A Papua New Guinean/American woman challenges her evangelist father's strict rules to find her voice as a makeup artist. In a nightmare, she receives a profound message from her Papua New Guinean ancestor who encourages her to look at her Indigenous culture for answers.

Director's Statement:

Pasifika women belong everywhere! We are multi-faceted, fierce, complex, curious, intelligent, imaginative, and so much more. I want to challenge our invisibility on-screen. For those of us in diasporas, living away from our cultural homelands, we are forging new identities, navigating multiple cultures, pushing against stupid stereotypes, finding acceptance and belonging, finding healing and freedom - finding our voice. I explore this in BUTTERFLY/BATAPLAI. My intention with this film is to show what it's like for one Papua New Guinean woman living in the diaspora trying to forge a path between her Indigenous roots, spiritual beliefs, and the Western world she lives in. Inspired by a true story, BUTTERFLY/BATAPLAI asks the question: Who defines us as Papua New Guinean women, and to want extent do we get todecide that for ourselves?

Director - Veialu Aila-Unsworth

Veialu Aila-Unsworth is a female writer/director of mixed heritage from Papua New Guinea (Kairuku, Central Province) and Aotearoa New Zealand. Losing her Indigenous culture and homeland at a young age has given her an unrelenting curiosity about identity - she explores this in her work. Veialu was an award-winning television creative producer in Australia, before finding her voice as a filmmaker. She was awarded the 2022-2023 Armed With A Camera Fellowship by Visual Communications, and her screenplay, THE DEFIANT ONE, was chosen for the 2021 CAPE List, a list of 10 screenplays centered on Asian and Pacific Islander stories. Veialu’s hand-drawn animated short film, BLUE WILLOW, screened at 27+ festivals including the Berlin Film Festival.