O Tamaiti

When a cup of coffee is a gift from Allah.

In the fresh, funny and heart-warming prequel to Sione's Wedding, Pacific Island teenagers and best friends Michael, Albert, Sefa and Stan come of age in inner-city Auckland in 1984.

When a storm washes a canoe bearing an infant boy ashore upon a small South Pacific island, he is at first well-received as a gift from the heavens, even to the point of the tribal chief adopting him as a successor. However, with time as hardships are blamed upon Tama (as he is named), he is finally outcast to live with the poorest people on the island, Mahana and her drunken father. Mahana is considered homely and undesirable, but Tama feels differently, so when he is old enough to build a craft to sail away, he vows to return for her one day. A lucky stroke brings him to land upon the island of the legendary Johnny Lingo, the wealthiest trader in the islands, and after years of service to him, Tama has learned much about life and himself as he dreams of honoring his pledge to Mahana.

The father of a deeply troubled household that endured tragedy both from without and within, seeks to reconcile with his youngest daughter by making a journey to both symbolically and culturally lay the family "ghosts" to rest.

Celebrity Chef Anita hasn't seen her family for twenty years. That is until her son Michael decides to do some soul searching and track down his aunt.

In 2011 the startling news broke around New Zealand that Sharon Armstrong, a middle-aged grandmother and public servant who worked for the Maori Language Commission had been arrested in Argentina with 5kg of cocaine in her suitcase.

Follows Lisa, a successful designer returning for a school reunion, exploring themes of identity, family acceptance, romance with a rugby player, and personal growth within a Tongan-New Zealand community.

The story of jaded swimming coach and a spirited seven-year-old delinquent who comes under his instruction.