The Outlook Podcast Archive - Voyage from the Pacific Islands to Hollywood

Download Voyage from the Pacific Islands to Hollywood

Opetaia Foa'i grew up in Samoa surrounded by the island's rhythms, sounds and songs. But, surviving wasn't easy and his family moved to the city of Auckland in New Zealand. As he grew up in this new environment he began to look into his roots and started to make music about his voyager ancestors. It caught the eye of producers at Walt Disney Animation Studios who wanted him to write the music for their upcoming movie Moana about a Pacific Island teenager trying to save her community. Opetaia Foa'i made sure the smash hit movie stayed true to Pacific culture.

Listen to an extended version of this interview with the music Opetaia wrote for Moana here: https://bbc.in/2XUE9fw

Published on Wednesday, 17th July 2019.

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