Being Niuean | The Coconet TV Original Documentary
'Being Niuean': those who stayed, those who left, and for those to come...
"Honestly, I feel like I won the lottery being born Niue," Coral Pasisi
What does it mean to be a Pasifika person when so many of us have shifted away from our motherlands? In this beautiful documentary on identity, the young and old on the 'Rock' and in Aotearoa tell us how Being Niuean plays out for them.
In 2024 Niue celebrated 50 years of self governance, overseen by New Zealand administration. What benefits and what problems has this created for the small Island nation? We look back at the hopes and aspirations of those who lead the 1974 movement for self- governance, and how Niueans feel about it today. 'Being Niuean' looks at what happens when most of your island population has relocated to the diaspora, and how the motherland manages to sustain itself.
From celebrated musicians Diggy Dupe and Che Fu in Aotearoa, to world famous artist John Pule who returned to paint on Niue and the last generations with the skills of the land and the sea, this is a journey into the heartache and hopes of so many Tagata Moana.
"I want to stay here because I was born here... My mother is Niuean. I like working the land, that's what my mother used to do... work the land to look after us" Asalei Malama Taiva
"We could've bitten the bullet, refused citizenship and forced us as a people to make a go of it." Sir Collin Tukuitonga KNZM
"I wanted full independence. We were conned by the food....the taste of sweets, and things like that from New Zealand." Mititaiagimene Young Vivien Former Premier of Niue
"Niue is a realm nation and has a very special relationship with NZ, if you look around the world, without boasting, and with all the mistakes we might've made, its probably superior to any other arrangement anywhere in the world." Rt Hon Winston Peters.