Tanna (film)

On the island of Tanna, people following the Kastom have always enforced arranged marriages. The people of Kastom Road face sporadic conflicts with the Imedin tribe, while two followers of Kastom, Dain and Wawa, continue a secret love affair. Wawa's young sister Selin is impudent, stealing a penis sheath and running into the wilderness, berated for entering the forbidden zone where the Imedin once massacred their people. To teach Selin respect, her grandfather, who is also the tribe's shaman, takes her to the spiritual site of Yahul and the volcanoes. There, the Imedin attack the shaman, clubbing him, leaving him mortally wounded. Selin escapes and runs back to her people, who retrieve the shaman, afraid that his inevitable death will leave them vulnerable. The Imedin are summoned to the village to make peace. They trade pigs, which the shaman's murderers club to death just as they had the shaman, and Wawa is promised for marriage into the Imedin tribe.

Despite the arranged marriage, Wawa and Dain continue their affair. The elders learn of this and plead with Wawa to give up the relationship. The elder women sympathize with Wawa for having to go through an arranged marriage but tell her that respect for her elders and the law will lead to happiness. Her peers also tell Wawa that she is not the only one whose interests are at stake. If the Imedin lose Wawa as a promised bride, they will likely seek revenge. Wawa reveals that she has already had sex with Dain, meaning she will be unacceptable to the Imedin anyway. Disgraced, Dain is exiled from the village. The elders continue to urge Wawa to accept her arranged marriage, pointing to Prince Philip to prove that arranged marriage means love.

Wawa joins Dain in the wilderness and hides on the side of the volcano while their people and the Imedin both search for them. The two eat poison mushrooms. Their people bury them, and the elders agree that recognition of love marriage must be added to the Kastom to keep their culture alive."The young people here will carry our future. We must listen to them to keep Kastom strong. We have to find a way to make love marriage part of Kastom. No more deaths. Our Kastom burns like that fire. With every death the fire becomes weaker. I agree with Charlie about love marriage. We must embrace any idea that keeps Kastom burning strong."" https://www.scripts.com/script.php?id=tanna_19385&p=8

The film was shot entirely on location in and around the village of Yakel on Tanna Island.{{cite news|title=Tanna: Yakel community's way of life unchanged by Hollywood acclaim |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-09/yakel-tribe-hold-tight-to-customs-despite-hollywood-success/8380526 |work=ABC News (Australia) |date=2017-04-08 |accessdate=2019-01-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409061903/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-09/yakel-tribe-hold-tight-to-customs-despite-hollywood-success/8380526 |archive-date=2017-04-09 |url-status=live}} Co-director Bentley Dean lived with his family for seven months in Tanna. Most of the cast played their own roles in the film,{{efn-ua|According to Jimmy Joseph Nako, the film’s cultural director: "The chief played the chief, the medicine man played the medicine man, the warriors played the warriors."}} and Dain was cast because he was considered the village's most handsome man.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/tanna-big-screen-debut-for-pacific-island-tribe-at-venice-film-festival-10497210.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/tanna-big-screen-debut-for-pacific-island-tribe-at-venice-film-festival-10497210.html |archive-date=26 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Big-screen debut for Pacific Island tribe who regard Prince Philip as a god|author=Kathy Marks|date=11 September 2015|work=The Independent}} The film's dialogue is shot in the Southwest Tanna (Nivhaal dialect) and Nafe (Kwamera, South Tanna) languages, which are used in Yakel.{{cite web|url=https://theconversation.com/award-winning-film-tanna-sets-romeo-and-juliet-in-the-south-pacific-49874|title=Award-winning film Tanna sets Romeo and Juliet in the south Pacific|author=Lamont Lindstrom|date=5 November 2015|work=The Conversation Australia}} The cast members did not regard the filming as being difficult because their roles were "performing what we were used to in our daily life."{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1728288604}} |last1=Bodey |first1=Michael |title=Aussies put tribe in the picture on world of film |work=Weekend Australian |location=Canberra |date=31 October 2015 |page=5 }} A copy of Ten Canoes was screened as an example for the actors.{{cite news|url=http://www.sbs.com.au/movies/article/2015/03/12/australian-film-tanna-tell-romeo-and-juliet-tale-melanesia|title=Australian film Tanna to tell Romeo and Juliet-like tale in Melanesia|work=SBS Movies}}

This is Martin Butler and Dean’s third collaboration, after the documentaries Contact and First Footprints.[http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/movies/tanna-tragic-south-pacific-love-story-exposes-raw-talent-on-remote-vanuatu-island/news-story/7e1383297cc3353b42fd85b4c445086e Heraldsun.com.au] Dean came to Vanuatu in 2003 to research a story on the John Frum movement for Dateline and wanted to return there to create something larger. Dean wanted to tell a local story and give his children a chance to live in the village, and developed the storyline in collaboration with the Yakel people.{{cite web|url=http://pacificpolicy.org/2015/09/tanna-film-a-hit-at-the-venice-festival/|title="Tanna" film a hit at the Venice festival|author=Ben Bohane|date=15 September 2015|work=Pacific Institute of Public Policy|accessdate=7 November 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151020184258/http://pacificpolicy.org/2015/09/tanna-film-a-hit-at-the-venice-festival/|archive-date=20 October 2015|df=dmy-all}}

• Marie Wawa as Wawa
• Mungau Dain as Dain
• Marceline Rofit as Selin
• Charlie Kahla as Chief Charlie
• Lingai Kowia as Father
• Linette Yowayin as Mother
• Albi Nangia as Grandfather and Shaman
• Dadwa Mungau as Grandmother

Actor Mungau Dain died in January 2019, aged 24, due to sepsis following a leg injury. He was married and had three children.{{cite news |last1=Harmon |first1=Steph |title=Mungau Dain, Tanna star and 'Vanuatu's Brad Pitt', dies after untreated leg infection |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/07/mungau-dain-tanna-star-and-vanuatus-brad-pitt-dies-after-untreated-leg-infection |accessdate=11 January 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=7 January 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Ives |first1=Mike |title=Mungau Dain, Unlikely Pacific Island Film Star, Dies at 24 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/obituaries/mungau-dain-dead.html |accessdate=11 January 2019 |work=New York Times |date=10 January 2019}}

Just after Cyclone Pam, a special screening was held for the tribe.{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/tanna-the-ancient-vanuatu-tribe-who-had-never-watched-a-film-now-star-in-one-20151104-gkpade.html|title=Tanna: the ancient Vanuatu tribe who had never watched a film now star in one|author=Garry Maddox|work=The Sydney Morning Herald}} The film has screened at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival,{{cite web|url=http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/72nd-festival/screenings/8sept.html|title=La Biennale di Venezia – 8 September|work=labiennale.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001184504/http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/72nd-festival/screenings/8sept.html|archive-date=1 October 2016|df=dmy-all}} where it won the Audience Award Pietro Barzisa, and Bentley Dean was awarded Best Cinematographer, at the BFI London Film Festival,{{cite web|url=http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/2015/10/17/bfi-london-film-festival-winners-232209/|title=The 2015 BFI London Film Festival winners announced|author=Paul Heath|date=17 October 2015|work=The Hollywood News|accessdate=7 November 2015}} and at the 2015 Adelaide Film Festival.

Tanna has received critical acclaim. Tanna has an approval rating of 92% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 39 reviews, and an average rating of 7.46/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Powerful visuals, naturalistic performances, and economic filmmaking combine to bring added resonance to Tanna's impactful story and fresh cultural perspective.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tanna_2016|title = Tanna| website=Rotten Tomatoes }} It has a score of 75% on Metacritic, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".{{cite web|title=Tanna|url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/tanna|work=Metacritic|accessdate=24 September 2016}}

Kenneth Turan declared Tanna to be one of the best films about a South Pacific people.{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-tanna-review-20160919-snap-story.html |title=Review: Tanna is a smart, refreshing story of star-crossed lovers |last=Turan |first=Kenneth |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=22 September 2016 |access-date=2 December 2017 |archive-date=3 December 2017 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20171203172539/http://beta.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-tanna-review-20160919-snap-story.html |url-status=live }} The Guardian critic Luke Buckmaster gave it four stars, and credited the novice actors as "magnetic" and praised the cinematography, saying, "Tanna has a warm, shimmering vitality. Like the trees and the birds, the frame feels alive".{{cite news |author=Luke Buckmaster |date=5 November 2015 |title=Tanna review – volcanic South Pacific love story shot entirely in Vanuatu |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/05/tanna-review-volcanic-south-pacific-love-story-vanuatu |accessdate=2 December 2017 |work=The Guardian}} Variety{{'}}s Richard Kuipers highlighted the aesthetics of the setting and shots, declaring "Visuals of lush forests, pristine beaches and barren black earth surrounding the volcano are beautiful without ever looking like a travelogue". In The Washington Post, Stephanie Merry wrote the story was uncomplicated but the setting was spectacular, remarking "There’s something thrilling about a movie that introduces us to a corner of the world we never knew existed".{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/tanna-a-real-life-romeo-and-juliet-set-amid-warring-tribes/2016/09/29/adb9f25e-84e4-11e6-ac72-a29979381495_story.html |title='Tanna': A real-life 'Romeo and Juliet,' set amid warring tribes |last=Merry |first=Stephanie |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=29 September 2016 |accessdate=2 December 2017}} For The Globe and Mail, Brad Wheeler compared it to Romeo and Juliet and declared "Emotional notes are hit neatly and refreshingly".{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/film-reviews/review-tanna-is-a-smart-refreshing-story-of-star-crossed-lovers/article35176822/ |title=Review: Tanna is a smart, refreshing story of star-crossed lovers |last=Wheeler |first=Brad |work=The Globe and Mail |date=2 June 2017 |accessdate=2 December 2017}}

Glenn Kenny wrote a negative review in The New York Times, concluding, "Despite its best efforts, Tanna drifts into a mode of exoticism that renders it an ultimately frustrating experience".{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/16/movies/tanna-review.html |title=Review: In 'Tanna,' Lovers Are Torn Apart to Keep Tribal Peace |last=Kenny |first=Glenn |work=The New York Times |date=15 September 2016 |accessdate=2 December 2017}}

{{Notelist-ua}}

• Kastom
• Love marriage
• List of submissions to the 89th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Australian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{IMDb title|tt4239726|Tanna}}
• {{rotten-tomatoes|tanna_2016|Tanna}}

{{AACTA Award Best Music Score}}

{{Australian submission for Academy Awards}}

Category:2015 films

Category:Vanuatuan films

Category:Australian adventure drama films

Category:2010s adventure drama films

Category:Films with screenplays by John Collee

Category:Films set in Vanuatu

Category:2015 drama films

Category:Arranged marriage

Category:Films scored by Antony Partos