Hiko in Tonga: A Culture almost Lost (2019)
Genre : Documentary
Runtime : 1H 2M
Director : Connie Paprika Leaverton
Synopsis
A multi-generational film of a unique, vanishing culture of Polynesian women jugglers in The Kingdom of Tonga.
The story of Katherine Ann Watson, a feminist teacher who studied at UCLA graduate school and in 1953 left her boyfriend behind in Los Angeles, California to teach at Wellesley College, a conservative women's private liberal arts college in Massachusetts, United States.
On August 7th 1974, French tightrope walker Philippe Petit stepped out on a high wire, illegally rigged between New York's World Trade Center twin towers, then the world's tallest buildings. After nearly an hour of performing on the wire, 1,350 feet above the sidewalks of Manhattan, he was arrested. This fun and spellbinding documentary chronicles Philippe Petit's "highest" achievement.
When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.
Dutch ice freediver Kiki Bosch swims in the world's coldest waters without a wetsuit as therapy for a trauma she experienced, and to inspire others.
John H. Groberg, a middle class kid from Idaho Falls, crosses the Pacific to become a Mormon missionary in the remote and exotic Tongan island kingdom during the 1950's. He leaves behind a loving family and the true love of his life, Jean. Through letters and musings across the miles, John shares his humbling and sometimes hilarious adventures with "the girl back home", and her letters buoy up his spirits in difficult times. John must struggle to overcome language barriers, physical hardship and deep-rooted suspicion to earn the trust and love of the Tongan people he has come to serve. Throughout his adventure-filled three years on the islands, he discovers friends and wisdom in the most unlikely places. John H. Groberg's Tongan odyssey will change his life forever.
‘The Legend of Baron To’a’ tells the story of Fritz, a Tongan entrepreneur who returns to his old neighbourhood and inadvertently causes the theft of his late father’s valued pro wrestling title belt by some ruthless gangsters led by ‘man-mountain’ Tahu. When negotiation and diplomacy fail to get it back, he is forced to embrace his father’s legacy to reclaim the title.
Rakel, Marta, Karin and Annette are married to four brothers. While waiting in a summer cottage for their husbands to come home, they tell each other stories about their marriages. Rakel tells about the time she had an affair and confronted her husband with it. Marta's story is about how she at first refused to marry and had her child by herself. Karin tells about what happened when one time she and her husband got stuck in an elevator together. While the women tell their stories, Marta's younger sister Maj is planning to elope.
In a cluttered news landscape dominated by men, emerges India’s only newspaper run by Dalit women. Armed with smartphones, Chief Reporter Meera and her journalists break traditions on the frontlines of India’s biggest issues and within the confines of their own homes, redefining what it means to be powerful.
Tennis star and women’s rights activist Billie Jean King won a total of 12 Grand Slam titles, but the biggest match of her career took place in 1973 against former men’s champion Bobby Riggs, a self-proclaimed male chauvinist pig who declared that, even at the age of 55, he could beat any woman in the world.
The Flying Karamozov Brothers have been "in the biz" since 1973 performing everywhere from the streets of San Francisco to more recent appearances on Broadway. And now... The Flying Karamozov Brothers present, their first ever made for video, video: How to Juggle & Other Matters of Life & Death. For the accountant who juggles the books, for the homemaker who juggles the family's schedule, for the busy executive who juggles the office, and especially for KIDS of all ages who juggle a limitless supply of energy. Finally, a video for anyone who ever wanted to learn how to juggle anything.
A story about a Tongan hunter named, Flying Fox, who is instructed to set out on a journey by his village chief, Singing Whale , to learn about his strengths as a man. During his journey he meets two warring villages and attempts to mediate their differences. Flying Fox applies the lessons he learned on his journey when he returns to his home village to find trouble.
A man performs tricks on a theatre stage with a bowler hat and a billiards ball in equilibrium on his arms and body.
The south sea island Tonga is full of plantations and scoundrels. Ellen Bradford arrives expecting marriage to respectable and successful plantation owner only to find he is a drunk and gambler. Being the only white woman she is the desire of scoundrels and cut-throats.
Would-be filmmaker Sophie left Africa for Canada as a child. After graduating, she films the daily doings as part of a summer job at a fair. When pointing the camera at herself, she reveals painful secrets from the past.
Daffy is an agent representing Sleepy LaGoof, trying to sell him to talent scout Porky. Daffy spends a great deal of time and energy explaining and demonstrating what the kid can do, while the kid sits on a couch licking a giant sucker.
An effervescent facilitator and mother figure, Multicultural Liaison Officer Rosemary is undoubtedly a force of nature. Isolation in Auburn’s migrant community is a huge obstacle, and cultural norms mean that women are often tied to the house or a limited locale. Rosemary, with her larger-than-life spirit and generosity, works tirelessly to draw the women out of their homes and into society. She hosts a lively African Women’s Dinner Dance and takes them on a trip to the Blue Mountains and the NSW South Coast – introducing them to an Australia they’ve never seen before.
The story of Joey Mataele and the Tonga Leitis, an intrepid group of transgender women fighting a rising tide of religious fundamentalism and intolerance in the South Pacific Kingdom.
Medieval French monks find a freezing, ill juggler and take him in. Upon recovering, the impoverished man wishes to illustrate his tremendous gratitude. He eventually finds a way to.
An overwhelmed woman buckles under the pressure of the multiple stresses which dominate her day-to-day life.
Only women, children and old people live in this Armenian village, while the men work in Russia. A life with a rhythm of its own, an independent daily life marked nonetheless by exile.