New Film Projects
Motone Productions 2025 Film projects
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DEAF GIRL DANCING 9 min short narrative
In Rarotonga, deaf teenager Ella faces anxieties and pressures of growing up in a world that is often unkind to those with disabilities. With heightened senses that allow her to feel sound vibrations and see a glow on movements, Ella has developed a skill to choreograph dance routines gaining an on line following where her deafness remains unknown. However, in public, she strug gles with self-confidence due to years of bullying and exclusion. Tonight, with her bestie Tiare, Ella reluctantly attends her cousin Itu’s farewell party. There she encounters familiar frenemies who enjoy taunting her causing Ella’s in securities to resurface. As the pressure mounts, Ella’s heightened senses take a hold transforming anxiety to strength, busting stereotypes showing when you love to dance nothing should hold you back.
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Script development in Sign language for actors
Our deaf community has long been marginalized, excluded from telling their own stories in film. Seeing them dance at clubs, feeling the vibrations, and connecting through movement sparked the idea of Ella, a character who embodies the spirit of our deaf and partially hearing community. "Deaf Girl Dancing" elevates Pacific disability storytelling stimulating dialogue around inclusion and our indigenous sign language in the Pacific and globally and highlighting the importance of diverse communication methods in storytelling. With the central theme of empowerment through self-acceptance when we see Ella’s struggles living in a society that often marginalizes difference, her journey asks us to see beyond disabilities and celebrate the full potential of every individual.
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We are currently fundraising for our film so please if you can donate please go to Support Deaf Girl Dancing the 1st Cook Islands Deaf film - WHEN YOU LOVE TO DANCE NOTHING SHOULD HOLD YOU BACK - Givealittle
TE MANA O TE IPUKAREA
The Power of our Homeland, Our Cook Islands.
Shaping our future: 60 years of self-governance - 20 min short doco
" A vibrant, nostalgic journey through six decades of Cook Islands history, this short documentary celebrates the nation’s identity, resilience, and community spirit—bridging past and present through heartfelt stories, joyful reflections, and the hopeful voices of its youth."
2025 must be a year to celebrate us! Far too often and more so than ever in 2025 with a changing world geopolitically and a social environment that is controlled more and more by online mechanisms we need to take stock of our past and celebrate with joyful reflection. I have lived back in the Cook Islands for the past 20 years coming here in 2005 to be the Marketing Manager for Cook Islands Tourism. My relationship with the social history of the Cooks has always been through the history books many written by outsiders and family stories but in that the common stories of our past the social fabric of who are were, the quirky facts or the pride moments that we should be able to rattle off have never been part of my reference markers. This film sets about being able to change that, to ignite pride and spark enjoyment in seeing our stories on screen.
As we reflect back a youthful voice will narrate some of these moments and lead us though the decades to present day connecting the message of growth and change to our future generation and their aspirations.
Our Creative Collaborators
