I was also interested in the possibility of shooting in Northern Queensland in Autralia (offers tax rebates and grants) as I have strong ties to Australia, having lived there on and off for 18 years and working in the industry there. Plus there is a Papua New Guinean community in Cairns, a city in Queensland.
BUTTERFLY/BATAPLAI
A short narrative drama
A Papua New Guinean/American woman challenges her evangelist father's strict rules to find her voice as a makeup artist.
Written, Directed & Produced by
Veialu Aila-Unsworth
Starring Regina Pande, Graham Pande, Joana Mate, and the voice of Olivia Korken
Director of Photography - Judd Overton
Music Composition - Maxwell Stone & Otis Kane
Sound Supervisor & Re-recording Mixer - Tyler Proctor
Featuring still photographs by Patrick Leahy
Featuring the song “Hypnotised” by Alyson Joyce
Official selection of 29 film festivals
AWARDS
2024 Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival
- Joint-Winner of the Wellington UNESCO Creative City of Film ‘Best Film’ Award
2024 Barbados Independent Film Festival
Languages: English, Tok Pisin
Year of Production: 2023
ARTIST STATEMENT
BY VEIALU AILA-UNSWORTH
Papua New Guinean 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.
Butterfly/Bataplai asks the question: Who defines us as Papua New Guinean women, and to what extent do we get to decide that for ourselves?
[Find out more on Instagram @bataplai.film]
OFFICIAL SELECTION
AMERICA
39th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (2023 world premiere)
Māsima Pacific Islands Film Tour, Utah
Micheaux Film Festival, Los Angeles
43rd Hawai`i International Film Festival
16th Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival
Los Angeles Skins Fest
LAAPFF Presents: REPLAY
Disorient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon
NewFilmakers Los Angeles, April Festival
Pasifika Visions, California State University Long Beach
West Hollywood Women's Leadership Conference
& Network Mini-Film Festival
VC Film Festival, Long Beach, California
42nd CAAMFest, San Francisco Bay Area, California
Honolulu Museum of Art, Hawai`i
Sacramento Asian Pacific Film Festival, California
LA Skins Fest: Native American & Indigenous Short Film Showcase
Pacific Island Film Festival of New York City
Red Nation International Film Festival, Los Angeles
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Pasifika Film Festival, Port Moresby
Papua New Guinea Human Rights Film Festival
CANADA
24th ImagineNATIVE Film & Media Festival, Toronto
25th Dawson City International Short Film Festival, Yukon
Weengushk Film Festival, Manitoulin Island, Ontario
AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND
Māoriland Indigenous Film Festival, Ōtaki
Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival
(Joint-winner of the Wellington UNESCO Creative City of Film ‘Best Film’ Award)
Wairoa Māori Film Festival, Nūhaka
AUSTRALIA
Pasifika Film Festival, Sydney
Birrarangaa Film Festival, Naarm/Melbourne (Mar 16, 2025)
CARIBBEAN
Barbados Independent Film Festival, Barbados
(Honorable Mention)
UNITED KINGDOM
18th Native Spirit Film Festival, London
BUTTERFLY/BATAPLAI SHORT FILM WAS MADE WITH THE 2023 ARMED WITH A CAMERA FELLOWSHIP
The Armed with a Camera Fellowship is awarded by Visual Communications (vcmedia.org), a non-profit organization whose mission is to develop and support the voices of Asian American & Pacific Islander filmmakers who empower communities and challenge perspectives.