FESTIVAL PREMIERE
LIVE ACTION | USA | 8 MINUTES | English
Butterfly/Bataplai
Raya loves makeup but her family does not. She’s torn between her secret dream of being a makeup artist and her family’s strict religious beliefs. In a nightmare, she receives a profound message from her Papua New Guinean ancestor who encourages her to look at her Indigenous culture for answers.
CAST & CREDITS
Director
Veialu Aila-Unsworth
Producer
Veialu Aila-Unsworth
Screenwriter
Veialu Aila-Unsworth
Key Cast
Regina Pande, Graham Pande, Joana Mate, Olivia Korken
Directors Bio
Veialu Aila-Unsworth is a female writer/director of mixed heritage from Papua New Guinea and Aotearoa New Zealand. Losing her Indigenous culture and homeland at a young age has given her an unrelenting curiosity about identity – she explores this in her work.
Veialu was also awarded the 2022-2023 Armed With A Camera Fellowship by Visual Communications and is currently one of the mentors for the fellowship. Her screenplay, THE DEFIANT ONE, made the 2021 CAPE List (USA), a list of 10 screenplays centered on Asian and Pacific Islander stories, and her hand-drawn animated short film, BLUE WILLOW (which she wrote, directed, produced, and illustrated) screened at the Berlin Film Festival and 30 festivals worldwide. Veialu also worked as an award-winning television creative producer, copywriter, and promo director in Australia.
Directors Statement
Pacific Islander women belong everywhere. We are not stereotypes. We are complex, curious, intelligent, imaginative, multi-faceted, fierce, and so much more!
My intention with BUTTERFLY/BATAPLAI is to give an honest and authentic representation of what it’s like to be a Papua New Guinean woman living in the diaspora trying to forge a path between her Indigenous roots, spiritual beliefs, and the colonized world. It can be a painful and lonely journey. But also incredibly rewarding.
Inspired by a true story, BUTTERFLY/BATAPLAI asks the question: Who defines us as Papua New Guinean women, and to what extent do we get to decide that for ourselves?
Program Two
Director Veialu Aila-Unsworth
Showtimes
Sunday, November 10
IN-PERSON
Screening: 2:15pm
Once Purchased
your name will be at ‘Will Call’
AMC The Grove 14
189 The Grove Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Parking
At The Theatre
