Tinā
October 12, 2025
2:45pm | SIFF Cinema Uptown
Presented by Grand Illusion Cinema
A grieving Samoan educator, Mareta, starts a school choir to help her students—and, unexpectedly, herself—heal. Winner of the Golden Space Needle Award for Best Film at SIFF 2025. Presented by Grand Illusion Cinema in collaboration with SIFF.
SIFF year-round passes and vouchers are not valid for this screening.
After the tragic loss of her daughter in a devastating earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, Mareta Percival (Anapela Polataivao) reluctantly becomes a substitute teacher at an elite private school. To her surprise, she finds students longing for guidance, inspiration, and love. Drawing on her cultural symphony to empower her students, she starts a choir that unites them and helps her rediscover her passion for teaching and motherhood.
"...a cathartic and joyously magical movie that’s likely to fully entertain and entrance cinemagoers of all ages."—James Croot, The Press (NZ)
- Director: Miki Magasiva
- Principal Cast: Anapela Polataivao, Antonia Robinson, Beulah Koale, Dalip Sondhi, Nicole Whippy
- Country: Aotearoa New Zealand
- Year: 2024
- Running Time: 124 min.
- Language: English