Original subtitles

It's coming to play!

If you want to play this game

You shall be the heat today!

You're the heat!

Sevaia, too hard, bubba.

You see him, Mama? See who? See who, bubba?

Bloody Kakamora!

Sevaia! Don't you ever let me hear you say that, you hear me?

Can you watch what you're doing?

Early night tonight, Vai.

Put out your clothes. Big journey ahead of us.

Your auntie got that for you to wear on the plane.

I only like shorts and t-shirts.

This will keep you warm.

'Bye, mirror...

That's for Yava.

Vai, what are you doing?

Vai...

Vai! Sevaia, stop it!

Moses said when I go to school I won't have any friends.

Come here.

You know what? Moses is a bloody Kakamora.

Mum?

I'm okay, bubba.

Just your baby brother dancing again.

You want to say hello?

Brother? It's me, Vai. You dancing again? Me too.

When you come, we'll dance for Yava.

She loves me dancing. She says one day I'm going to be on Fiji One.

You can watch me too. I can do it to show you.

He's coming.

Go on, go play, bubba.

Yuk!

You been giving Mum a hard time?

No? Yes, you have. Just like your Yava!

Go play, go play.

We can set it up for you tonight.

And it's got video chat so you can see us, see Vai when she speaks.

Ma...

Ma...

She'll start school on Monday so you might want to check...

We've got lots of warm clothes, she'll be fine.

It's going to be cold there.

I can't just leave her here, Ma, I told you...

Well, she's my daughter. And I'm her yava!

You know I can't do that, Ma.

Ma, stop it.

Ma...

No one is going to forget you, Ma.

Okay? No one is going to forget you.

He's coming! He's coming!

Vai!

Vai, what are you doing! Get out of the rain!

Grandma!

Vai! Inside, Yava!

Inside, inside!

Isa, leave her, leave him.

# INDIRA STEWART SINGING "FIEMALIE MA'U PE" IN TONGAN

Like Elvis Presley? Yeah.

That's cute.

Okay...

Go get your bottles.

# I'm jealous of the wind...

No, no, no...

Sing your favourite Tongan song.

# SINGS "ILONGA HA TAHA" IN TONGAN

That's my favourite Tongan song too.

Yeah, it's my grandparents' house.

My grandfather's passed away now but my grandma's getting old

and she wants to come home.

That's why I've come, to clean up the place

and get it ready for her to come back.

Oh, you'd better hurry and get the water back, then.

No!

But what I will do is teach you how to use your own beautiful voice.

Sing like Vai, don't sing like anybody else.

And we'll have our singing classes

while Elvis Presley gets the bottles.

Oh shit!

LECTURER: Your assignment is due next week

and we'll also be exploring ecological anthropology

covering the way humans adapt to their environments,

the purposes and the consequences.

Right. Now the readings and the assignment are available online

but I do have hard copies.

And for those who weren't here earlier,

you can also collect your marked assignment.

Okay, thank you.

I'm so sorry I'm late, Kylie.

Well just be on time for the meeting, okay?

There's that and... well done.

Vai, what grade did you get?

A minus. You?

I got a B.

See you. See you.

Hey, how come you're so late? You're making us look bad.

I had to work a double shift last night. Those last minute ones.

Hey, your shout for lunch, then.

What do you want from the dollar menu, then?

No, I'm going vegetarian for the next two months.

Did I miss any notes in class?

Yo, I got like five paragraphs of all your notes.

Sweet!

Hey, any update on your dad?

He's still on sick leave.

I didn't get the chance to see him this morning.

Got to go check on him.

Yeah, so sad, eh. I know.

Hold up.

Hi, Nana!

Okay, Nana, I'm at school.

I'll tell Dad when I get home and see how much we can give.

Okay. Bye.

Yo, my shout, then.

Yeah, for like the rest of my life.

Oh, sorry!

Let's go get a feed quick.

I have a meeting with Kylie.

No, we all go there. Plus the others haven't seen you in like forever.

Come on, you know you want to.

That's the one.

Okay, I was thinking, you know Kylie,

she's always on the phone like 24/7.

Obviously she has email, why can't you just email her?

No. Why not?

Because it's better to talk to her face to face.

Hey, it's like the 21st century!

What? It is?

Oh, it is! It is...

I don't really care, I'm hungry!

Pumpkins first...

Hi, guys!

Well, I got to head off. I'll see youse later.

Just before you leave...

What's that? Chips, we got noodles...

I'll take the apple, though.

Hi, Vai speaking.

Hi, Vai, it's Amy.

I was wondering can you work another double shift tonight?

Tonight? Yeah, sure, no problem.

Thanks so much. Okay.

"Hi, it's Vai speaking..." "Hi, Amy..."

Sorry, I can't be late. I'll catch youse up later, okay?

Later, sis!

Yo, hold up!

Hi, Vai speaking. Yeah, hi, Mark here.

We seem to be having a problem again with your payments.

We haven't received your full rent.

Oh, sorry. With the increase.

So sorry, it must have been the automatic payment.

I'll add it to this week's rent. Yeah, it won't happen again.

Yo, what's so important about this meeting

that you made me run five thousand hundred kilometres?

With everything going on,

I might have to follow the milk and honey.

What? Why? We can just do tutorials and stuff.

No, it's not that. I need Kylie to listen.

That's right, I saw her, she gave you like the meanest evils.

I know.

Have you spoken to you dad or your family about it?

I don't want to disappoint them. You've got to tell someone.

You don't get it. I do get it.

No, you don't.

Oh, just a moment, I've got to finish this email.

Right, come on in, Vai.

I have so many emails to catch up on, it's endless.

Do you mind if I close the door? No, of course not.

Thanks.

So, why did you want to see me?

Well, you see, I'm finding it a bit hard

to keep up with all the deadlines and assessments.

Well, I have noticed your attendance hasn't been very good.

Look, I think it's really a question of priorities.

Yeah, I understand that, but you see...

a box fell on my dad's head at work

and he's recovering at home with not even his full pay.

I'm very sorry to hear that and I imagine that's making you anxious.

Look, would our counselling services be of help?

No, it's okay, it's really just the pressure of all the academic workload

and my other commitments.

Yes, but all students have that pressure.

So do I.

I mean, I hope you don't feel alone in this.

Look, what are these other commitments?

Well, there's my dad, and family stuff, work...

I don't know if I have time

to complete the assignment you handed out today.

Am I able to get an extension please, maybe?

Vai, you have a lot of potential.

And you could do amazing things for your people.

But in order to achieve academically,

you need to cut out all these distractions

that are compromising your learning. Yeah?

Sorry.

And in terms of the assessment,

it's not grounds for me to give you an extension, Vai.

So that's a no.

Yeah.

Right, I'm due in my next lecture, so... All right?

How did it go?

I just want to talk to my dad.

I expected... I'm sorry!

No, it's all good. I've been mean to you.

It's sweet... I'll buy you food.

Double cheeseburger, steamed bun, no pickles, onions, extra cheese...

and a Coke, and ice, and an apple.

You missed bacon. But we're cool.

PHONE: Sorry, you do not have enough credit to complete this call.

Hey, do you know this number? It called me earlier.

Probably a scam.

Hi, Vai speaking.

Hi, Vaisea, I'm a nurse from that hospital.

Listen, your dad's with our paramedics on his way to us.

What, what happened, is he okay?

Well, we will know more when he arrives

but we believe he's had a stroke.

It's best that you come to the hospital.

What happened, what's wrong?

My dad had a stroke. I don't know what to do.

Vai, it's your dad. I'll cover you in class.

Are you sure? Don't worry, I got you.

Hey, what class are you due in now?

I actually don't know but I really have to go.

Vai, we just discussed your priorities.

I was trying to tell you,

I work a full-time job to provide for my family

at home in Samoa and now I'm here with my dad.

And I'm the only one that looks after him

because we don't have family in New Zealand.

I can barely afford to get to uni

with my bills, food and my dad's medication.

I know what I'm capable of but you just won't listen to me.

I'm tired of explaining and moulding myself

to become who you want me to be.

But my dad, my family, my village...

have sacrificed so much for me to be here.

For a better life.

And I'm not going to waste that.

And my name is Vaisea...

I will be captain of my own boat for the first time!

If she was thinking of Mata, she wouldn't do this.

So this is what you learnt at that flash university.

How to cause trouble.

You have these thoughts.

These...

these thoughts...

these thoughts, they're my own, Elvis.

These are the biggest fleets in all the world, and they're here!

We are lucky, sis!

Purse-seining yes, but it's not just that.

They're using FADs.

FADs!

Our turtles, our sharks,

and after all of that, hundreds of piles of rubbish

washing up onto our beaches.

You are going to ruin this for all of us.

They've asked me.

Then say no.

These are our waters.

You know what, Vai? You're the FAD. You are.

Vai, I wanted to have a word with you.

Isn't it exciting, the mother ship, out on the water, far from land,

in the dark, their lights still bright, and you know what?

They're going to build a brand new house for us.

A beautiful place of worship.

They've answered our prayer.

Can you believe it?

I said "If only she knew! Vai wouldn't stop it."

You wouldn't stop it.

You wouldn't take that away from us, would you?

Vai? We deserve this.

I knew you would come this way. I knew you would.

Vai, this is what we deserve!

Plenty of fish in the sea, they said.

# CHANTING IN LANGUAGE

We will not allow you to take any more from us!

I'm glad I'm not doing this.

You didn't teach me.

How long has it been?

I'm posting them.

You being back here strengthens my connection here.

Remember, it's in your bones.

# "SOLOGA O PEAU" and "O LE TAUALUGA" SUNG IN SAMOAN

# SINGING "O MAI HAAKU TAU FAKAHELE" IN NIUEAN LANGUAGE

# CHANTING "HOPO MEKE LAU FA" IN NIUEAN LANGUAGE

# SINGS "HEI KONEI RA" IN MAORI

It's you, Nan! Still looking young and fit as, eh?

What do you need us to do?

My darling looks all right, Nan?

You're lucky.

I know.

I love it here so much, Nan.

Did you come here lots when you were little?

No way! That must have been freezing!

I got you, Nan, eh?

# SINGS "ARA KA TITIRO" IN MAORI

And we have arrived, the timing of this, whanau!

Named after two of the greatest women I'll ever know,

my mum and my Nanny Vai.

# SINGS "TAHI PITI" IN MAORI

Jeez, Nan, you could have picked words that we all know, eh?