Island Achievers
From Music To Filmmaking
How It Has Won
Michael Rokotuiviwa Preston and Dr. ‘Atu Emberson-Bain, the crew of Fiji-based Infocus Productions, won gold in January at the first New York Festivals Awards competition for television documentaries from developing countries. “Where the Rivers Meet,” produced in 1998 for the World Council of Churches, competed against 3,732 television, video and film entries from 38 countries to win. It tells of ethnic conflict and community peace building in Fiji. Preston was director of photography, sound and original music scores.
Music and film are his passions. He’s a professional musician, certified audio engineer, a filmmaker and a professional actor. Preston went through his acting training in Sydney and East Hollywood about the same time as his sister Freda Perry, who starred in “Beyond the Stars” with Sharon Stone and numerous Canadian TV shows. So the artistic vein runs in the family. He has been a musician all his life playing Latin/African/Cuban jazz.
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The New York award means a lot to him. “When the announcement was made at the Marriott Marquis Hotel at Times Square that Fiji had won gold and the applause we got, that’s when it starts to emotionally hit you that a little speck in the ocean has won something on an international stage.”
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Infocus’ first production, “Caught in the Crossfire”, a documentary aout prostitution in Fiji, won another UNESCO award for best camera work.
Preston is keen, with the help of others, to search for the roots of real Fijian music, which is, as he puts it, based on chants. His aim is to integrate them with his favorite form of music, contemporary or ethnic jazz.
