s and '80s.
For BuzzFeed’s Voices of the Pacific series, I sat down with Oscar to chat astir the memento helium kept from Sione's Wedding, his favourite facet of Samoan culture, and more.
Editor's note: This interrogation has been edited for magnitude and clarity.
BuzzFeed: Sione’s Wedding is 1 of my favourite Pacific Islander films of each time. The movie has surely cemented its spot successful pop culture — Duck Rockers for life! Did you cognize erstwhile you were penning it that it would crook retired to beryllium specified a large hit?
Oscar Kightley: Well, I wrote it with my palagi [white] friend, James Griffin. He'd seen the Naked Samoans, and helium was asked to travel up with a publication thought that we could each bash [as] a film. None of america had done a movie astatine that stage, and erstwhile we wrote it, we had nary idea. We were conscionable thrilled due to the fact that erstwhile you commencement retired arsenic an histrion successful theater, if you're fortunate enough, you bash a spot of TV, but the imagination is ever to beryllium connected that 50-foot screen. And truthful for us, we were conscionable thrilled to person the accidental to beryllium successful a movie. I had nary idea. But we ever believed successful ourselves, we believed successful our awesome cast, we believed successful our story, and we believed successful the workplace down it. So, it was conscionable exciting. I can't judge it was 20 years agone astir that came out. But we didn't deliberation that it would person the interaction that it went connected to have, inactive beloved adjacent today.
Do you person immoderate favourite behind-the-scenes memories during those days of filming?
I retrieve Robbie [Magasiva] crying hard retired erstwhile we did the past country due to the fact that helium was truthful emotional. We were conscionable truthful hopeless to bash well. We wanted to correspond our families, our cultures. We knew this is an opportunity; particularly down present successful Aotearoa, you don't often get to marque a movie. I conscionable retrieve going to acceptable each day, looking around, seeing my friends, seeing the Naked Samoans, Teuila, Madeleine. We got radical paid to, with lint rollers, locomotion around, and they get each the fluff disconnected your apparel and marque definite that you look nice, and they cheque your teeth aft lunch. We were conscionable afloat buzzing retired connected that. Because erstwhile you commencement retired astatine school, performing and clowning around, you don't truly situation to imagination that 1 time you could bash it connected a bigger stage. I deliberation it took america 30 days to shoot, and each time was conscionable magic.
BuzzFeed: Did you get to support immoderate peculiar mementos aft filming wrapped?
Yeah, I kept my wedding suit from it. They had a large costume merchantability astatine the end; that's the happening that I was given. I thought I'd ne'er get to bash different movie. So, I wanted to support my costume from it. I haven't seen it for a while; I deliberation it's successful the garage.
For galore of america successful the US, Sione’s Wedding was 1 of the archetypal times we saw ourselves represented successful film, truthful it inactive holds specified a peculiar spot successful our hearts! I particularly appreciated however you portrayed Albert due to the fact that helium was a spot nerdy similar me. What connected you to that character?
I wasn't really going to play Albert. All the Naked Samoans auditioned, and I ended up getting the part, and you can't assistance but enactment a spot of yourself successful it. So, I channeled that shy, somewhat insecure [laughs] needing-confidence person. But with each the antithetic characters, from Sefa to Michael to Albert to Stanley, we each tried to correspond a antithetic type. Because often successful our portrayals, you get 1 benignant of Pacific Islander. And so, we wanted to person a bully variety, populate the movie with each antithetic types. But definitely, I connected to Albert's shyness and his insecurity and his emotion for words [laughs].
That's truthful chill that successful the US, young Pacific radical could instrumentality that arsenic representation. It truly speaks to the Pacific diaspora. We're dispersed retired each implicit the globe, but erstwhile our creation comes out, it doesn't substance what state you unrecorded in. If you person things successful common, if you person communal denominators successful your civilization oregon your upbringing oregon your DNA, you tin find that representation. And earlier we got to archer our stories, we'd look to the States, to Black American stories and Latin stories. They were our inspiration erstwhile we were kids. Those were the shows we watched, and truthful that's what fueled our dreams, really, the thought that we could 1 time bash that arsenic well, but for Pacific stories.
Have you ever faced challenges successful your vocation arsenic a Pacific Islander? If so, however did you flooded them?
When we travel to these large countries wherever we go minorities, you get treated similar minorities, and you get the stereotypes. You person each those expectations lumped connected you by the wider population. I can't accidental that being Pacific ever held maine backmost due to the fact that I ever tried to usage that arsenic a strength, due to the fact that that's what I am. I got thing else, and so, that's what I gully on. They accidental erstwhile you're a idiosyncratic of color, you've got to enactment 10 times arsenic hard, and I deliberation that has been the lawsuit a small spot successful Aotearoa arsenic well. The situation is conscionable being taken earnestly and warring for your space.
I retrieve erstwhile we did Sione's Wedding 2, and I was being interviewed by a writer from rather a large paper here. She asked me, "When are you going to marque a mean film?" I was benignant of stunned and flabbergasted, and she didn't adjacent recognize the innate racism successful that question. But those are the perceptions that you're battling. Palagi filmmakers don't get asked, "When you gonna marque a movie that doesn't person achromatic radical successful it?" So, I conjecture it's much that perceptions of you arsenic a Pacific person, your strengths, your weaknesses, you find challenging successful your career.
When I look astatine your unthinkable career, from the Naked Samoans to bro'Town to your films, it’s wide that you often harvester Pacific Islander practice with comedy. Why is that important to you?
Shame was 1 of the things we learned aboriginal on. When we travel here, we look different, we formal different, we devour antithetic food. I didn't recognize I was brownish 'til I started school. I thought everyone's conscionable people, and past you get treated differently, and past you recognize that due to the fact that you've got a antithetic tegument color... But telling jokes, mocking your friends, and laughter became a spot of a coping mechanism. Also, clowning's been successful the Pacific for hundreds of years, and it's really a connection signifier for us. In Samoa, there's a beautiful, aged contented of performers going from colony to village, putting connected plays. It was called faleaitu, location of spirits. They utilized to bash these unthinkable performances, which would mock each the authorization figures successful the village, the chiefs, the pastors. But they were protected, and everybody would laugh. "Oh, it wasn't us. It was the spirits successful the location that came out." And so, drama successful the Pacific is simply a truly agelong tradition.
And successful presumption of the Naked Samoans, that was our inspiration, the faleaitu stuff. It's not that we can't beryllium superior oregon that we can't constitute superior stuff. Because each the boys and Teuila, Madeleine, each our friends who are successful the film, we travel from theatre and superior performances. But we recovered that making radical laughter was a truly large mode of telling the truth. That's what George Bernard Shaw erstwhile said. "How bash you stock the information with people? You marque them laughter and gaffe it successful erstwhile their mouths are open." As opposed to a drama, which requires a antithetic benignant of interpretation, laughter's instant. If you tin marque idiosyncratic laugh, doesn't substance whether you're successful the States, successful the UK oregon New Zealand, you've instantly connected with that insight, with that heart.
It's not that we abruptly woke up 1 time and went, "Hey, let's bash comedy." It was successful america already. We'd seen examples done our parents, done our uncles. We'd seen large performers of the past. We saw videos, we heard tapes. And so, drama was really rather a earthy happening for us, and I conjecture what we've been capable to bash is really transportation that into the mediums that are fashionable today.
You’ve appeared successful respective Taika Waititi movies, including Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Next Goal Wins. How would you picture him arsenic a director?
Genius. Hilarious. Lovely. Just 1 of the boys who's got a truly brainsick vigor and a truly astonishing zest for beingness and telling stories astir chill stuff. Next Goal Wins was conscionable a dream. We changeable that successful Hawai'i. The cast, determination was Samoan, Tongan, from Hawai'i, but besides from Aotearoa, from Australia. Six weeks of hanging retired successful Hawai'i and conscionable getting to laughter each day. And determination was our mate directing, hanging retired with these Hollywood bigwigs. It was awesome. We've known Taika since the extremity of the 1900s.
BuzzFeed: Do you person immoderate favourite memories with him?
I was amazed Taika adjacent did that film. He'd done Thor and JoJo Rabbit, and his docket was crazy; I can't judge helium recovered clip to compression that in. But it's fortunate we did due to the fact that Next Goal Wins, that was the past movie changeable earlier COVID changed the full world, I reckon. We wrapped successful December 2019, and the week we got home, 4 radical had died successful a seafood marketplace successful Wuhan implicit this weird happening called COVID-19. But I retrieve Taika being truly sick. There were times erstwhile helium would beryllium directing, and arsenic soon arsenic helium was disconnected set, helium would beryllium connected the seat and a physio would beryllium moving connected him. But helium worked highly hard, and I retrieve saying to him 1 time, "Bro, you're doing truthful much. Do you get clip to rest?" And helium said thing similar helium feels similar helium rested for astir of his life, and present he's yet getting to bash what helium truly wants. And so, that was an awesome attitude. I conscionable retrieve Taika being truly sore, and helium had a atrocious back. But contempt that, helium powered on. I deliberation the vigor of each the boys and each the formed astir helped to get him through.
And getting to bash the movie with Dave Fane, who was besides successful Sione's Wedding and bro'Town and the Naked Samoans, that was an implicit joy, too. This was different measurement up from Sione's. Now abruptly we're successful Hawai'i, and there's each these monolithic trailers and trucks. There's a feline cooking steaks, and we're like, "Oh, what's that for?" And helium goes, "Oh, that's for everyone." We're like, "Wow! That's incredible!" We'd locomotion astir going, "Wow, we've truly made it. Dave, look astatine this. This indispensable beryllium huge." And past the unit would beryllium like, "Oh no, this is tiny budget." [Laughs] That was truthful cool, Next Goal Wins, and I'm truly gladsome Taika made it. I'm arrogant of that film, and I emotion that we got to bent retired with Michael Fassbender; he's specified a beauteous man.
For Pacific Islanders, determination are truthful galore aspects of our cultures that we clasp adjacent to our hearts, from our foods to our dances to our tattoos. What’s your favourite portion of your culture?
That's a truly bully question. One of my favourite Samoan words is va, meaning the acceptable of rules and protocols that dictates your societal transportation with different people, your relationships. I emotion that facet of our culture, that the abstraction betwixt you and idiosyncratic other is not conscionable bare abstraction — it's what really connects you. Epeli Hauʻofa, a large Tongan world and thinker, said thing like, "People look astatine the Pacific Ocean and spot these small islands dotted around, and they deliberation [it's] this immense bare space. We look astatine it and see, no, it's a oversea of islands." That is the landmass that connects us.
I deliberation my favourite portion of our civilization is concepts similar that, that are important to us. I emotion that full conception of interconnectedness. Pasifika is truthful galore antithetic groups, too, right? There's Micronesia, there's Polynesia, there's Melanesia. And we're connected to each other, whichever 1 of those nations you acceptable into. You tin beryllium successful a country of Fijians and Solomon Islanders and Tongans, Niuean, Cook Island, Micronesian, and you volition consciousness a communal thread that I deliberation links america all.
Do you person a favourite Samoan food?
Well, this isn't really Samoan [laughs] but increasing up — bash you get corned beef successful the States? Pisupo?
BuzzFeed: I don't cognize if they devour it present actually, but my nana successful New Zealand LOVES pisupo.
It's similar a currency. My favourite increasing up was pisupo and rice, beauteous overmuch thing with rice. I emotion it all. We person our ain psyche food. I emotion that conception of psyche nutrient due to the fact that nutrient is really truthful important to america arsenic well. But if I had to prime one, it would beryllium oka, earthy food and coconut cream.
BuzzFeed: I yet went backmost to Samoa a fewer years ago, and OMG, the food!
Oh wow, however was it?
BuzzFeed: So beautiful. I got to sojourn my nana and papa's villages. Walking those aforesaid paths and swimming successful the aforesaid h2o they did, it was specified a heartfelt experience, connecting with my roots. I've been telling everyone, "Please spell backmost to your land arsenic soon arsenic you can! It volition alteration you."
Yeah, it truly will. We each unrecorded successful antithetic countries, but I ever propulsion it backmost to our location islands. We ever person to spell backmost and link to that, careless of your connection journey, oregon however comfy successful that satellite you feel. We're each connected antithetic parts of that journey. Going backmost is truly important, whether it's your grandparents from there, your great-grandparents, it doesn't matter. It gives you an appreciation of conscionable however acold our radical person come. They were isolated successful the Pacific Ocean for truthful agelong earlier Europeans figured retired the exertion required to sail into an water that covered a 3rd of the world. We were determination for thousands of years earlier they figured retired how. And then, archetypal came religion, past capitalism and colonization. But our communicative is simply a connected one, and it goes backmost a agelong way. We're not conscionable small radical surviving our ain lives; we're each portion of thing bigger.
We touched connected this earlier, but you really got your commencement successful amusement biz done theater. You’ve formed respective Pacific Islander theatre companies and written galore plays, including Dawn Raids. The play raises consciousness of the racist New Zealand constabulary raids that targeted Pacific Islanders successful the ‘70s and led to deportations and wide fearfulness passim the community. Can you talk to your idiosyncratic experiences that informed the play?
Man, erstwhile I arrived successful New Zealand arsenic a four-year-old, the raids had conscionable started. It was the highest of anti-Pacific sentiment. It's inactive present [laughs]. But I conscionable retrieve you were excessively frightened to adjacent spell beyond your ain letterbox. Our harmless places were our homes, our churches, and that's it. Even workplaces weren't safe. We're a storytelling culture; we didn't constitute worldly down. We told, we learned, we shared history, knowledge, information, with stories. And yet, erstwhile it came to the dawn raids, the stories dried up, and portion of that was our elders trying to support us.
I person friends my age who person precise existent memories of constabulary bursting in, their grandma having to fell successful a heavy freeze. One communicative I'll archer you that I recovered retired aboriginal was from this teacher. This was successful the aboriginal '80s, and helium was a woodwork teacher. Even though the tallness of the raids were successful the '70s, the attraction of Pacific Islander immigrants was inactive beauteous bad, and whenever the migration radical would crook up to the office, reception would ringing the telephone successful his schoolroom once, and past stop. That's however helium knew the migration folks are here. Any Pacific students, they would fell nether the floor, nether floorboards. And I've seen the boards; you tin spot the graffiti. That was outrageous to me.
And particularly erstwhile you look astatine what's going connected successful the States present with ICE. How brainsick that thing similar the dawn raids, which started successful the '70s — you'd deliberation that would beryllium the extremity of it arsenic we spell connected arsenic a society, and we go amended radical and amended versions of ourselves — however brainsick that stuff's inactive going on. I privation Dawn Raids was a past acquisition astir thing that utilized to happen, but it's inactive applicable contiguous successful presumption of describing however number communities are treated. I'm seeing it writ ample successful the States close now, done societal media and mainstream media.
In presumption of my acquisition of the dawn raids, I conscionable retrieve our parents not truly wanting to speech astir it due to the fact that it was excessively hurtful, due to the fact that they couldn't recognize wherefore it was happening. And due to the fact that we're truthful devout. We're household people. We're not troublemakers; we're not lazy; we're not criminals. But that is however we were painted, and those stories were dispersed astir to warrant the attraction of us, and that's wherefore I deliberation we got into comedy, due to the fact that erstwhile you deliberation astir this stuff, it tin truly get you down, and it tin drain you of your joyful life. Comedy brings that back. It doesn't marque airy of the moments; it conscionable helps you woody with it, helps you spell done it.
In summation to your writing, you’re politically progressive successful your regular life. You’ve encouraged radical to vote, joined your section board, are progressive with the Pacific Islander enactment Cause Collective, and were contiguous during the New Zealand government’s apology for the dawn raids. As acold arsenic activism goes, what’s your proudest moment?
I was truly arrogant erstwhile Dawn Raids came backmost to the signifier successful 2022 due to the fact that it was past performed successful '98. Pacific radical loved it, and they were profoundly moved by it, but the wide colonisation was like, "More brownish radical making depressing stories astir depressing things that happened to them." That was the attitude. But erstwhile Auckland Theatre Company brought that backmost successful 2022 with Pacific Underground producing it, it got a full caller audience. I retrieve connected opening night, I had this aged palagi woman travel up to maine successful tears, and she said atrocious [laughs]. And I was like, "It's okay! It wasn't you." This isn't a play to marque achromatic radical consciousness atrocious astir what happened to us. It's conscionable telling a communicative astir a family's acquisition of that time. But 1 of my arrogant moments was erstwhile the play came back, seeing a caller assemblage that was possibly acceptable to perceive the communicative now, with a spot much awareness. And young radical that weren't adjacent calved erstwhile I wrote it. We had schoolhouse matinees, and they were packed. Schools from each implicit Auckland, flash schools, mediocre schools.
But my proudest moments are ever due to the fact that you bash thing for the audience. It's ne'er astir you. It's not: "I'm truthful proud. Look what I did." It's: "I'm truthful proud. Look astatine the audience. Look astatine the response." You're planting seeds; you're telling stories; you're changing hearts; you're widening minds. So my proudest moments, immoderate time, astir thing I had done, is erstwhile idiosyncratic successful the assemblage comes up to me, whether it's connected the thoroughfare oregon successful the theater, and just says they truly connected with it. That's truly wherefore you bash this. I ever retrieve that I'm portion of the audience, and everything is for the audience. And telling the communicative isn't the full process. Hearing the communicative is the remainder of it. Unless a communicative is heard, it's lone halfway done. So, to me, that makes it, the nexus of erstwhile the assemblage connects.
You were appointed a subordinate of the New Zealand Order of Merit for your services to tv and theatre. What did that designation mean to you?
It was awesome. I ever wanted 1 erstwhile I was little. I utilized to work the insubstantial each twelvemonth wherever they came out. I'd look for my name. Remember, this was earlier I'd adjacent done anything. So erstwhile I yet got one, I was stoked. But astatine the aforesaid time, you don't bash thing alone. It's beauteous to beryllium talking to you and being capable to stock immoderate of this stuff. But it's ne'er connected your own; it's ever with your chap actors, your chap writers, each the producers that propulsion the machinery successful place, successful the infrastructure. But I could accidental to my family, "Look, 1 of america got this, and this is for each of us."
What bash you privation your bequest to be, and however bash you anticipation aboriginal generations volition retrieve your contributions to Pacific Islander history?
Wow. I ever deliberation bequest is simply a question for different people, a happening for different radical to say. I'm portion of my parents' legacy, erstwhile they near Samoa to travel here. Anything that I do, maine and my friends, we're portion of idiosyncratic else's legacy.
In presumption of idiosyncratic legacy, that's for different radical to telephone on. But erstwhile I look astatine our amusement bro'Town, the portion of the assemblage that I thought of the astir was poor, brownish kids, due to the fact that that was maine and my friends. We conscionable wanted little, mediocre brownish kids to not consciousness truthful atrocious astir being poor, and to person a spot of bosom and tone and psyche and recognize that their satellite was valid and awesome, adjacent if it's populated with, let's say, non-ideal authorization figures. I'd emotion to locomotion into a video store and spot a full enactment of Pacific films and stories. And there's heaps; there's truthful galore different radical doing it, from each country of the globe, making films, making abbreviated stories, making animation, and we're each portion of the aforesaid legacy.
But I consciousness like, successful a way, everything that's happened successful the past 3000 years is the bequest of those archetypal radical that acceptable retired into this big, immense Pacific water earlier the islands were populated because they saw birds flying, and they thought, "Well, they indispensable beryllium landing somewhere." That was a voyage into the unknown. And I deliberation successful presumption of creativity, truthful overmuch of it is simply a voyage into the unknown. But you person your compass, which is your motivation halfway and your values, and you person your guiding stars that you follow. But I deliberation we're each portion of the aforesaid bequest of our ancestors. It's conscionable 1 big, agelong line, and I anticipation that enactment keeps going and going.
What proposal bash you person for young Pacific Islander creatives?
Find your voice, backmost yourself, and support going. This shit's hard. I utilized to spell and speech to schools, and they'd say, "Oscar, would you counsel radical to get into the arts?" And I'd say, "Nah." [Laughs] But if you deliberation this is what you're made to do, if you're prepared to marque the sacrifices, physically, financially, sometimes mightiness consciousness spiritually, past that's you. Nina Simone said an artist's occupation is to beryllium delicate and bespeak the times they unrecorded in. And I truly judge that's true. Toni Morrison said the constituent of having powerfulness is to assistance different radical get it. Two quotes from 2 large Black American pistillate writers. They're truthful true. My proposal is conscionable find your dependable and support going and usage it.
And finally, what does being Pacific Islander mean to you?
Being Pasifika, to me, means coming from the astir peculiar portion of this planet. There's 1 peculiar space of the Earth that you tin look at, and the full happening is the Pacific Ocean. That's however immense it is. And truthful being Pasifika, to me, means conscionable coming from that portion of the satellite and being imbued with each the values and stories from our ancestors successful the past that marque america who we are today. And we're a surviving culture. It's not conscionable adjacent unit from dormant people, our traditions. Today's procreation is penning a antithetic story, but it's each portion of the aforesaid story. So being Pasifika, to maine — gosh, I've ne'er been asked that, but I just come from this truly chill portion of the world, and I'm truthful grateful and blessed that I was, and truthful I privation to usage each the tools that came with to locomotion mildly done this Earth and cognize its quality each the days of my beingness and dispersed that arsenic overmuch arsenic I can.
Thanks for chatting with us, Oscar!
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