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26:29 is about a group of young vloggers break into an abandoned Sāmoan church. (Image: Archi Banal)
26:29 is about a group of young vloggers break into an abandoned Sāmoan church. (Image: Archi Banal)

Pop CultureMarch 7, 2022

TV anthology Beyond the Veil celebrates scary stories from across the Pacific

26:29 is about a group of young vloggers break into an abandoned Sāmoan church. (Image: Archi Banal)
26:29 is about a group of young vloggers break into an abandoned Sāmoan church. (Image: Archi Banal)

Supernatural beliefs and customs from Māori, Pasifika and Asian cultures are the inspiration for the new six-part series starting tonight on TVNZ 2.

Horror has a long and spooky history on our television screens. Shows such as The Twilight Zone, The X Files and Goosebumps have all successfully made us afraid of the dark, sent shivers down our spines, or both. TVNZ’s new anthology series Beyond The Veil does exactly that – but with a uniquely Aotearoa twist, highlighting the diverse voices of Māori, Pasifika and Asian peoples along with the supernatural beings and beliefs that form part of their cultures.

The idea for the series came from a screen hui a few years back focused on the need to establish more pathways for tangata whenua and other ethnic groups to get onto prime time TV, says Nevak Rogers, TVNZ’s general manager of local content. 

“Being of both Māori and Tongan descent, I know we have a wealth of stories and I’m aware that other ethnicities have similar yet different stories that deserve to be celebrated,” says Rogers. “The goal is that these storytellers will be able to use this platform to go on to bigger projects.” Already there are plans for three of the stories in the series, Tim Worrall’s Tappy, Taratoa Stappard’s Taumanu and Michael Bennett’s Te Kohu – The Mist, to be expanded into feature films, in the hopes that they can make the leap to an international stage.

Beyond the Veil’s second episode, 26:29, is a Pasifika story directed by Danny Aumua and produced by Wilhelm Voigt and Ngaire Fuata. In it, a group of young vloggers break into an abandoned Sāmoan church; their found footage tells the story of what happens next. Aumua says he was inspired by YouTube channel Buzzfeed Unsolved, which features US vloggers exploring supposedly haunted places with both humour and respect for the history each place holds. “I wanted a New Zealand version of that channel,” says Aumua, who explains that the fresh-faced, largely unknown cast of young actors helped to add a layer of realism to the found footage genre.

The cast of episode two of Beyond the Veil, ’26:29′. (Photo: Supplied/TVNZ)

Aumua, who is Sāmoan, says it was a challenge to create an exciting, scary story that remained respectful of his culture. “I grew up hearing the stories from my elders, but to write and direct it was a different experience. For some, the topics are taboo and the last thing we wanted to do was offend our community,” he says. Another issue was the use of  Sāmoan spirits, which tend to belong in the islands, and only in the islands. “We didn’t use a traditional spirit because they’re tied to villages and real families, so in consultation with our producer Wil [Voight], who is also like our Sāmoan adviser, we created our own spirit character.”

Many aspects of Sāmoan culture are embedded in 26:29. The most obvious is the setting: Sāmoa is a Christian nation, so it’s no coincidence that the haunted building for this episode is a church. For non-Sāmoan viewers, however, the significance of the date when the vloggers went missing – October 11 2019, according to a caption on the opening scene – may be less obvious.

In Sāmoa, the second Sunday of October is White Sunday, a religious holiday that celebrates the role of children in the church. Families wear their finest white clothes and young church members lead the service with scriptural recitations, skits and songs. The character Mel (Fay Tofilau), who shows the vloggers around her abandoned church, makes references to White Sunday – in one scene, she looks up at the church and, in an eerie tone of voice, says “the children are singing”, yet there are no children in sight. Towards the end of the episode, a young Sāmoan girl appears inside the church wearing a white dress – another reference to White Sunday.

Max Grean and Fay Tofilau in 26:29. (Photo: Supplied TVNZ)

The title of the episode references Leviticus 26:29, the bible passage that reads: “Ye shall eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.” There’s a scene where Mel sits in front of a mirror covered with a white lace cloth. She’s still, looking pale, frightened at what’s in front of her. This scene references a custom in Sāmoa. When the sun sets, many Sāmoans cover their mirrors, believing that the devil looks into the souls of those who look into the mirror at night. Neil (Max Grean) pulls the cloth off, revealing a cracked mirror underneath. Mel begins to weep, saying “this place is cursed”.

To ensure the story didn’t disrespect the Sāmoan culture, Aumua and his team not only conducted their own research, consulting with people such as Voigt who is deep in his Fa’a Sāmoa, but they also approached two church ministers from different denominations for guidance. Aumua was nervous about what they thought of his idea, so was relieved when one of the ministers not only gave his approval, but also suggested the names of children from the church who might be interested in taking part in the production. “There were a lot of keen kids who wanted to be a part of the show, so that same day we held auditions and that’s how we found Zoe-Monet Vainikolo who plays our young Sāmoan girl, and she ended up being very integral to the story,” Aumua says.

Beyond the Veil begins on March 7 on TVNZ 2, 9:30pm, with new stories each week thereafter. Episode two, 26:29, screens on March 14. All episodes will be also available to watch on TVNZ OnDemand.

This is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.

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Droughtlander is over, you thirsty bunch of time-travel historians (Image: Starz/Archi Banal)
Droughtlander is over, you thirsty bunch of time-travel historians (Image: Starz/Archi Banal)

Pop CultureMarch 4, 2022

Outlander’s Catriona Balfe on season six: ‘Claire unravels like never before’

Droughtlander is over, you thirsty bunch of time-travel historians (Image: Starz/Archi Banal)
Droughtlander is over, you thirsty bunch of time-travel historians (Image: Starz/Archi Banal)

Outlander stars Catriona Balfe, Sophie Skelton and Richard Rankin reveal there’s more drama and danger ahead in the new season of the time-travelling series.  

A new season of Outlander begins on Monday, and it seems that war is coming, illness is everywhere, and the nation has never been more divided. Sound familiar? After a two year absence caused by Covid-19 and a heartbreaking season finale that saw our hero Claire Fraser suffer a traumatic assault, three of the show’s stars – Catriona Balfe, Sophie Skelton and Richard Rankin – dropped the goss on just what Outlander fans can expect from season six.

Jamie and Claire steel themselves for another season of drama (Photo: Starz)

Balfe stars as time-travelling doctor Claire Fraser, who spent the last five seasons being threatened, attacked, almost burned at the stake and imprisoned with a talking coconut. She’s already been through a lot, but Balfe reveals this season Claire unravels in ways we’ve never before. The aftermath of last season’s brutal kidnapping and assault reaches far into season six, and we’re about to see a new side to a woman who previously seemed infallible.

“Even though Claire has experienced trauma before, she’s always been able to compartmentalise and move on,” Balfe says. “This was such a catastrophic event that we felt it was important to show that this coping mechanism doesn’t serve her any more. So how does she then cope and what are the processes that she goes through?”

Adding to Claire’s stress are the Christies, a new family who arrive on Fraser’s Ridge and immediately create drama. Tom Christie was a prisoner at Ardsmuir with Jamie, and it’s not long before the two clash. “The new family on the Ridge is trouble, that’s all I’ll say,” Skelton reckons. Balfe agrees, and while the Christie’s arrival leads to conflict, she believes the family is a welcome addition to the Ridge.

“Mark Lewis Jones is incredible as Tom Christie and Jessica Reynolds is incredible as Malva. Of course, it changes a lot of things for Claire and Jamie, so that’s the thing I’m most excited for fans to see.”

The Christies seem nice (Photo: Starz)

We’ve seen chaos on Outlander before, but we’ve never seen Claire’s daughter Bree (Skelton) and her husband Roger (Rankin) feel at home in the 18th century. Season five ended with the newlyweds choosing to stay in 1771 instead of returning to the future, and this season we’ll see the positive impact of their decision.

“They’ve been in danger or arguing with each other since season two,” Rankin says. He reckons Roger’s no longer the naive historian who came through the stones with his beanie and notepad to record what life was like in the 1700s, and this season, Bree and Roger will finally be a team. “They’ve always been a very interesting couple to play, and I love Roger and Bree, but it’s nice to see them in support and agreement, for the most part.”

Skelton agrees. She thinks Bree has always carried a lot of inner turmoil with her – from struggling with her identity to adjusting to living in another time – and we’re about to see her display a new found confidence. “Bree’s letting herself be happy and finding her feet in this time. She’s really coming into her own, and that was an exciting thing to play.”

Roger and Bree as we’ve never seen them before: happy (Photo: Starz)

As clued-up time travellers, Claire, Bree and Roger know the American Revolutionary War is looming and that life in colonial North Carolina is about to get messy. Season six deals with themes of faith and family, and while we won’t see more of Roger playing his guitar (“there’s a time and a place for it and I’m not sure season six is it, there’s so much going on”), life on Fraser’s Ridge will continue to be a challenge.

It’s these challenges that keep Balfe inspired to play Claire, a role she considers “a gift”. “She’s somebody who is incredibly outspoken, incredibly strong willed, she fights for justice but she has her flaws too. She’s stubborn and hot headed and has her vulnerabilities, and to be able to encompass all aspects of a woman like that, it’s really a joy.”

It’s also a gift that Outlander continues to centre the adventures of a clever, accomplished woman in her fifties, an age when women often become invisible in society. Balfe says she’s recently noticed a change in television, with shows like Hacks and Mare of Eastown telling stories about complex older women who refuse to disappear from society simply because they’ve reached a certain age.

“I think what Diana [Gabaldon, author of the Outlander book series] created is such an incredible role in an incredible world. There’s a reason so many people adore these books, and it’s because she created this role model who refuses to back down,” she says. Six seasons on, Claire Fraser remains the beating heart of Outlander. “Many women were taught to be apologetic and not take up space and that’s exactly what Claire does, she takes up a lot of space, and it’s really beautiful to see. I think it’s inspiring for so many people.”

Season six of Outlander is on Neon in New Zealand from 7 March. The first five seasons are also available on Neon.

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