American tattoo artist Jake Sawyer wanders the world, exploring and exploiting ethnic themes in his tattoo designs. At a tattoo expo in Singapore, he gets his first glimpse at the exotic world of traditional Samoan tattoo (tatau), and, in a thoughtless act, unwittingly unleashes a powerful angry spirit.

Writer: Matthew Grainger, Jonathan King
Director: Peter Burger
Producer: Robin Scholes
Starring: Jason Behr, Mia Blake

Pretty Cool People Interviews are short and sweet 7-minute interviews. See them all at:
http://www.submarinechannel.com/PCPI

We met Taikia Waititi at the 2007 Film Festival Rotterdam, where he presented his first feature film, ‘Eagle vs Shark’ – an offbeat romantic comedy featuring two socially inept misfits. The soft spoken and romantic Lily, who works the counter at a fastfood chain, has a secret crush on Jarrod, a tough looking geek/hero wannabe who works at the local electronics store. Jarrod doesn’t show any interest in Lily at first. But then Lily beats everyone at a Fightman Kill-A-Thon video game tournament at a costume party at Jarrod’s house. ‘Eagle Vs Shark’ is a sensitive film, made with a great eye for detail and respect for the characters. Taika’s New Zealand style humor – comedy mixed with tragedy and pain is refreshing.

Seeking Bimaadiziiwin is a community-based project made in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It focuses on the tough issues of racism, depression and suicide among First Nations Youth. It won Best Live Action Short Film at the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco, California in 2007. Screening at the Wairoa Maori Film Festival 2008.

Screening at the Wairoa Maori Film Festival 2008.

Four Sheets to the Wind, the first feature of native film maker Sterlin Harjo. Coming to the Wairoa Maori Film Festival 2008.

Sundance Programmer N. Bird Runningwater and others talk about the state of indigenous cinema around the world. Video provided by the Sundance Institute.