Tusi Tamasese

Tusi Tamasese born in 1975 or 1976 in Samoa is a Samoan New Zealander film director He is of high chiefly descent of the Tupua Tamasese lineage He came to New Zealand at the age of 18 with the intention to go to university but lacking a scholarship began by working picking tomatoes He eventually did study at the New Zealand Film School at the Victoria University of Wellington and at the University of Waikato he obtained a bachelors degree in social sciences and a Master of Arts degree in creative writing He now lives in Wellington He wrote and directed his first short film Va Tapuia Sacred Spaces which was screened at the 2010 NZ Film Festival and then at festivals around the world He went on to make Samoas first ever feature film The Orator O Le Tulafale which was screened in 2011 and submitted to the 84th Academy Awards It was funded by the New Zealand Film Commission and the Samoan government He described it as my image of what I see of growing up in Samoa