Marie Wawa

Marie Wawa
OccupationActress

Marie Wawa is a ni-Vanuatu actress and villager who starred in the 2015 Australian-Vanuatuan film, Tanna. The film, which was the first to be shot entirely in Vanuatu, won two major prizes at the 2015 Venice Film Festival and was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards in 2017.[1] Wawa appears in the lead role opposite Mungau Dain as two star-crossed lovers.[2]

Wawa is from the interior village of Yakel on Tanna island, Tafea Province, in southern Vanuatu.[3][4][5]

Wawa, like the rest of the cast of Tanna, was a novice, first-time actress with no experience prior to her casting.[3] The film, a story of real-life forbidden love and tragedy, was shot on location around Yakel.[6] Wawa was cast in the lead role of Wawa, a young girl who is betrothed in an arranged marriage as part of a peace deal with another tribe.[3][7] However, she falls in love with the grandson of her chief, played by Mungau Dain.[1][7] Their families refuse to allow the couple to marry.[8] The couple flee and eventually commit suicide, mirroring the true real-life tragedy of a Tannese couple in 1987.[8] The tragic circumstances led the elders to legalize love marriages.[8]

In September 2015, Wawa traveled to Venice with Tanna's three other lead actors to attend its world premiere at the 2015 Venice Film Festival.[3] Wawa also attended the 89th Academy Awards in Los Angeles on February 26, 2017, where Tanna had been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b Harmon, Steph (2019-01-06). "Mungau Dain, Tanna star and 'Vanuatu's Brad Pitt', dies after untreated leg infection". Guardian Australia. Archived from the original on 2019-01-07. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  2. ^ Turan, Kenneth. "The exotic 'Tanna' tells a tale of forbidden love that's as old as time". latimes.com. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  3. ^ a b c d Marks, Kathy (2015-09-11). "Big-screen debut for Pacific Island tribe who regard Prince Philip as a god". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2019-01-20. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  4. ^ Kenny, Glenn (2016-09-15). "Review: In 'Tanna,' Lovers Are Torn Apart to Keep Tribal Peace". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  5. ^ Maddox, Garry (2015-11-04). "Tanna: the ancient Vanuatu tribe who had never watched a film now star in one". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  6. ^ Wong, Tessa (2017-01-25). "The Oscar-worthy film inspired by a tribal song". Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  7. ^ a b Merry, Stephanie (2016-09-29). "'Tanna': A real-life 'Romeo and Juliet,' set amid warring tribes". Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  8. ^ a b c Ives, Mike (2019-01-10). "Mungau Dain, Villager Star in Pacific Island Film, Dies at 24". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2019-01-10. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  9. ^ Garae, Len (2017-02-15). "Ni-Vanuatu Film Stars Head To Hollywood For Academy Award Ceremony". Vanuatu Daily News. Pacific Islands Report. Archived from the original on 2019-02-10. Retrieved 2019-02-10.


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