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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'In one of the last traditional tribes in the South Pacific, a young girl, Wawa, falls in love with her chief’s grandson, Dain. When an inter-tribal war escalates, Wawa is unknowingly betrothed as part of a peace deal. The young lovers run away, but are pursued by enemy warriors intent on killing them. They must choose between their hearts and the future of the tribe, while the villagers must wrestle with preserving their traditional culture and adapting it to the increasing outside demands for individual freedom. Based on a true story and performed by the people of Yakel.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Carving Out an Australian Sensory Cinema
2018
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Screen in the 2000s 2018; (p. 261-283) Examines a set of films that ground narrative-based stories in tactile experiences. -
[Review] Tanna
2017
single work
review
— Appears in: Oceania , March vol. 87 no. 1 2017; (p. 110)'Tanna is not an ethnographic documentary. It is rather a cinematic work of art, which is to say that it is an independent film made outside Hollywood for Pacific audiences and other interested viewers. At the same time, I think it is one of those rare movies that succeeds as both (like The Fast Runner or Smoke Signals, or perhaps, The Dead Lands). The story it tells of two young people, and their love which runs afoul of collective norms and values, is of course a story that echoes one we all know. But Tanna is set in a rural corner of contemporary Vanuatu, of all places. And its actors, who are villagers dressed in nothing more than raffia skirts and penis sheaths, speak in their vernacular. So the obstacles that block their love are of a Melanesian kind rather than of the sort that fair Verona might impose. Thus Tanna's imagery is not at all strange to any of us who have done fieldwork in the region.' (Introduction)
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Tanna : An Australian First
2017
single work
column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 7 February 2017; -
Oscars 2017 : Tanna and Lion Bring Heart to Hollywood in Landmark Year for Australian Film
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 24 February 2017; 'This year, for the first time in history, two Australian films have been nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards: Lion and Hacksaw Ridge. Tanna can be considered a third, if you include best foreign-language film in the mix.' (Introduction) -
Searing Insight into Tribal Life
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: NT News , 4 February 2016;
— Review of Tanna 2015 single work film/TV 'Tanna will open the 2016 Travelling Film Festival in Darwin today, in Katherine tomorrow and in Alice Springs on February 19...'
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Island Love Story Simple yet Corny
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 5 November 2015; (p. 30)
— Review of Tanna 2015 single work film/TV -
Remote Tribe Stars in Indigenous Spin on Romeo and Juliet
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 6 November 2015; (p. 6-7)
— Review of Tanna 2015 single work film/TV -
The Unbreakable Bond
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 7-8 November 2015; (p. 14)
— Review of Tanna 2015 single work film/TV -
Award-winning Film Tanna Sets Romeo and Juliet in the South Pacific
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 5 November 2015;
— Review of Tanna 2015 single work film/TV 'The new Australian film Tanna(2015)m which won two awards at Venice Film Festival in September, is a sad romance of ill-fated island love...' -
Married to the Tribe
2015
single work
review
— Appears in: The Monthly , November no. 117 2015; (p. 60-61)
— Review of Tanna 2015 single work film/TV -
Isle-Cross'd Lovers : Vanuatu's Tanna and the South Pacific on Film
2016
single work
essay
— Appears in: Metro Magazine , Autumn vol. 188 no. 2016; (p. 24-29) As the first film to hail from Vanuatu, the South Pacific-set forbidden romance of Tanna, which was produced in collaboration with Australia, is a landmark piece of cinema. Glenn Dunks delves into this historic film's origins and examines its achievements in light of other screen works about and set in this highly underrepresented region. -
Oscars 2017 : Tanna and Lion Bring Heart to Hollywood in Landmark Year for Australian Film
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 24 February 2017; 'This year, for the first time in history, two Australian films have been nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards: Lion and Hacksaw Ridge. Tanna can be considered a third, if you include best foreign-language film in the mix.' (Introduction) -
The 100 Best Australian Films of the New Millenium
2016
single work
column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 22 September 2016; -
Mel Gibson Crushed The ACCTAs
2016
single work
column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 8 December 2016; -
Tanna : An Australian First
2017
single work
column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 7 February 2017;
Awards
- 2017 shortlisted Academy Awards — Best Foreign Language Film
- 2016 shortlisted AWGIE Awards — Film Award — Original
- 2016 nominated Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards — Best Film
- 2015 winner Venice Film Festival — International Critics' Week Award
- Vanuatu, South Pacific, Pacific Region,