One Thousand Ropes

Living in suburban New Zealand, Maea once lived by his fists, but now old, has turned his powerful hands to healing and bread making. He strives to live a simple and peaceful life, living alone in the same housing estate as when he immigrated from Samoa many years ago. He atones for his past by easing the pain of child bearing for young pregnant women and their families who seek his help; resisting the authorities who want him to modernise. He also contends at work with the threat of losing his job at a local bakery as new equipment takes over, and at home an abusive spirit who has moved in with him, relentlessly taunting him while providing company. When his youngest daughter returns to him, beaten and heavily pregnant, he struggles on one hand - with the inner temptation and the encouragement from the men in his life, to take revenge in the way he knows best - and on the other, to build the new family and companionship so desperately missing from his life. Selected by New Zealand for Foreign-Language Category.