Litia Tuiburelevu Takes Pacific Storytelling to London
"We don’t lack for great stories… but I hope to help strengthen our capacity to get those films properly resourced, into production, and shown worldwide.” says award-winning filmmaker Litia Tuiburelevu.
"Radical possibilities emerge from disruption, and I think as Pacific filmmakers we’re living through an exciting moment where we can collectively usher in new ways of bringing our screen stories to life."
It’s that bold approach to storytelling that has seen her selected for the New Zealand Film Commission’s International Placement Initiative. Litia will be joining the acquisitions and development team at Protagonist Pictures in London, a company celebrated for its daring and genre-defining cinema.
For Litia, the placement is a chance to step into a new arena while continuing the work she has always been drawn to - telling stories that sit outside the mainstream but speak deeply to Pacific identity and experience.
Her career already reflects this commitment. From her directorial debut series Still Here, which tackled themes often left unspoken, to her role as a writer on the upcoming Coconet Supernatural Romance (currently in development) Savage Love, Litia has never shied away from bold narratives. Add to that her experience across documentary and legal advisory work, and it’s clear she’s a creative unafraid to move between worlds.
Reflecting on the opportunity, she stated:
“I'm delighted to accept a placement with Protagonist Pictures in London! … I’m excited to bring everything I learn back to our screen stories in Aotearoa and the Pacific. Vinaka vaka levu (thank you) to the NZFC and Protagonist Pictures for making this possible.”
For Litia, the real value lies in the knowledge she’ll gain by working alongside a company of this scale. Speaking to Coconet, she explained that being able to see how international films are developed, financed and taken to market is an experience she doesn’t take lightly.
“It’s a real privilege to sit inside a world-class company and understand the full spectrum of taking a feature film to market.
“As filmmakers, I think there’s enormous value in knowing ‘how the meat is made’, so we can confidently manoeuvre ourselves – and others – through a film’s creative and commercial terrain.”
It’s a perspective that shows her focus isn’t just on her own growth, but on the wider Pacific community of storytellers she represents.
As she told Coconet, her ambitions stretch beyond personal projects.
“My ambitions have always been to create visually bold and anarchic films from a distinctly Oceanic lens, and to support films with a similar vision – especially those made by our women and gender diverse folk. We don’t lack for great stories… but I hope to help strengthen our capacity to get those films properly resourced, into production, and shown worldwide.”