Saturday Movies Hele'uhila Tokonaki

by Sione Tapani Mangisi

Overview

Saturday Movies Hele'uhila Tokonaki is about the fun of going to the movies in your village in Tonga last century. This book shares how the movies were set up and the ingenuity of local boys who always tried their best to sneak in without paying to watch. It tells the story of one teenager who created his own role as translator-entertainer, complete with megaphone, much to the enjoyment of the audience. Movies came to Tonga after the WWII with local entrepreneurs holding movie shows in villages. They'd hire a building, often the local school. Then they'd travel there, bringing along the films and all the gear they needed. For many years this included an electric generator because there was no electricity outside of Nuku'alofa. The book is presented in Tongan and English parallel text to support language learning. Paragraphs in both languages are matched on each page to facilitate readers' immersion in the languages. It is B1+ in the CEFR framework. It is presented in Arial font and with double spacing for ease of reading.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781764012553
Publisher:	Puletau Publishing
Publication date:	03/25/2025
Pages:	64
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x 0.17(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Sione Tapani Mangisi is Tongan, living in Australia. He grew up in Ha'avakatolo, Hihifo in Tonga and went to Tonga High School before going to New Zealand to study. He returned to Tonga to work as Chief Refrigeration Officer on MV Tauloto that traded between Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Australia. In 1973 he returned to New Zealand where he married. He and his wife moved to Australia in 1977. His professional career largely involved senior project management on large scale construction sites including major projects like Parliament House in Canberra, Federation Square in Melbourne and the new Gold Coast Hospital in Southport. He has two children and four grandchildren. In retirement, he has followed his passion for promoting the Tongan language and has now written and published several books based on his experiences growing up as a child in Tonga, through his publishing business, Puletau Publishing. He writes in Tongan and English, aiming to reach those Tongan parents and grandparents who want to share their language with their children but who have found Tongan language material hard to find. He encourages other Tongans to write their and share their own stories.