| Red, White & Brass | |
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| Directed by | Damon Fepulea'i |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Andrew McGeorge |
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Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Languages | English Tongan |
| Box office | $2,000,000 |
Red, White & Brass is a 2023 New Zealand comedy film directed by Damon Fepulea'i.
The film centres around Tongan New Zealander rugby fan Maka, who is seeking to get tickets to attend the 2011 Rugby World Cup's Tonga versus France game in Wellington on 1 October 2011. Maka frequently clashes with his successful cousin Veni, who has aspirations of climbing the social ladder and regards Maka as a loser. Following a church fundraising effort, Maka buys fake tickets from a local criminal. Though Maka's mother manages to recover the funds, they are too late to buy the tickets for the match.
Still determined to watch the Tonga versus France match, Maka comes up with the idea of creating a brass band to perform during the pre-match entertainment. However, the band does not exist, and Maka has four weeks to create the band. Despite the disapproval of his conservative church minister father and the Tongan community elders, Maka forms an impromptu band consisting of Veni, his father, his girlfriend and several church members. Maka also enlists the help of a recent Tongan migrant, who was formerly part of a brass band, and a local Pakeha music teacher, to help train the band and acquire musical instruments respectively.
With the help of Aroha, a Māori woman who works for the Wellington City Council, Maka secures an audition for the brass band to represent the Tongan community at the pre-match entertainment. However, Maka botches the audition when he attempts to incorporate some modern hip-hop moves into the performance, resulting the City Council rejecting the group's application to perform. Footage of the botched audition is circulated on social media, causing embarrassment to the Tongan community and elders.
Despite this setback, Maka manages to convince Aroha and the City Council to reconsider their decision by staging an impromptu performance by the brass band. Though the Tongan community's elders are opposed to the brass band participating at the Tongan versus France match, Maka's father manages to convince them to agree to a compromise where Makas' team will perform a traditional Tongan hymn. Maka's band also receives help from the Tongan community, who manufacture red costumes for them.
On the day of the France versus Tonga match, Maka and his brass band initially play their traditional hymn but incorporate modern hip-hop moves. Their performance is well received by the spectators and Tongan community. The post-credit blurb mentions that Tonga beat France during the match by a margin of 19 to 14.
Red, White & Brass was directed by Damon Fepulea'i, [3] and was based on true events. [4] Producer Halaifonua Finau was inspired to write the screenplay for the film in 2016. [5]
The film's soundtrack was performed by Three Houses Down. [3]
Red, White & Brass premiered at the Embassy Theatre, Wellington on 21 March 2023, [4] [6] before receiving a wide-release in New Zealand on 23 March 2023. [3] The film was shown at the Hawaii International Film Festival on 1 April 2023, [7] and was announced as one of the early picks for the 2023 Sydney Film Festival. [8] The film received a theatrical release in Australia on 22 June 2023. [9] The film also played LA Asian Pacific Film Festival – Winner Special Jury Mention Narrative Feature (Damon Fepulea’i, Halaifonua (Nua) Finau), IFI Family Festival Dublin, Jecheon International Music & Film Festival, Atlantic International Film Festival, Port Townsend Film Festival (winning Audience Choice Best Narrative Feature), & Lost Weekend Film Festival. [10]
During its first week, Red, White & Brass debuted at number two at the New Zealand Box Office. [11]
The film was New Zealand's number 1 local film in 2023 at the Box Office. [12]
Isaac Chen of The New Zealand Herald awarded the film 5 out of 5 stars opening its review with, "Red, White & Brass is a beautifully crafted story with plenty of heart and plenty of laughs." [1]
Graeme Tuckett of Stuff awarded the film four out of fixe stars, describing it as "pretty much the definition of a feel-good film." He praised the performance of the cast members particularly John-Paul Foliaki, Mikey Falesiu, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, and Ilaisaane Green. [3]
Simon Morris of Radio New Zealand praised the film for its exploration of Tongan New Zealand culture and society. [2]
It was announced by Auckland Theatre Company it would produce a stage version of Red, White & Brass in association with Piki Films and Miss Conception Productions in its 2024 season with script penned by Leki Jackson-Bourke who has an additional writing credit on the film, and directed by Anapela Polataivao and Vela Manusaute. Many of the original cast from the film will return. [13]
Music of Tonga refers to music derived from the island Tonga in the islands of Polynesia. Music of Tonga today generally falls under the category of traditional music that has withstood the test of time, or into one of the two opposing genres of religious and secular music. Tongan music can be either very emotional and somewhat modern with instrumental makeup including modern brass instruments, or conversely can be more traditional and consist of only drums and voices. In this way, Tongan music is very diverse despite the fact that it is contained to a fairly small island, which means that the different cultures and styles co-exist on the small land mass together without blending.
The Tonga national rugby union team represents the Tonga Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. The team is nicknamed ʻIkale Tahi . Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a traditional challenge – the Sipi Tau. They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Samoa. The Ikale Tahi achieved a historic 19–14 victory over France in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but having lost to New Zealand and Canada, were unable to achieve what would have been their first-ever presence at the quarter-finals.
Ramon Te Wake is a New Zealand trans woman documentarian, singer-songwriter and television presenter. Her first presenting job was for Māori Television, where she was one of three people fronting Takatāpui, which is Maori Television's first ever LGBT show.
Finau Maka started his playing career for Auckland Rugby Union and NZ age group teams. He played over 50 games for Auckland NPC Team and the Hurricanes, Blues and Highlanders before leaving to play for the Stade Toulousain club in French Top 14. Whilst at Toulouse he helped them win the 2003, 2005 and 2010 Heineken Cups, as a replacement in 2003 and starting in the 2005 final. He played in two Rugby World Cups for Tonga and was one of the stars of the 2007 Rugby World Cup. In 2011 he led his country to beat France in the biggest upset in Rugby World Cup history. France went on to almost beat the All Blacks in the final.
Moʻale Finau is a Tongan politician and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga.
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Ainsley Amohaere Gardiner is a film producer from New Zealand.
Keaon Koloamatangi, also known as Keta, is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL.
The dawn raids were crackdowns in New Zealand from 1973 to 1979 and then sporadically afterward on alleged illegal overstayers from the Pacific Islands. The raids were first introduced in 1973 by Prime Minister Norman Kirk's Labour government, who discontinued them in April 1974. However, they were later reintroduced and intensified by Rob Muldoon's Third National government. These operations involved special police squads conducting often aggressive raids on the homes and workplaces of overstayers throughout New Zealand, usually at dawn and almost exclusively directed at Pasifika New Zealanders, regardless of their citizenship status. Overstayers and their families were often prosecuted and then deported back to their countries.
Kolokesa Uafā Māhina-Tuai is a Tongan curator and writer, whose work explores the role of craft in Tongan society. In the 2022 New Year Honours, Māhina-Tuai was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to cultures and the arts.
The Panthers is a New Zealand drama television miniseries created and executive produced by Halaifonua Finau and Tom Hern in association with Four Knights Film studio. Set during the 1970s, the series focuses on the emergence of the Polynesian Panthers against the backdrop of the controversial dawn raids. The series was released by public broadcaster TVNZ on 15 August on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ On Demand. The series starred Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as Polynesian Panthers leader Will Ilolahia, and was written by Tom Hern and Halaifonua Finau.
Kulimoe'anga Stone Maka, is an interdisciplinary artist of Tongan heritage who lives in Christchurch, New Zealand. In 2011, he was awarded the Emerging Pasifika Artist Award from Creative New Zealand. Maka's work has been exhibited in museums and art galleries in New Zealand, Hawai'i Australia and Tonga. In 2020 he was selected to represent New Zealand at the 22nd Biennale in Sydney.
Suli Moa is a New Zealand playwright, actor, screenwriter and teacher of Tongan descent. He wrote and performed the first Tongan Play in New Zealand, Kingdom of Lote. As a playwright Moa has been awarded the Adam New Zealand Play Award for Best Pacific Play, 12th Round (2016), and Tales of a Princess (2018). Moa's acting credits include A love yarn (2021) andSweet Tooth (2021). His writing credits include The Panthers (2021) and Shortland Street (2021-2022). Moa has also appeared in multiple short films as an actor and served as a cultural advisor.
Magan Maka is a Tongan New Zealander boxer who has represented both New Zealand and Tonga at the Commonwealth Games.
Nikolai Foliaki is a Tongan rugby union player, currently playing for the Force and Counties Manukau. His preferred position is centre.
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