{"id":40137,"date":"2025-09-08T11:00:50","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T18:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/?p=40137"},"modified":"2025-09-08T02:57:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T09:57:58","slug":"btl-radio-show-09-08-2025-with-guests-chad-hartigan-and-miki-magasiva-anapela-polataivao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/miscellaneous\/behind-the-lens-podcast\/btl-radio-show-09-08-2025-with-guests-chad-hartigan-and-miki-magasiva-anapela-polataivao\/","title":{"rendered":"BTL Radio Show – 09\/08\/2025 with guests CHAD HARTIGAN and MIKI MAGASIVA & ANAPELA POLATAIVAO"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Two fabulous films and three fabulous filmmakers for you this week on BEHIND THE LENS as writer\/director MIKI MAGASIVA and actor ANAPELA POLATAIVAO talk about the emotional, joyous, heart-filled, uplifting, and inspirational, box-of-tissues-necessary film TINA, a beautiful film set and shot in New Zealand and infused with the Samoan and Maori culture, while director CHAD HARTIGAN moves out of his heavier, more dramatic comfort zone and into something lighter, fun, and heartfelt that tackles some important themes with THE THREESOME.<\/p>\n

And we’ve got a brief recap and some congratulations for this weekend’s Creative Arts Emmy Award winners, including Supervising Stunt Coordinator Jon Koyama and this stunt team for The Boys<\/em> who got two pieces of hardware, the amazing soundies at Formosa Group who picked up Emmys for their work on multiple shows (Yay, George Haddad!), and the team at Jeopardy! (<\/em>including my friend, writer John Duarte), as well as other winners like Barack Obama, who nabbed his third Emmy for Outstanding Narration of the documentary Our Oceans,\u00a0<\/em>while Julie Andrews picked up gold for her work as Best Character Voiceover on Bridgerton.\u00a0 The smash hit The Studio<\/em> nabbed nine trophies on Saturday while The Penguin waddled away with eight.\u00a0 And this is all before the main event on September 14th!<\/p>\n

But let’s kick things off talking about movies with TINA and my exclusive interview with MIKI MAGASIVA and actor ANAPELA POLATAIVAO.<\/p>\n

Written and directed by Miki Magasiva and starring Anapela Polataivao, Antonia Robinson, Zac O\u2019Meagher, \u00a0Beulah Koale, Dalip Sondhi, Nicole Whippy, and Jamie Irvine, among others, TINA is an inspiring drama, a light-hearted rhythmic tear-jerker, and the story of Samoan teacher Mareta Percival. Struggling after the death of her daughter in the Christchurch earthquakes, Mareta reluctantly takes on the role of substitute teacher at an elite, wealthy private school and is surprised to find children crying out for guidance, inspiration, and love. \u00a0Using the symphony of her culture to empower her students, she forms a choir, bringing them together while unexpectedly rediscovering her passion for being a teacher and mother.<\/p>\n

A beautiful film, it was a joy to speak with Miki and Anapela and discuss the making of TINA with everything from casting to composing to cinematography to cultural authenticity as we travel on this journey of not only Mareta in dealing with her grief over the loss of her daughter along with newfound challenges, but also the journeys of her students and giving voice to the hearts of each and every one. \u00a0It\u2019s a wonderful interview as Anapela, renowned in New Zealand and beyond for her work on stage as well as directing theatre, she is also an actor and singer, and an acting teacher, gives insight into the character and the importance of giving the Samoan and Maori culture a voice. At the same time, Miki digs into the technical aspects of this story and bringing it to life as his first narrative feature film.<\/p>\n

TINA is in theatres everywhere in the United States, as well as Guam and American Samoa.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n