The Crossroads

The two worlds of rapper Kas Tha Feelstyle Futialo intersect in this lyrical depiction of the influences on his life. In the intermingling of Western Hip Hop and S?moan culture we find a place where similarities are strengthened and music flows.

What our story is about

Kas Tha Feelstyle, the rapper, invites you to experience his world - his two worlds. This is a place where S?moan oratory intermingles with urban rap, where the pillars of hip hop mix with everyday living, where the poetry of the street plays a rapper's delight. This is a place where rap tells stories of today like songs of old tell of life in the yesterday. 

An OG rapper who first forayed into the scene in the late 1980's, Kas Futialo has been a way seeker in the Aotearoa scene. He also takes the honour of being the first rapper to rap in S?moan in the world -  'Suamalie/I Ain't ad at You' - and has influenced a myriad of other artists on his creative journey.

Still preaching the word and keeping things real with S?moan-centric and Aotearoa enthused hip hop, what is the influence of hip hop on his S?moan and S?moan on his hip hop?

Who we are

This doco is directed by Sani Sagala who some of you may know by his stage name as award winning hip hop music artist 'Dei Hamo'.

For the past few years Sani has moved away from being a music artist to being a successful music video director and now he is making the leap into documentary and needs your help to fulfill his dream of making his first doco.

For this doco, Sani thought who better to cover than his good friend Kas Futialo, a.k.a. 'Tha Feelstyle'. Kas is not only the subject of the documentary but also involved in its creation working side-by-side with the creative team so as to keep its authenticity.

Working closely with Sani and Kas is doco producer Aaron Taouma who is equally excited to be able to present a doco on subject matter close to his heart - S?moan culture and hip hop.

Why crowdfunding?

It is extremely difficult to fund short documentaries in New Zealand. Crowdfunding is an awesome people-power way to get around this challenge and to also include audiences in the filmmaking journey.

Our short has been selected to be made as part of the Loading Docs initiative. Along with principal funder NZ On Air and with support from the New Zealand Film Commission and Te M?ngai P?ho, they want to see the film get made just as much as we do. Loading Docs will provide an additional $4,450 and help with grading and a sound mix, but only as long as we reach our funding goal as of part of the development process. 

How will your donations be used?

It's expensive filming in the islands. But, for us, it's important to add context to our doco by filming in Kas's homeland - S?moa. Most of our budget will go on filming in S?moa, paying our crew while we are there, transportation, accommodation and also hiring equipment like drones and cranes for filming. We will also use graphics in this doco.

This all costs mullah, as we are sure you will appreciate. We've set our initial goal for crowdfunding at $2,000 but we are hoping to raise an additional $8,000 to enable us to do this doco well. We hope you will help us achieve this dream by donating today. 

Where will our film go?

Our film will be released online through the Loading Docs website and TVNZ ONDemand. It will be yours to share, watch, and treasure for free. We hope it may go other places like film festivals too.

We believe film has the power to create positive change. We're making this film accessible because we hope it will provide all generations with a fresh perspective on S?moan culture and hip hop.

We also want this story to inspire other Polynesians around the world to go out and make their music, make their song, make their films.