FROM RAPA NUI, CHILE and UNITED STATES

WHAT IT’S ABOUT: Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, is a Chilean colony in the Pacific Ocean, that everyone knows because of the striking statues of Moai. However, it’s currently moving further away from its image of virgin land and a paradise, as globalization and tourism move in at full speed. The film centers on three different aspects of the way the island is changing. Mama Piru is a local sustainability activist who tries almost single-handedly to rid the island of plastic pollution. A couple of musicians opens up the first music school on the island in a crowd-funded building made of sustainable materials. And a developer marks the island’s foray into capitalism by opening Rapa Nui’s first mall.

WHO MADE IT: Sergio Mata’u Rapu is a young but prodigious documentary film-maker for the likes of National Geographic and History Channel. “Eating Up Easter” is his first independently made feature. His wife, Elena Rapu, wrote the screenplay and co-produced. Sergio Rapu Haoa, the developer, is Rapu’s father, and before embarking on his career in development, he was the island’s first native governor. Meanwhile, the musicians who open the school are Mahani Teave, the island’s only classical musician, who has many international awards under her belt, and her husband, Enrique Icka. We don’t usually shed light on production companies and distributors here, but Plastic Oceans seems worthy of mention. They deal exclusively with films centered around the impact of plastic on the planet: a genius kind of endeavor.

WHY DO WE CARE: Easter Island is perhaps one of the most curiously underexplored areas of our world. “Eating Up Easter” was the first contemporary cultural artifact I had ever explored from there, and it turned out to be a fantastic primer. Because Rapu narrates the film as an introduction to his heritage for his American-born baby son, the pace is measured and accessible. All the right stops are made to be able to establish the geographic context faithfully. And the three stories at the center, Mama Piru’s gumption, the musicians’ idealism, and papa Rapu’s determination, are all exquisitely presented to allow for a multi-faceted view of the island’s life. Rapa Nui is only a little over 60 square miles, and it seems like every square inch makes it into the film, so dense and populated it is with plot and meaning, and so full of beauty of the island’s traditional culture.