THE director of Guam-based Nihi Indigenous Media said they have wrapped up principal videography on Saipan for their next online series, and that Tinian, Rota, and Guam are their next shooting locations.
Cara Flores and a three-person production crew were on Saipan throughout April, and spoke with Variety about “Marianas Cousins,” which is set to launch online this summer.
She said the series will be about a “child from each island [showing] us their island from their eyes and their activities.”
On Saipan, Mataina Reyes of Obyan is Marianas Cousins’ child star. The 10-year-old highlighted her day by shopping at Ben Ki Store in Dandan, playing soccer in Koblerville, fishing at Wing Beach, and more.
“Her family was so good to work with,” Flores said. “It was really an honor to work with them. They set the bar pretty high.”
Flores said Tinian and Rota are next. They are finalizing the participants on those islands right now.
“[The show isn’t about] the spots that tourists would go,” Flores said. “It’s kind of where they would go in their daily activities, or through their life.”
Flores said Nihi Indigenous Media was founded in 2013, and her background is in media production. She said the media group aims “to equip and empower the next generation of [island resource] protectors and to nurture a deep love for our land, ocean and people.”
“We want to increase awareness, celebrate who we are, and encourage reconnection to the land and to the values,” Flores said. “We want to reframe how we’ve been taught to think about ourselves as a people.”
For Flores, a sense of self expands to a sense of home which is the Marianas as a whole.
“Guam is not an island that exists on its own, and neither is Saipan or Tinian or Luta,” Flores said. “We’re part of this archipelago. We have a shared ocean and we have friends and family who go back and forth. Those are our connections.”
She added, “A lot of what we do at [Nihi Indigenous Media] is centered [on] reestablishing relationships.”
Nihi Indigenous Media films Mataina Reyes and her father, Calistro Reyes, fish at Wing Beach.
