Va Tapuia

Samoan farmer Lui is grieving for his late wife and works tirelessly to be able to afford to tend to her grave. Malia sits by the sea watching her husband’s grave gradually wash away beneath the encroaching tide. When they meet, Lui believes he has found someone with whom he can share his experience of loss. In scenes depicting togetherness and solitude on Upolu island, director Tusi Tamasese unfolds a tender story of two bereaved spouses moving between the sacred spaces of honouring the past and letting go. (Berlinale)