KEEPERS OF THE AFI - SHORT DOC (unreleased)

Role: Director, Cinematographer, Editor

Producers: Eden Vawdrey, Gabby Fa’ai’uaso, Ben Mikha

Composers: Andrew Faleatua, Matatia Foa’i

Ember Operator: Dyego Cortenas

Steadicam: Anthony De Leo

1st AC: Sofi Issak-Zade, Nigel Nally, Rayne Mokaraka

2nd AC: Talman Trubot, Ethan James, Dyego Cortenas

Assistants: Zane Beaver, Ana Johanah Bovoro

Colourist: Mike Howell

Colour Producer: Claudia Guevara

Colour Facility: Color Collective NYC

Sound Design, Re-Recording Mix: Alex Chalcoff

Sound Facility: Department of Post

VFX Clean-up: Masters of Reality

Fixers: Tupea Elia Matau’u, Keni Tauali’i

Vocalists: Jordyn With A Why, RJ JR Temareti, Matatia Foa’i, Andrew Faleatua

Instrumentalists: Salvador Brown, Andrew Faleatua, Mataia Foa’i

Featuring: Lino Sanft, Hale Motu’apuaka, Moemoana Schwenke, Patricia Letuli, Loso I’aulualo

From Samoa to the Pacific diaspora, Keepers of the Afi explores how a culture evolves without losing the essence of where it came from.

Through five voices across Samoa, American Samoa, Hawaiʻi and Aotearoa New Zealand, the film traces Siva Afi, the Samoan fire knife dance, from its origins in the ancient war dance ailao to its place in the lives of a new generation. The family of pioneer Freddie Letuli reflects on his vision for the practice; a mentor works to keep the language and tradition alive for Pacific youth; a four-time world fire knife champion uses the dance to maintain his ancestral connection; and Miss Samoa and Miss Pacific Islands Moemoana Schwenke challenges who has the right to carry the flame, reclaiming the tradition’s connection to the Samoan warrior goddess Nafanua in the face of resistance to women’s participation.

Together, their stories reveal Siva Afi as more than performance. It becomes a vessel for Indigenous spirituality, identity, community and a pathway back to ancestry for a diaspora negotiating life between worlds.

As the flame passes from one generation to the next, Keepers of the Afi asks the questions: what does it mean to inherit a tradition and can culture can change without losing its essence?

Filmed in Samoa, American Samoa, Hawai’i & New Zealand 2023 - 2025