On this weeks episode of PX Whanau, Sonja Hammer has a joyful korero with two of the actors from the latest cinema project from Taika Waititi ( the first Indigenous Oscar recipient for Best Adapted Screenplay and groundbreaker director and producer -and actor- from Aotearoa). The film is Next Goal Wins, based on the doco of the same name (2014) but this time it’s a “mostly true” fictionalized version in the usual hilarious,self deprecating vibe that Taika is known for. Sonja’s guests are two of the cast of the film Oscar Kightley (Sione’s Wedding, Dawn Raids, bro’ Town) and David Fane (Our Flag means Death, Outrageous Fortune, Eagle vs Shark, bro’Town ), both amazing film and TV creatives in their own right too, from acting to producing to writing, broadcasting and directing. Household names in Aotearoa, Oscar and David speak on their creative relationship with Taika and their feelings about Fa'afafine representation in the film, a first in many ways for cinema, and the importance of queer Pasifika visibility on screen, but also their own personal experiences with Islander queer community,culture and decolonizing labels and ‘‘normalizing” in the broader sense: “in the islands it’s just normal, it’s just life…we don’t even put labels on it, the labels can mess things up a bit” .

Next Goal Wins is screening now throughout Australia through Disney studios.

Premise: ‘Dutch American football coach Thomas Rongen faces the option of being fired or accepting an almost impossible task: to convert the American Samoa national team, considered one of the weakest football teams in the world, into an elite squad. The storyline also includes fa'afafine player Jaiyah Saelua ( played by Kaimana), who was the first transgender (Faʻafafine) player ever to compete in a World Cup qualifier game’. 

BIOS 

OSCAR KIGHTLEY Oscar Kightley, MNZM, is a man of many talents. After launching The Naked Samoans, he worked with the comedy troupe over five seasons of hit series bro’Town, NZ's first animated show to play in prime time. The group also featured in movie Sione’s Wedding and its 2012 sequel, both of which Kightley co-wrote. In 2013 he took on a serious role: starring as a Samoan-Kiwi detective in TV series Harry. In 2016 movie hit Hunt for the Wilderpeople, he won laughs as a bumbling policeman. He was part of the voice cast of Aroha Bridge in its second season, before joining the cast of 2020 Taika Waititi movie Next Goal Wins. A 2006 Arts Foundation Laureate Award winner and Qantas Award-winning journalist, Kightley was made a member of the NZ Order of Merit in 2009 for services to theatre and television, and a Senior Pacific Artist at the 2016 Arts Pasifika Awards. In early 2020 he began a three month Fullbright-Creative New Zealand Pacific Writer's Residency in Hawai'i. 

DAVID FANE Proud Samoan New Zealander David Fane, ONZM, is one of Aotearoa’s most versatile actors, well known for the eclectic characters he has created across his prolific career on stage and screen. First appearing in the early 90s on sketch comedy shows Skitz and Telly Laughs, Fane went on to become a regular on large and small screens in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Pretty quickly, he realised it's always best to work with people you like, so teamed up with some of his best mates to found theatre company, The Naked Samoans. Their particular brand of cutting-edge satire found an instant audience and has endured over 20 years to produce numerous sell out stage shows, 2 feature films, Sione’s Wedding (released in U.S. as Samoan Wedding) 1 and 2, and the beloved and award winning, animated series, Bro’town, for which Fane co- wrote and voiced multiple iconic characters. Some of Fane’s other film roles include the hit comedy, Tongan Ninja, and Samoan- themed horror film, The Tattooist, for which he received best supporting actor nomination at the NZ Film & Television awards. Fane has previously worked with Taika Waititi on award-winning comedy feature, Eagle vs Shark, and two seasons of the HBO Max run-away piratical hit, Our Flag Means Death. Fane's other well-known TV roles include The Strip, Outrageous Fortune, 800 Words, Fresh Eggs and Australian series The Messenger. In 2016, Fane received Creative New Zealand’s Pacific Arts Senior Artist award and in 2023 he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the performing arts