Sima Urale was born on the island of Savai'i, Samoa, in 1969 and migrated to New Zealand with her six siblings in 1974. Her interest in storytelling led her to initially explore theatre, attending the New Zealand Drama School (Toi Whakaari O Aotearoa) from 1987 to 1989, and performing in various theatres throughout New Zealand. Urale graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts Film and Television School (formerly Swinburne) with a Bachelor in Film and Television in 1994.

O Tamaiti, written and directed by Urale, was her first film released after graduating from film school. The film has received numerous international awards, including the prestigious Silver Lion (best short film) at the Venice Film Festival and best short film at the New Zealand Film Awards, both in 1996. Her subsequent documentary film Velvet Dreams (1997) tracked the kitsch and slightly salacious velvet painter Charles McPhee's representation of Pacific women and won best documentary at the 1997 Yorkton Film Festival in Canada. Urale also won best short film at the Montreal Film Festival in 2001 for Still Life (2001).

O Tamaiti portrays some of the difficulties experienced by Polynesian migrants in New Zealand. Through her exploration of distinct hierarchies within Samoan families, the filmmaker addresses pertinent issues of financial hardship as well as varying problems of acculturation. O Tamaiti, which means 'the children' in Samoan, is filmed from their point of view. The camera focuses on the children; the adults are depicted in truncated form and loom large in the frame. This filmic device engages the audience with the children's lives, as well as adding to a particularly intense mood which is laced with moments of helplessness. The disquiet in the film is palpable from the very beginning, as five children sit patiently waiting in an austere hospital. Only the squeak of swinging doors, footsteps, and finally a woman's birthing scream disturb the eerie quietness of the children's space.

The narrative unfolds with the children's daily routines, punctuated with instances of anxiety, but also jovial sibling familiarity. Eleven year-old Tino looks after his brothers and sister and does many chores for his parents, as they move in and out of shift work and other obligations. Mostly without dialogue, Urale manages to convey difficult issues without overt didacticism. We see Tino in semi-darkness bottle-feeding his infant brother and then slumping back on his bed, exhausted. Urale says of the storyline: 'O Tamaiti was really inspired by experiences of having to look after the younger siblings, which we all have to do. And it's a really good thing to learn, but at the same time it's so easy to misuse kids, to use them as adults rather than seeing them for what they are... they are just babies themselves and they are given so much responsibilities.'(1) Rotuman academic Vilsoni Hereniko adds, 'this fearless portrayal challenges preconceived notions we may have of Polynesians being the exemplar of a society in which children are supported and lovingly raised by a community of adults.'(2) The film has been accepted by the Samoan community in spite of its sensitive content.(3) Undoubtedly, this is partly due to Urale's gentle portrayal of the family, where violence is intimated, but not enacted.

The production crew and cast for O Tamaiti drew on prominent members of the industry, such as producer Carol J Paewai (Kara), who was production co-ordinator on Once Were Warriors (1994), and Rewa Harre as director of photography, known for her work as second unit cameraman on The Piano (1993). In addition to the professional Pacific Islander actors, Urale worked with a cast of six children with no previous acting experience, but whose performances, particularly that of the lead, Harry Wendt, were much acclaimed. O Tamaiti offers a rare insight into Samoan cultural experience and aims to dispel misconceptions about the 'happy-haven' Pacific.

1. Mallon, Sean. Samoan Art and Artists. O Measina a Samoa. Craig Potton Publishing, Nelson, New Zealand. 2002, p.160.

2. Hereniko, Vilsoni. 'Representations of Pacific Islanders in film and video'. Documentary Box, no. 14, 10 October 1999, viewed 20 November 2003, <http://www.city.yamagata.yamagata.jp/yidff/docbox/14/box14-3-e.html>.

3. Margolis, Harriet. 'O Tamaiti'. The Big Picture, no. 9, Winter 1996, viewed 20 May 2003, <http://www.mic.org.nz/public_html/9revs.html>.