Vilsoni Hereniko

Vilsoni Hereniko
Born	(1954-10-13) October 13, 1954 Hapmak, Itu'ti'u, Rotuma
Alma mater	University of the South Pacific University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Occupation	Professor at University of Hawaiʻi
Known for	Writer & Director of The Land Has Eyes

Vilsoni Hereniko (born October 13, 1954) is a Rotuman playwright, film director and academic. He was the writer and director of Rotuma's first ever (and so far only) feature film, The Land Has Eyes (Pear ta ma 'on maf).

Biography

Hereniko is a Rotuman, born in Mea village, Hapmak, Itu'ti'u District, Rotuma, Fiji. He was schooled in his native Rotuma, obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Graduate Certificate in Education from the University of the South Pacific in 1997, a Master's degree in Education at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and, in 1991, a PhD in literature and language at the University of the South Pacific. He is now a professor at the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he teaches literature, theatre and film.

Career

Literary

Hereniko published his first plays in the mid-1970s, including Don't Cry Mama, A Child For Iva, Sera's Choice and The Monster. In 1997 he received the Elliott Cades Writing Award for his overall contributions to literature.

Film

Hereniko has served on the jury and selection committee of the Hawai‘i International Film Festival. The Land Has Eyes, set in his native Rotuma, was his first feature film, in 2004. It was presented at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004, and was Rotuma's official submission to the 2006 Academy Awards. It received the "Best Overall Entry" award at the 2005 Wairoa Maori Film Festival, and the "Best Dramatic Feature" award at the 2004 ImagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival.

Filmography

• The Land Has Eyes (2004), Writer and Director

Bibliography

• Two Plays, 1987, ISBN 982-02-0015-6
• The monster and other plays, 1989, ISBN 982-02-0028-8
• The wicked cat, 1991, ISBN 982-01-0073-9
• Last virgin in paradise: A serious comedy, 1993, ISBN 982-02-0084-9
• Woven Gods: Female Clowns and Power in Rotuma, 1995, ISBN 0-8248-1655-2
• Sina & Tinilau, 1997 (children's book), ISBN 982-02-0127-6
• Inside Out: Literature, Cultural Politics, and Identity in the New Pacific, 1999 (as co-editor), ISBN 0-8476-9142-X

External links

• Interview with Vilsoni Hereniko
• Biography on the website of the University of Hawai'i
• Biography on Rotuma.net