Fiji-born actor Anand Raj Naidu, lead star of the independent film Stranded Pearl, is hoping to leverage the film’s growing international exposure to open doors for bigger productions in the future.
“A small film like Stranded Pearl has received such great coverage from mainstream media in India and could really open major opportunities to do bigger future productions,” Naidu said.
At the recent 8th Moonwhite Films International Film Festival (MWFIFF 2025) held in India, Stranded Pearl won best Male Actor, Best Female Actor and Best Supporting Female Lead.
Released in September 2024 across 35 cinemas in New Zealand, Fiji, and the Cook Islands, the film has since reached global audiences through streaming platforms.
“It was released on Amazon Prime by my US distributor Indie Rights in the USA, UK, and Australia. It’s also available on airlines including Hawaiian Airlines, Air Tahiti Nui, Fiji Airways, and Air New Zealand, with Air Tahiti from 1 January 2026 onwards,” he said.
Naidu added that the film was made freely available on YouTube four weeks ago, where it has already amassed 336,000 views.
“I would really like the views to exceed over a million and beyond. The views over a million will open doors for me to make my next film in a much bigger way and really allow us to promote ingrown talent to the world,” he said.
The actor is calling for more publicity and support for Stranded Pearl, emphasizing its potential to showcase Pacific talent on the global stage.
