Fiji – PaCiFiC

Weaving the Streets

Weaving the Streets tells the story of Rani growing up in a Fijian village and the struggle and “suffering” she faced, eventually leaving home while still in high school to “work the streets” as a sex worker.

Her story is about her determination to be who she is and her courage to change her identity and gender in a society that is not only conservative but also very Christian.

All her life she has faced discrimination, hardship and violence. Yet in spite of that she continues to enjoy her life and will not let anyone extinguish that.

She has educated herself on what it is to be a trans woman but also her rights as a trans and sex worker in Fiji. She helped establish the only NGO in Fiji advocating for the rights of sex workers.

Production Team

Joji Nabalarua has been working in the industry for the past 25 years as creative director and filmmaker. For three years in a row he won the Fiji Award for Media Excellence (FAME) for editing, camera and sound, in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

He has worked at Pasifika Communications as editor and at the Pacific Community (SPC) as cameraperson and editor. He has been Director of Photography (DoP) on a number of major documentaries, including Picking Up the Pieces on the crisis in Bougainville and the effect of the crisis on women and children. Other documentaries include; Poverty in Fiji : Struggling for a Better Living, City Lights are Calling : Urbanisation in the Pacific and a short feature film, Enduring Hope.

Prior to leaving SPC he was team leader and producer and director of The Pacific Way television show.

Larry Thomas is a documentary filmmaker, playwright and theatre director. He was senior lecturer with the department of Literature and Language at the University of the South Pacific (USP). In 1997 he produced his first documentary, Compassionate Exile, about the leper colony of Makogai. This was followed by Race for Rights on the 2000 coup in Fiji. In 2004 he’s third documentary Bittersweet Hope was on the Fiji sugar industry and the expiry of land leases.

He has also worked as the Manager of the Regional Media Centre (RMC) at SPC. While at SPC, he continued working in production, producing, writing and directing documentaries and producing content for the regional television show, The Pacific Way. He directed other documentaries; Poverty in Fiji : Struggling for a Better Living, City Lights are Calling : Urbanisation in the Pacific and a short feature film, Enduring Hope.

Hero-ine Cast & Crew

CREDIT LIST

Directed by

Larry Thomas and Joji Nabalarua

Weaving the Streets: Behind the Scenes film.

Behind the scenes with Weaving the Streets delves into a little more detail, the story of Rani, a transgender woman and former sex worker from Fiji. She talks about the importance of sharing her story especially as a trans person. Other voices in the film talk about the importance of visibilty for transgender people because they are “part of our society and communty”. Father Denis Revi talks about love and acceptance and finding God in them, in each one of us. Dr Jacquline Ryle, a senior lecturer in Sociology at the University of the South Pacific uses the film in one of her courses on gender based violence and says, the film is important when looking and addressing gender based violence. MikWali, the director of the Haus of Khameleon, says the film is an important story for transgender people, weaving their stories and ‘as you weave, you speak life’.

The film was made by X’isle Productions, Fiji.