''Director Annie Goldson explores the 2001 murders of Fiji Red Cross boss John Scott and his partner Greg Scrivener in the critically acclaimed Inside New Zealand: A Murder in the Pacific, screening on Thursday, September 11th at 9:30pm on 3.
John Scott, a fourth-generation, Fiji-born European gained international media attention during the 2000 coup when, as the Director-General of the Fiji Red Cross, he stood up to George Speight's men and went to the assistance of the hostages trapped in Parliament for 56 days.
One year later he made headlines again when he and his long-time partner, Greg Scrivener, were murdered in the name of God by Apete Kaisau.
Media coverage at the time hinted at political motives and, more disturbingly, the couple's "depraved" lifestyle as the motivation behind the brutal murders.
Inside New Zealand: A Murder in the Pacific goes behind those headlines, exposing what could have been seen as a politically charged murder into something much more complex and morally ambiguous.
Director Annie Goldson first became aware of John Scott during the 2000 coup, at which time he was viewed by many in Fiji as a hero, courageous in his actions. “A year later I heard that John and his partner had been murdered. And I began to speculate why this might have happened,” Goldson says of her motivation for making the documentary.
Now Inside New Zealand: A Murder in the Pacific meets friends, lawyers, and Fijian gay activists, seasoned Fiji observers and acquaintances of the murdered Director-General and his partner.
The documentary also meets the family of 22-year-old Apete Kaisau, who was ultimately charged with the killings.
By engaging with a wide array of local viewpoints, every one of them expressed in vivid, forthright terms, Inside New Zealand: A Murder in the Pacific tells a complicated but clearly articulated story of the toll colonialism, homophobia, evangelical Christianity and the tension between indigenous Fijians, Indians and "kai valagi" (white Fijians) have taken and continue to take on life in the islands.'' TV3; tv3.co.nz; 17/10/2008