HIFF: Tina (Mother)

5:00pm – Tina (Mother)

Director: Miki Magasiva

Samoan actor Anapela Polata’ivao is brilliant in this nuanced drama that’s the directorial debut of Miki Magavisa. A well-respected gifted vocal coach in her community, Mareta finds herself at a crossroads, needing to find work three years after the tragic death of her daughter, a death that she’s still processing. She goes out of her comfort zone to become a substitute teacher at an elite, all-white private school and forms a choir that begins her healing as a matriarch and caregiver.