Samoa's firstfeature film,The Orator (O Le Tulafale), was released in 2011. Shot and set in Samoa, in theSamoan language, it has a Samoan cast. It was produced with financial support from the Samoan government, in the hopes of showcasingSamoan culture to an international audience, and of promoting Samoa as a tourist destination.[1]
Samoa has only onecinema, the Magik cinema, owned byMaposua Rudolf Keil. The screening of films there issubject to censorship, and foreign films may be banned, in accordance with theFilm Act 1978, for undermining theChristian faith of viewers. BothThe Da Vinci Code andMilk have been banned from screening in Samoa's cinema, the latter for being "inappropriate and contradictory to Christian beliefs and Samoan culture".[3][4]
