A documentary about the 'Ikale Tahi team will explore the Tongan and Pacific contribution to rugby, as well as highlight some of the behind the scene struggles players face.
The feature film Kingdom of Kings is currently in production, with filming set to finish after the Rugby World Cup in October.
PMN News reports Director and creator Sebastian Hurrell says recent eligibility changes will raise the Tongan team’s profile, and he wanted to showcase that, along with touching on issues such as climate change, poverty and obesity.
“The ‘Ikale Tahi, they’re our celebrities. We don’t have Hollywood stars, we have rugby players, they’re the ones that we look up to, they lead our pathways for the common people.”
Hurrell traveled to meet players in France, Ireland, Romania, including coach Toutai Kefu. He says everyone “opened their homes and hearts to us” in true-Tongan style.
Speaking to Carolanne Toetu’u on 531 PI's Pacific Mornings, Hurrell recalled visiting Vaea Fifita in Wales.
“It was the middle of winter, but they were doing puaka tunu out the back, and I ended up having to look after the pig," he laughed, shakily mimicking the turning of the spit.
“So we had my Samoan friend who’s an editor, he was doing the interviews with Vaea while I was sitting out freezing in Wales, cooking this pig.”
Hurrell says now is the time for “brown people to have their voices heard around the world” and wants the documentary to highlight other struggles behind the scenes.
“Like Tonga itself, the team is underfunded, under-resourced, they don’t have the facilities, they don’t have infrastructure.
“Most of the international teams don’t really want to go and play in Tonga because the facilities aren’t there, so they’re under pressure from World Rugby to try and develop, but they’re trying to recover from a recent volcano and tsunami, so … there are a whole other set of things that Tonga needs to build before they get onto the rugby side of things.”
He says all the top 20 teams in the world rankings have at least one Tongan player, and that contribution should be recognised.
“We give so much to rugby, to the entertainment and to the business of rugby, because it’s a big corporate game now," he says.
“What I want to see is some of the reward going back to our country and not just Tonga - Samoa, Fiji, the Cook Islands, all of the Pacific, we deserve this.
“We’re the ones propping up their teams and making their competitions look so good because of the talent we provide to them, so where’s the money flowing back to our countries?”
There’s a Boosted campaign to raise $50,000 to complete the documentary, with $5,000 raised so far.
Ikale Tahi players before last year's test against Uruguay. Photo/Screenshot