Heart of Light – Eleven Songs for Fiji

Documentary, fiction, memoir and ethnographic study are combined to striking effect in Tilda Swinton's fourth collaboration with the fascinatingly infrequent filmmaker Cynthia Beatt. In just her seventh project since 1979, Beatt draws from her own life story to tell the tale of Ioana (Swinton), who grew up in Fiji as the daughter of privileged British parents and has now returned to the place she still feels deeply connected to. As Iona's voice-over narration broadens from recollections of her youth to ruminations on how Fiji's colonial past has shaped its contemporary social, political and spiritual landscape, the film takes us to the liminal place between the mist of nostalgia and the clear light of day.