Samoan Film

The competition is part of the annual New Zealand International Film Festival and this year's finalists have been selected by the Oscar winning film-maker Dame Jane Campion.

Esther Mauga's Our Father - Lo Matou Tamā is among the six finalists chosen.

Dame Jane said she "appreciated the subtle telling of this family drama" and highlighted the performance of Samara Autagavaia as the conflicted elder sister.

Writer/director Esther Mauga says Jane Campion is a huge role model.

The film, One Thousand Ropes, is written and directed by Samoan film maker Tusi Tamasese, who also directed the critically acclaimed film The Orator.

One Thousand Ropes will be screened along with 50 films from 43 other countries.

The movie was filmed in Wellington and features Samoan actors Uelese Petaia, Frankie Adams, Vaele Sima Urale, Ene Petaia, Beulah Koale and Anapela Polata'ivao.

The Berlin Film Festival said Mr Tamasese "created mythic images full of tension and concentration to relate the story of Maea, a baker and male midwife confronting inner demons".