A Fijian short film, ‘The Sandbank’, captivated audiences last night during a public screening at Damodar Cinemas as part of the 5th Pacific Human Rights Film Festival, currently underway across the Pacific region.
Shot entirely in the Fiji Islands by a 100 percent Fijian cast and crew, the film tells the mysterious and symbolic story of three children stranded on a small strip of sand in the vast Pacific Ocean.
Writer-director Caleb Young says the film is designed to invite layered meanings.
Young says the plastic waste that is showcased in the movie can mean the literal plastic crisis that Fiji faces, or rising sea levels, or even materialism — all the things that pull our country apart as a society.
Held from 27 September to 18 October in Fiji, the PHRFF2025 screenings aim to spark conversations around pressing human rights issues in the region.
Organised by the Pacific Community(SPC), the festival encourages both public awareness and creative expression through film.
SPC says this year’s theme extends beyond climate change, also confronting subjects such as intergenerational trauma, identity-based exclusion, indentured labour and blackbirding, and the impacts of war.
They say the festival not only raises awareness of these critical issues but also helps create safe spaces for dialogue and inspires Pacific filmmakers to explore more human rights content.
