Laef i Swit

Year: 2003

Patricia, the chief’s daughter, has to leave school and go back to the village. Her
father fears life will be quiet for a girl who has lived in town, but all is not quiet in the
village. Soon Patricia finds herself involved with a young man and his fight for land.

Year: 2008

Steve likes drinking and partying with his friends. This leads to difficulties with his
girlfriend Lizzie, who works selling flowers at the market. When Steve allows himself
to be persuaded to lie to Lizzie and he ends up embarrassing her, he has cause to reflect on his behavior.

Year: 2005

Rose has run away from an arranged marriage in her home island. Her sister in
town, Rebecca, is sheltering her and no-one else knows where she is. Rebecca’s
husband John is involved in the election campaign in his area on behalf of their local candidate. But then Rose’s father rings up from the island and asks the chief to find Rose. Suddenly everyone is out looking for her!

Year: 2002

This short film addresses the issue of children’s rights. A young boy is fearful of his teacher and turns to his father for help, but his father seems more interested in his own kava drinking. How can the boy’s concerns be resolved? Will the father help his son?

Year: 2006

This comic story is based on the youth center play Yumi Ol Yangfala. A boy from Tanna is attracted to a girl from Ambae, but at first she isn’t interested. He persists and finally wins her over, only to lose her when he bows to peer pressure and hits her. Can he change his behavior and persuade her to give him another chance? Includes some basic anger management suggestions for young men.

Year: 1998

Men and women who looks after the children? Who has the right to go out? Who should make decisions in a family? George and Sheila have to decide about many issues when Sheila gets the chance to go to the Solomon Islands with her netball team. George remembers how his father treated his mother. When Sheila won’t do what he wants he has to decide whether he should deal with her in the same way.

Year: 2013

Who’s to blame? That is the question for Elena. She is only young but already has a baby. She doesn’t know how to look after her baby and her brother, Sam’s life is not good either. He left school and is now friends with a group of boys that steal and smoke marijuana. What happened to make their lives so hard? Follow the story when Elena first came to live with Sam’s parents to when the community threaten to take Sam to the police. You will see who is to blame.

Year: 1998

Mosquito puppets and live actors show where mosquitoes breed and how the dengue virus spreads. The fast-paced video shows the mosquitoes lurking and watching while the actors try to stop the dengue epidemic. Broadcast many times on national TV, the video campaign contributed to preventing a threatening epidemic in 1996.

Year: 1997

Tony and his family live on Kasis Road, a settlement outside town which has no electricity, water or sewage system. Tony spends his time getting drunk and fooling around. When he gets Rachael pregnant, his father wants Rachael to come and live with them. Tony doesn’t want to know; he’s not interested in her or the baby and he’s just met the first woman he ever really cared about.

Year: 2008

Madeleine has left her violent husband Gordon but her family and community leaders insist she should go back. She does so with tragic consequences both herself and those close to her. Las kad is a film adaptation from the play that powerfully examines the tensions between traditional and urban life today in the Pacific.

Year: 2006

Michael loves Nancy! But she won’t look at him no matter what he does. His only hope is to win the TB song competition. That will make her notice him for sure! First he has to convince the boys to enter and learn a lot about TB himself. But then he finds out that Nancy and the girls have entered too. Now there is more trouble between the girls and the boys than ever and all because of the TB song competition!

Year: 2005

Maureen’s off to the night club with her friend Andrea and the best band in town is playing. The singer is so hot, but would he ever notice a girl like her? Then she meets James, who throws beer over her, and her mum rings and tells her to be home by 1am! Everything’s going wrong! Suddenly Ron, the lead singer, sits next to her. Wow! How’s it all going to end? Multimedia CD Rom also available.

Year: 2007

Sylvia wants her students to get the most out of education, but the boys in her class are making her life a living hell. Then she discovers a new and exciting way to teach but as the students get more involved in her lessons the other teachers become hostile. Then one of her students is suspended for humiliating another teacher and the other teachers want to know whose side Sylvia is on.

Year: 1996

A triton, a crab, a sea cucumber, an octopus and a fish are practicing for the ‘Great Reef Band Competition’. They all want to sing. The other competitors arrive in a few tides time, but it’s very hard for them to decide whose song to choose. This amusing, poignant musical looks at marine life under threat. It has been effective helping people in Vanuatu understand the dangers of over-exploiting marine resources.

Year: 1994

This video tells the story of a young man with a great idea: bring tourists to see the island’s beautiful cave! Now all he has to do is convince the chief and the villagers. Sounds easy, but is it? And even if the tourists come and bring money, who gets it? We soon find out that where there’s money, there’s trouble. This is a musical comedy which deals with development issues in a powerful way.

Year: 2001

Doreen is miserable without her boyfriend, Terry. She knows he’s not to be trusted but when he walks back into her life she can’t say no. At the hospital where she works a young man comes in very sick; the doctors suspect HIV/AIDS, the first case in the country. A young government minister tries to convince his colleagues of the danger the country faces from a potential HIV/AIDS epidemic. Will they listen? Will the government act before it’s too late? Meanwhile, Terry returns to his old ways and
Doreen fears what his lifestyle may do to them both. She knows HIV/AIDS can affect anyone.

Year: 2006

This documentary includes comments by the actors on the issues in the musical play Solid Sistas, which was first staged by Wan Smolbag in 2004, as well as footage of the show and rehearsals. The play, written by Jo Dorras, ran in 2004 in Port Vila and in 2005 in both Port Vila and Luganville. It was an resounding success, reflecting people’s lives and pulling at their heart-strings, attracting ever-larger audiences. It was seen by an estimated 15,000 people, many of whom became regular fans. User’s guide available for music CD (see CDs section).

Year: 2012

This is the video of a stage play that deals with the issue of sexual harassment. Sonia’s family are worried about her going out in case she is indecently assaulted by the boys in the neighborhood. Is it right that girls have to stay at home in order to be safe? Sonia’s father sees how a young woman at his work place is harassed by his boss and thinks it’s about time that men changed their attitudes and behavior.

Year: 2004

This comic book accompanies the film of the same name but can be used without the DVD as it shows the story in cartoons. Susie is pregnant, but her husband Kalodoesn’t seem to care. He’s happier drinking with his friends or picking up womenin the night club. And he’s not interested in condoms. HIV and STI make this adangerous game. Will Kalo ever understand?

Year: 1993

A documentary about the work of Wan Smolbag Theatre. What does a community drama group do? How do they work? The documentary shows the group giving family planning information in villages and performing plays around the islands and in schools. The group can be seen researching a new play on disability (Things We Don’t Talk About) and going through the day-to-day ups and downs of a community theatre group. You will find it a useful tool if you are planning to foster or develop your own community theatre for social and environmental improvement.

Year: 2011

Half of Vanuatu’s population is under 20 years of age. The number of teenage pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STI) is very high, but those living near the poverty line have little access to contraceptives or reproductive health information. To address the situation, the Kam Pussum Hed clinic - KPH for short - was established next to Wan Smolbag Theatre building in Port Vila 1999. This documentary is about the clinic and the services it provides.

Year: 1996

Andrew’s family does not want to talk about his blindness or Martha’s violent marriage. Rau’s father is ashamed of his backward son and wants to hide him away. When a healer comes to the island saying he can work miracles, both families see this as their chance to make Andrew and Rau into ‘normal’ people. But David, the disabled field worker of the Disability Society does not believe in miracles. He wants to make Andrew realize that being blind isn’t the end of everything. If Andrew can face up to what he can hear happening around him, his life might change forever.

Year: 2004

Daniel loves to spend time with his grandfather. He’ll listen to his stories, fetch cigarettes for him from the store, do anything to help. However, he is unaware of what cigarettes can do to people’s health. When his grandfather gets more and more sick, Daniel starts to see that cigarettes may not be as ‘cool’ as he originally thought.

Year: 2005

A documentary on the work of the Vanua-Tai Resource Monitors. Turtles used to be plentiful in the Pacific, but by 1995 few were left. Wan Smolbag wrote a play about turtle conservation, took it round villages on Efate and the turtle monitors network was born. They are now the 400-strong Vanua-Tai Resource Monitors and their work continues.

Year: 2004

The village has a new Aid Post at last and everyone is looking to David, the health worker, to solve all their health issues. The villagers do not really understand what David can do. The film follows David’s attempts to show people the true role of a village health worker and how they can help him to succeed.

Year: 1999

Recording of songs in Bislama and English, some from the video Vot Long Pati Ia (see DVDs section and others written on governance issues.)

Year: 1998

Malaria is a debilitating, life-threatening disease, but how can we prevent it? In this drama, live actors and puppets tell the story of malaria and how it is transmitted. Daniel is waiting for his mother to give birth, but the memory of his young brother’s recent death still haunts him. He desperately wants the new baby to be safe. When he finds a dirty old doll, he takes it home and tells it to protect the new baby. And it does - in a way Daniel could never have imagined.

Year: 2006

Hannah and Tony want to run a workshop on rural tourism in a village setting. They intend to make a video while there and they’re pleased when they find the perfect place. It’s still an untouched paradise and the perfect setting for the video. However, when the workshop starts it becomes clear that everywhere has problems that need to be addressed, whether it’s in paradise or not!