Welcome to
Moving Images of the Pacific Islands
A Guide to Films and Videos

Center for Pacific Islands Studies
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa


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The Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa has, among its objectives, the collection and dissemination of knowledge about cultures in Oceania. This database of over 3,600 entries is intended as a reference for those interested in films related to the Pacific Islands—that is, films produced about the Pacific Islands (Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia) or Islanders or filmed in the Islands. In addition, it includes many films written by, directed by, produced by, or starring Pacific Islanders.

The first guide to Pacific Islands films was produced at the center in 1986. Because of the sheer volume of films made in and about the Hawaiian Islands—nearly as many as the rest of the Pacific combined—the decision was made with the 1989 edition of the guide to exclude films concerned only with Hawai‘i. The latest printed edition of the guide (Center for Pacific Islands Studies Occasional Paper 41) was produced in 1998 and can be purchased (click here for ordering information).

The guide contains information about each of the films listed, including the film’s distributor, if this is known. Descriptions of the films and videos are generally paraphrases or abridgments of distributors’ or festivals’ advertisements.

We hope you will find this site useful and informative. We continue to update the guide as new information becomes available. If you know of films not currently in the guide that should be included, please let us know. We appreciate your comments on any aspect of the guide.


Compiled by Alex Mawyer and Tisha Hickson
Maintained by Tisha Hickson


Last modified: 19 May 2011