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BUTTERFLY/BATAPLAI

A drama short film.

Inspired by a true story, a Papua New Guinean/American woman challenges her evangelist father's strict rules to find her voice as a makeup artist.

Written, Directed & Produced by

Veialu Aila-Unsworth

Running time:  8 mins

Country:  USA

Languages:  English, Tok Pisin

Open Subtitles:  English

Instagram:  @bataplai.film

Starring Regina Pande, Graham Pande, Joana Mate, and the voice of Olivia Korken.

 

Cinematography by Judd Overton, Music Composed by Maxwell Stone and Otis Kane, Sound Supervisor & Re-recording Mixer Tyler Proctor, featuring Photographs by Patrick Leahy and the song "Hypnotised" by Alyson Joyce.

Made in San Francisco / Ramaytush Ohlone land, California.

Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival - World Premiere, USA

Māsima Pacific Islands Film Tour, USA

Micheaux Film Festival, USA

UPCOMING SCREENINGS

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

14th PNG Humans Rights

Film Festival

SEP 25 + 28-29

 

Sep 25, University of Goroka

Eastern Highlands Province

Sep 28-29, University of Technology

Morobe Province

HAWAI`I

43rd Hawai`i International

Film Festival

OCT 19

 

In-Person & Virtual Screenings.

 

Thursday Oct 19, 5.00 PM

Consolidated Theaters Kahala, 4211 Waialae Ave, Honolulu

CANADA

imagineNATIVE Film &

Media Festival

OCT 20

 

In-Person & Virtual Screenings.

 

Friday Oct 20, 7.30 PM

TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 4

350 King St W, Toronto

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SYNOPSIS

Raya (Regina Pande) loves makeup but her family does not.  She’s torn between her secret dream of being a makeup artist and her family’s strict religious beliefs.  In a nightmare, she receives a profound message from her Papua New Guinean ancestor who encourages her to look at her Indigenous culture for answers.

MEET THE ACTORS

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Director's Note

ARTIST STATEMENT

Pasifika women belong everywhere.  We are multi-faceted, fierce, complex, curious, intelligent, imaginative, and so much more!

I want to challenge our invisibility on-screen.

For those of us in diasporas, living away from our cultural homelands, we are forging new identities, navigating multiple cultures, pushing against stupid stereotypes, finding acceptance and belonging, finding healing and freedom - finding our voice.

I explore this in Butterfly/Bataplai.

 

My intention with this film is to show what it's like for one Papua New Guinean woman living in the diaspora trying to forge a path between her Indigenous roots, spiritual beliefs, and the Western world she lives in.

 

Butterfly/Bataplai asks the question:  Who defines us as Papua New Guinean women, and to want extent do we get to decide that for ourselves?

~ Veialu Aila-Unsworth

Writer, Director & Producer of BUTTERFLY/BATAPLAI

Find out more on Instagram @bataplai.film

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BUTTERFLY/BATAPLAI SHORT FILM WAS MADE WITH THE 2023 ARMED WITH A CAMERA FELLOWSHIP

The Armed with a Camera Fellowship is awarded by Visual Communications (vcmedia.org), a non-profit organization whose mission is to develop and support the voices of Asian American & Pacific Islander filmmakers who empower communities and challenge perspectives.

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