WATCH SUA: PORTRAIT OF A RETIRED BUS DRIVER: A day in the life of a retired bus driver as he reflects on his journey as a Samoan immigrant traversing the streets of Auckland and the work he does in the church and the community.

Samoan NRL player Jarome Luai speaks about wanting to make every last game count as the end of his time with Penrith Panthers approaches

The story of three teenage girls jailed for the aggravated robbery of a 16 year-old schoolgirl in 1999 (All 14/15 years old) were jailed for the aggravated robbery of a 16 year-old schoolgirl which took place in 1999. The three girls were freed seven months later after a witness admitted she lied. They were also found to have been nowhere near the attack. Their conviction was overturned in 2001 and they received a sizeable financial compensation. It was found the actions of the police during interviews were overbearing and deceitful. Court of Appeal judge, Justice Gault, said the girls had the court’s sympathy for the injustice that had wrongly sent them to prison.

Kiribati could soon become uninhabitable due to climate change. Residents are using all available means to protect themselves from rising sea levels. In Kiribati, residents are building walls to protect their homes from rising sea levels – which worked well for a long time. But the high tides are getting more extreme, resulting in what they call ‘king tides.’ Now, walls are no longer a permanent solution. So how can Kiribati be saved? There have been discussions of an artificial replacement island or filling in some of the 33 islands. But, even though the disaster has been looming for years, these solutions are only theoretical. And the government has remained tight-lipped on which solution it prefers. Meanwhile, residents are repairing their walls and hoping for support from overseas. A report by Luca Schmitt-Walz.

A new island has recently emerged in Tonga over the past few months, sparking concerns about potential dangers. The island is located 90 kilometers southwest of Neiafu, Vava'u. While filming for upcoming short 'Mo'unga Afi' in Tonga last year (2023), The Lacelid Productions team set sail for, what we thought was, a sub-surface volcano called "home Reef". The plan was to do a dive at the shoal marked on our charts. What theyfound were 18m cliffs and rock so hot it steamed when waves crashed over it.

The second chapter of the story surrounding Home Brew, one of Aotearoa's most enigmatic and fabled hip-hop groups has dropped. The documentary revisits the roots of Home Brew's meteoric rise, from humble beginnings to becoming a driving force in the music industry and traces the evolution of their sound, style, and influence over the past 11 years. 

On Australia’s northern doorstep lies one of the most extraordinary places on earth – some environmentalists call it the second Amazon. The Sepik River Basin in Papua New Guinea is a natural wonder and home to rich and ancient cultures. It’s a place few outsiders ever get to see. For some time, PNG correspondent Natalie Whiting has been hearing rumours about what’s going on in the remote areas upriver – claims of a logging land grab, police brutality, even killings. She undertakes the journey far up the Sepik River to see for herself what’s happening.

The first chapter of the story surrounding Home Brew, one of Aotearoa's most enigmatic and fabled hip-hop groups has dropped. The documentary revisits the roots of Home Brew's meteoric rise, from humble beginnings to becoming a driving force in the music industry and traces the evolution of their sound, style, and influence over the past 11 years. 

#EXCLUSIVE: The sisters of a young man have described the agonising night he collapsed after unknowingly drinking liquid methamphetamine.  The death of Aiden Sagala sparked a massive police investigation into the importation of meth brought into the country inside cans of beer. Investigations reporter Michael Morrah has the story.

Travel vlogger & journalist Peter Santenello meets up with some old-school Samoans who did many hard years in gangs and prisons in the USA. Their crimes were horrendous but they've decided to change their lives and move forward on a mission to keep the youth out of the gangs that they helped form. Watch the video above for an eye-opening, heart wrenching, and inspirational journey. -  To find out more about the Fou Movement click here and watch the video below -  {{31990}}

The traditional Fijian unisex hair style called Buiniga looks similar to the more widely known Afro. Although the popularity of the hair style has dwindled in recent years, some young women in Fiji are bucking the trend and refusing to straighten their hair. Buiniga is important to maintaining Fijian culture, says 18-year-old student Arieta Digutu, who took part in a beauty pageant paying tribute to the natural hair style. 'This competition is important, because we have to keep our culture. My mother and aunt are still wearing buiniga hair style and I am following them', she says Check out the full article here 

Hawai'i-based nonprofit program 'Mana Maoli' is a collective of educators, artists, musicians and more who share a common goal of community empowerment. In 2013, they started the Mana Mele Project where they've been able to operate after-school elective classes focused around music and multimedia for Hawai'i youth. Last week on the Tamron Hall show they were named as one of the 2023 Accelerator Awardee's of a $500,000 prize. Mana Maoli says that with their current federal grant projects ending in 9 months and nothing else lined up that the award was perfect timing.

New Principal Youth Court Judge Ida Malosi says the focus should be on being tough for young offenders, not to them. Speaking to TVNZ Chief Correspondent John Campbell, she said those young offenders who walk through the doors of the Youth Court are the most damaged and most frightened in society. Early last month, Malosi was appointed to her new position as Principal Youth Court Judge, at a time when there are increasing calls to get tough on young offenders. Read the full story here, and read John Campbell's exclusive interview with locked up teen ram-raiders here.

Forty-five years after his parents were wrongfully imprisoned for overstaying, a Tongan New Zealander finally admits the painful truth behind what really happened to his family during the Dawn Raids.  Tongan-born Tesimoni Fuavao came to Aotearoa with his family in 1975 for medical treatment. On a day out with a friend, Tesimoni had an unexpected run-in with the police that led to the wrongful arrests of both of his parents. Now Tesimoni shares the story that saddled him and his family with decades of shame and regret and exposes the deep wounds his community suffered at the hands of New Zealand Police.

Part of the Someday Stories series Joshua Baker and Maria Tanner have put together this short docomentary to showcase Kava 'o Aotearoa.  A collective of Pasifika cultural guardians reactivate ancient Tu’i Tonga kava ceremony for contemporary use in Aotearoa in a way that honours tangata whenua. For more on the ceremony of Kava 'o Aotearoa check out the event they hosted on the ocean last year here.

New Zealand’s horticulture industry is worth ten billion dollars a year to our economy. But it also hides an uneasy secret – where the migrant workers it relies on to get products to market can be abused and exploited. Recent investigations found evidence of RSE workers crowded in substandard accommodation with workers unable to leave because of crippling debt to their employers. Reporter John Campbell sees for himself how RSE workers live, and work, while in New Zealand, and asks - who’s looking after them while they're here?

This documentary gives you a glimpse into the preparation leading up to Lisi's collaboration and live performance with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Go behind the scenes as Lisi meets the orchestra's conductor Nick Buc for the first time and Nick goes out to Goodna to get a feel for where Lisi comes from.  Plus Lisi's Nana, renowned actress Ana Tuisila gives us some insight into what he was like as a youngster.

Playwright Oscar Kightley sits down with Q+A's Jack Tame to talk about the 25th anniversary performance of his show Dawn Raids, and the place of Pasifika in New Zealand. Kightley told Tame that when his play about the Dawn Raids was first staged 25 years ago, they weren’t talked about publicly by most New Zealanders. “There was no attitude towards it. There was no one discussing it. There was no one feeling bad about it. There were no politicians." Instead, it was something that mainly the Pacific community talked about, especially those from Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, he says. "'Cause we were the ones who were deported. We just had to deal with it on our own as a bad memory that we just had to put to the past. And that's why I wanted to write it.” While the Government’s apology last year brought more attention to the raids, Kightley, who was at the ceremony, argues the compensation for what had happened fell short. Read the full article here 

A short film by Daniel Pouesi on the man behind Samoa's famous Cultural Anthem "We are Samoa" — Faanana Jerome Grey. The documentary traces the legendary, 75-year old Samoan songwriter's humble beginnings from the Loto Samasoni, Samoa to the United States where he presently lives and continues to pen music and serenade audiences at places such as Kenwood's and Trader Joe's, California. Featuring some of Samoa's favorite folk songs and music by the late Henry Faanana (Jerome's father), the amazing Grey Sisters, and Jerome. Special appearance by the late Loli Peniamina, one of Samoa's gifted musicians and composers who arranged and recorded Faanana's forthcoming Gospel CD. {{29168}} At the 2022 Pacific Music Awards in New Zealand, the iconic Samoan singer-songwriter will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award. In 2021 he was named Polynesia’s Artist of the Decade by the Asia Pacific Cultural Center in Tacoma,  Washington. Pacific Music Awards Trust spokesperson Rev. Mua Strickson-Pua says:  “Jerome has provided us with a Samoan musical compass linking us to our Alofa of being Samoan, our  Alofa for Samoa and our Alofa for Atua God Tupuaga ancestors showing us the way home.  “Fa'anana epitimises that Pacific composer who musically tells our Pacific stories Tala Fa'asolopito history,  our Malaga journey, and our Tauivi struggles. He tells his love for Samoa, his love for the people of Samoa  and in return we the Samoans around the world sing his Pese song in unison ‘We Are Samoa’.  “The Pacific Music Awards Trust humbly announces Fa'anana Jerome Grey as the Manukau Institute of  Technology Lifetime Achievement recipient. Fa'avae i le Atua Samoa.”  Grey’s legacy will be celebrated at the Pacific Music Awards, with a special tribute performance created to honour his impact on the Pacific music scene.  

They’re Australia’s most infamous hip-hop act, but the police won’t let them perform live and most of the group has done time behind bars. But OneFour is out to prove that’s their past, and global stardom their future. "

Warning:  Explicit Language  Go behind the scenes with Lisi and his boys on their 'Dreams' tour around New Zealand.

As a child, Sian Mareko always dreamt of finding her Kiribati father in the hopes of reconnecting to her identity, language and family. Ko rabwa Sian & family, thank you for sharing your amazing story in celebration of Kiribati Language Week. - Tekeraoi n wiikin te taetae ni Kiribati. Happy Kiribati Language Week 🇰🇮

Samoan entrepreneur Ben Niumata shares his journey in starting his own business from scratch, including the highs and lows that go with it. He owns and runs one of the most popular burger spots in Brisbane & is now making moves to expand Grubbies Burgers & Hawaiian BBQ Platters.

A CoconetTV original  The first wave of Chinese immigrants arrived in Samoa in the late 19th Century. As time stretched on and the more that came (be it as free settlers or indentured labourers), they integrated into the culture, learnt the fa'asamoa, married Samoans, had Samoan families and eventually died in Samoa as Samoans. The legacy they left behind is powerful and can be seen in the culture and the people of Samoa today. Despite the history, the newest wave of Chinese to arrive in Samoa has upset a lot of the locals. Taking businesses that should be set aside for Locals, skirting laws set up to prevent them from doing so and funnelling money out of the Samoan economy, are just some of the issues being voiced by Samoans. This documentary delves in to the past, meets the descendants of the people that changed the face of Samoa and takes a look at the potential problems that come with the new wave of Chinese arriving in Samoa today. This is Dragons In Paradise.

In this #TalesOfTime Coco Doco Oscar Kightley is in Samoa to explore his Solomon Island Ancestry. He discovers how these 'Tama Uli' or 'Black People' as they're also known, came to Samoa over 100 years ago. He also learns about the legacy they left behind and the difficulties they still face today.

The relationship between New Zealand and Samoa is very complex. The pages of our histories are intertwined and blotted with black marks right next to NZ's name. On the 7th November 1918, the NZ military administration controlling Samoa, led by Col. Robert Logan, made the deadly decision to knowingly allow a ship called 'The Talune" carrying Spanish Influenza to dock in Apia Harbour.  The results were catastrophic, wiping out over a quarter of Samoas population and decimating entire families and villages in what is one of the worst cultural catastrophes in history.

In 2018, Radio New Zealand followed the St Paul’s College Samoan group as they sacrificed two months of their lives to compete for Polyfest glory. SEVEN WEEKS: Journey to Polyfest is a documentary about family, pride, community and culture, hard work and an honouring of history. Narrated by David Dallas 

This short film, Like A Mighty Wave, was created by Mikey Inouye​, local boy and filmmaker who is a part of the immense talent that makes up our Mauna media team. The film captures the transformative impact that the sacrifice of our kūpuna on July 17th has had in Hawaiʻi - an impact that reverberates throughout the globe. Mahalo nui loa Mikey Inouye and the many members of the Mauna media team who helped capture this pivotal moment in history. The film was spotlighted at the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival in November. Mikey is now making it available to the public as a fundraiser for HULI to help ensure that this movement remains strong at every level. The film is free and accessible to all but we ask that as you take in the emotion and beauty of the movement captured in this film, that you also make a donation through HULIʻs action network page here - https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/huli Aloha ʻāina and Kū Kiaʻi Mauna!

An intimate glimpse of the first visible group of transgender men in the Pacific Islands - the Rogers of Samoa. From the loneliness of family rejection and homelessness to the camaraderie of church, cooking, and dance, their stories reveal the challenges and possibilities of life in an island society rooted in culture and tradition. Dedicated in loving memory to To'oto'oali'i (Roger) Stanley (1976-2018) 

In 2018, Raymond Sagapolutele travelled to Frankfurt, Germany to take part in the exhibition 'Grey is the new Pink', a work that featured his mother Ruta and sister Ufitia. In 2019, Raymond returned to Frankfurt, this time together with Ufitia and her dance sisters Natalia and Lycia. "I had discussed the possibility of including a choreographed contemporary Siva Samoa with the team at Weltkulturen, explaining that it would be a chance for our family to pay respect to our mother and to also provide an opportunity for a group of Samoans to be present and reconnect with the archive as I had done the previous year. From a narrative point of view, it was also a chance to complete the circle for our mother and sister who, seven years prior, had danced as representatives of two distinct styles. Ufitia had evolved in her practice as a dancer and would be able to honour what our mother had taught her and show her fa’aaloalo (deference and respect) to dance one more time on behalf of aiga as we say goodbye" - Raymond Sagapolutele  Check out the full project here

Onefour are Australia’s first drill rappers, a style born out of Chicago (Chief Keef, Lil Durk, King Louie & Chiraq Drill rappers) and the UK (Harlam Spartans, Loski, RV and more).  OneFour began tailoring their craft at Street University; a youth development project created by the Ted Noffs foundation in Mt Druitt. “It was where our rap careers started. We learnt to mix tracks and that,” Spenny14 smiles affectionately. “Shoutout to Julie. She’s a good lady. She used to look after us.” It was at Street University that OneFour came together as Australia’s first drill group. Their music is getting attention from all over the world. VICE meets Onefour in Western Sydney, to explore the neighbourhoods that they grew up in and visit the set of their music video ‘Spot The Difference’.

Meet Jeralee Galea'i a fire knife dancing champion who lives in Laie, Hawaii. Watch this video to hear her story. -  About the series:  Irreplaceable: Celebrating Different is a series that explores unique individuals and their fandoms. From objects to culture –– we learn where the obsession started and how it evolved. It’s a celebration of what’s different.

Hawaiʻi's high cost of living and unaffordable housing market is putting more and more pressure on local families. How many more people and generations can we squeeze into our homes just to be able to afford to live here? How many more of our family members have to move away before we say enough is enough? The long-term solution is that we need to push for better policies to create enough TRULY affordable housing (below 100% AMI). Unfortunately we have a homeless crisis to deal with right now and new housing programs for the homeless, like Housing First, are working well but are very limited in scale. We, as a society, are unable to provide solutions to this housing and homeless crisis right now so what do we do for our most vulnerable people who are living unsheltered every day that this problem continues?

MOU PIRI: A Rarotongan Love Song, Multinesia Productions, 2013 Short film exploring the importance of music and dance in Cook Islands culture through the story of a popular romantic song. Official selection: Film Raro International Film Festival, Hawaii International Film Festival, Pollywood Pasifika, Film Festival, Aperture Ethnographic Documentary Festival, FIFO Tahiti Documentary, Film Festival. Culture is like love – if you just hold tight, you’ll be OK. That’s the message of Mou Piri, a South Pacific love song that has touched hearts around the world. The short documentary explores the importance of music and dance in Cook Islands culture, through the story of a romantic song that is synonymous with island weddings.

In Gangsters in Paradise - Deportees of Tonga, VICE embeds with four Tongan nationals who have been sent back to the tiny island nation where they were born after serving prison time in New Zealand and the United States. Former gang members, they often struggle to reconnect with the culture, the language, and the people. They are haunted by the stigma of their criminal pasts, which casts a pall over their employment prospects and puts a barrier between them and their compatriots. Government support for returnees is non-existent, wages are low, and with Tonga in the midst of a methamphetamine crisis, the temptations to revert to the lives of crime they hoped to leave behind when they left prison are high.

Dear Thalia follows The Martin Family (Tracy, Tabatha, & Thalia) being homeless living in Kakaako, Oahu/Hawai’i. Filmed over a course of 4 months on weekends (8-10 hours a day), some weekdays/holidays and the Family having a GoPro for the entire duration 24/7. Living in paradise with the cost of living and cost of a home, its very common to have people working multiple jobs or still living with their parents. Add in a loss of a job, or a medical situation/emergency, or any other variable that could potentially have you sleeping on friends couches or on the streets. See what its like to live on a sidewalk in Kakaako, Oahu Hawaii.

At the edge of the city and the margins of society, a school and its students are fighting back. Under The Bridge is the story of a year inside their world. Papakura East is one of the poorest suburbs in the country, with Auckland’s highest rate of welfare dependency, and where the average household income hovers just above $46,000. It also has a reputation for drugs and crime and the police are never far away.  “It feels surreal. I didn’t think I was going to make it - in my family we weren’t expected to go as far in school, and that goes to say for a lot of families in Papakura as well. You’re expected to mature faster so all you’re taught is being a mum or going to get a job. It isn’t an expectation of us to go all the way.” - Wendy Savieti, Head Girl, Papakura High School  Read the full story here: http://features.nzherald.co.nz/under-the-bridge/

A short documentary on the Boo Yaa T.R.I.B.E - Samoan brothers who grew up in Carson, California and are celebrated as the pioneers of Samoan & Poly Hip Hop. They've collaborated with many hip hop & rock artists including Eminem, Mack 10 & The Transplants. - Behind the scenes with Boo Yaa T.R.I.B.E on the set of 'Another Body Murdered' with Faith No More and an interview with Ted Devoux aka 'The godfather'. {{8918}} Check out this video of them when they first started out as a dance group the 'Blue City Strutters' where they're featured in the 'Breakin n Enterin, West Coast Hip Hop Doc' 

Two years ago Guyon Espiner stopped drinking. Now, the award-winning journalist and podcast-maker has made a documentary about New Zealand's drinking culture and the alcohol industry.

Many Native Hawaiians can’t afford to live in Hawai’i. This summer, the average price for a single-family home in Maui hit $1.1 million. But an average salary for a worker in the tourism industry is less than $40,000 per year.