Photos by Malani Wolfgramm

“It’s a wrap”, said German filmmaker Florian Schewe, today after winding up six weeks of filming in Neiafu and Kenutu Island, Vava‘u.

“The people here in Vava'u were very supportive… All in all, we are really, really happy about our time here! The Tongan crew and cast members did a fantastic job, without them we could have not accomplished the filming,” he told Matangi Tonga Online.

 “We had a lot of Tongan extras, people who played a small part in our movie, people who brought our scenes to life - at a rugby game, at the airport and in a public bus, at a Kava hall, in a traditional Tongan ceremony for a funeral.

“All these people have never played in a movie before nor have they been in front of a camera. But they were amazing, making the script alive, adding their own sentences in Tongan and acted in a natural and beautiful way - they connected so well with Sascha Geršak and Luis Pintsch, the two German lead actors,” Florian said.

The 90 minutes film with the working title “Paradies” is being shot in two locations, Berlin and Tonga, by zero one film production in co-production with ZDF – Das keine Fernsehspiel and Arte.

This week a representative of the Vava'u Tourist Association thanked the filmmakers for supporting the Vava'u economy. A gift was presented by Calvin Schumaker (VTA), to Sabina Friedland (Production Manager) and Florian Schewe (Director).