LOIMATA, The Sweetest Tears
Aotearoa documentary covering the last voyage of Ema Siope—sailor, mentor, and waka-making extraordinaire.
"The redemptive tale of waka builder and captain Lilo Ema Siope’s final years, the stunning LOIMATA, The Sweetest Tears is a chronicle of journeys – journeys of migration, spirituality, voyaging, healing and coming home. Confronting intergenerational trauma head on, the Siope family returns to their homeland of Sāmoa. For Ema’s father, this is his first time back to his birthplace since leaving in 1959. The result is a poignant yet tender story of a family’s unconditional love for each other, and a commitment to becoming whole again." (New Zealand International Film Festival)
- Director:
- Anna Marbrook
- Writer:
- Anna MarbrookJim Marbrook
- Cast:
- Lilo Ema Siope
Reviews & comments
Stuff
pressAt its best, in a series of gorgeously well-framed and scored sequences, exceptionally well-edited together, this is a beautiful film, on several levels.
Radio New Zealand
pressLoimata traverses a huge range of powerful themes, any one of which would have been worth a film of its own, but in Marbrook’s skilled hands each of those themes is directed back to the personal story where the emotional strength of the film lies.
Stuff
pressAt its best, in a series of gorgeously well-framed and scored sequences, exceptionally well-edited together, this is a beautiful film, on several levels.
Radio New Zealand
pressLoimata traverses a huge range of powerful themes, any one of which would have been worth a film of its own, but in Marbrook’s skilled hands each of those themes is directed back to the personal story where the emotional strength of the film lies.
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