The 20 Century brought us many memorable films, from comedies to thrillers. If you’re in a nostalgic kind of mood, here are the best movies filmed in Fiji during this time. With some of the most exotic locations in the world, Fiji is fast becoming the destination of choice for filmmakers. From miles of white sandy beaches and pristine turquoise waters to tropical rainforests, mountainous terrains, rivers, and picturesque cityscapes, Fiji’s locations have featured in top documentaries from Fijian broadcasters and international production companies. (For More Information about Filming in Fiji)
Table of Contents
TV Shows Filmed in Fiji
Fiji is considered a paradise for many location scouts. TV Shows Filmed in Fiji provide directors with a wide variety of backdrops. From hit series to short-lived flops, there’s no shortage of television shows filmed within Fiji. Here is a list of some of the shows — from long-running classics to one-hit wonders — filmed in Fiji’s tropical paradise.
Featured | World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji
World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji is television series documenting a long-range multi-day expedition race in which teams race non-stop with little to no sleep over mountains, jungles, and oceans. The series is a revival of the Eco-Challenge series first broadcast from 1995 to 2002.
Simply put, Eco-Challenge is the World’s Toughest Race. It’s an expedition against the clock in which international teams of adventure athletes race non-stop, 24 hours a day across hundreds of miles of remote backcountry terrain. Each team is comprised of four competitors and must include at least one member of each gender. All teams are supported by an assistant crew member who is responsible for resupplying the four athletes on their team at key points along the course.
The teams must navigate through the backcountry using only a map and compass. Smartphones and GPS devices are strictly prohibited. If a team loses a member along the way, whether due to injury, exhaustion, or disagreement they will be disqualified. Only teams that can work together under extreme stress and fatigue, showing a high level of expedition problem-solving skills will have any chance of success.
Although the first team to cross the finish line will be the winner, any team that completes the entire course will have truly achieved the exceptional … since they will have finished the World’s Toughest Race! (Courtesy of WTRECF).
TV-14 | Genre: Adventure, Reality-TV, Sport | Filming Locations: Fiji
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Adventures of the Seaspray (1965-) The story centered on widowed journalist Dan Wells, who is sailing the Pacific on his 25-meter schooner "Seaspray", with his three children Mike, Noah, and Sue, assisted by their Fijian crewman. | Treasure Island (1997) 12 Strangers are marooned on a deserted island in Fiji to solve clues and puzzles to win $25,000. Each week two people are eliminated. | Under One Roof (2002–) Under One Roof is a reality show that pits five families against each other for the prize of a lifetime. Taking place in a single house, the families face a variety of challenges, but the one that outlasts the rest gets to keep the beachfront house in Fiji. | Celebrity Love Island (2005–2006) 12 Z-list celebrities, famed in the UK for their sexual behavior, are being put together on a paradise island in Fiji where the viewers can see them hopefully copulate. | Exposure: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit (2011) Exposure gives you a behind-the-scenes look into the creation of the highly anticipated SI Swimsuit Issue. | A Place in the Sun (2011-) Mixing two of the most popular types of programs, real estate, and travel - "A Place in the Sun" is a unique hybrid. Based on the hit U.K. show, "A Place in the Sun" fully immerses the viewer in each location to find out why it is a hot spot for those looking to buy abroad | Radar Across the Pacific (2012–2014) The Radar lives in the world's biggest Polynesian city - Auckland. But he doesn't know much about his Pacific neighbors. In TV ONE's gorgeous new local series, Radar Across the Pacific, he travels to the islands to find out more. | Beauty and the Geek Australia (2009-2014) Stunning girls and genius guys live together and team up as they compete in hilarious and heart-warming challenges to test their intellect and social skills. | Australian Survivor (2016-) A reality show where a group of twenty-four Australians is stranded in a remote location with little more than the clothes on their back. The winner takes home $500,000 and the title of Sole Survivor. | Kicking & Screaming (2017–) A competition series that teams 10 expert survivalists with pampered partners to face the toughest challenges of their lives. | My Pacific Quest (2017-) Kiwi adventurer Ellis Emmett embarks on an incredible journey across the waves of the South Pacific. He must harness the power of the wind to explore some of the most remote islands and atolls on the planet. | Epic Trails (2017-) Eric Hanson travels to around the globe to backpack the world's most epic trails. The show also showcases the people, culture, and experiences to be had in the regions he visits. | Bachelor in Paradise (2018-2020) Join your favorite Bachelors and Bachelorettes on their second chance quest to find true love. |
Movies Filmed in Fiji (21st Century)
With some of the most exotic locations in the world, Fiji is fast becoming the destination of choice for filmmakers. From miles of white sandy beaches and pristine turquoise waters to tropical rainforests, mountainous terrains, rivers, and picturesque cityscapes, Fiji’s locations have featured in top documentaries from Fijian broadcasters and international production companies. (For More Information about Filming in Fiji) All the Trailers for the movies listed below can be found in the video playlist above. Enjoy! You might be pleasantly surprised at the variety of movies filmed across the Fiji Islands over the last 20 years.
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Castaway (2000) | The Land Has Eyes (2004) | Anacondas (2004) | Attack of the Sabertooth (2005) | Single Fin Yellow (2005) | Welcome to the Jungle (2007) | Reefscapes: Nature's Aquarium (2007) | Adhura Sapna (2007) | Boot Camp (2008) | Ghar Pardes (2009) | Globe Pro Fiji (2009) | Pump Up the Mandali (2010) | Warning (2013) | 3G: A Killer Connection (2013) (Hindi) | Guitars, Guns, and Paradise! (2013) | Volcom Fiji Pro (2013) | Super Model (2013) | Unlimited Tamaashaa (2016) | Feeling Lucky (2016) | Santa Banta Pvt Ltd (2016) (Hindi) | Undersea Metropolis (2017) | Adrift (2018) | A Summer to Remember (2018) | Pearl in Paradise (2018) | Fire of Faith (2019) | Sweetheart (2019) | Fantasy Island (2020) |
Movies Filmed in Fiji (20th Century)
All the Trailers for the movies listed below can be found in the video playlist above. Enjoy! You might be pleasantly surprised at the variety of movies filmed across the Fiji Islands over the last Century.
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Gow the Killer (1931) | His Majesty O'Keefe (1954) | The Dove (1974) | Blue Lagoon (1980) | Savage Islands (1983) | Shipwrecked (1990) | Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991) | The Endless Summer 2 (1994) | Contact (1997) |
Full-Length Fijian Documentaries
Listed below are several Full-Length Documentaries released over the last few decades, that really captures the true spirit and soul of Fijian Culture. The Topics covered in these short films range from Rugby, a cornerstone of Fijian Lifestyle, a storytelling Videographer exploring the tradition of Firewalking, to the coming together of the Pacific Islands, through dance and song, during the Covid-19 Epidemic. Sit back with a nice refreshing drink and start the journey of discovery…
Featured HSBC Sport | The Most Unbelievable Story In Rugby – Sevens From Heaven
Sevens From Heaven is the story of Fiji Rugby Sevens, the winners of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2015/16, and the team that inspired the world in Rio when they won Fiji’s first-ever Olympic medal, and a gold at that! Discover how a tiny island nation with limited resources took on the world at Rugby Sevens and won. Go inside the team with never-before-seen footage to see what it took to take a team from an island in the South Pacific to becoming the best in the world. Created by HSBC Sport in collaboration with Zoomfiji.
Unrated | 17min | Genre: Sport | Filming Locations: Fiji | Directors: HSBC
1# Featured Videographer – Gary Yost
Gary Yost an Award-winning Director, Cinematographer, Editor, and Colorist located in Marin County, California. Watch the playlist discovering the music and dance, and how it is inextricably linked to the Fijian people. Created as an artist-in-residence funded by the Naqaqa Giving Foundation.
2# Featured Videographer – Pete McBride
Native Coloradan Pete McBride has spent two decades studying the world with a camera. A self-taught photographer, filmmaker, writer, and public speaker, he is a Sony Artisan of Imagery and has traveled on assignment to over 75 countries for the National Geographic Society, Smithsonian, Google, Nature Conservancy. Watch the Award-Winning River of Eden Production Above | Pete McBride Official Website
Alison’s Adventures: “Lost Island of the Fire Walkers” ~ FIJI | Alison sets off to Fiji in search of a lost island said to have some of the last fire walkers on earth. She soon finds herself on a wild adventure with the island’s Chief, deep into the intense Fijian past: to a time of tribal wars, cannibals, and spiritual consequences for breaking traditions. As her virtue is gauged by a series of tests placed upon her by the villagers, along the way Alison learns the importance of family, living off the land, and stumbles upon the secret to happiness.
Serevi | Fiji’s King of Sevens | Waisale Serevi; one of the greatest rugby players in history gives his definitive life story in this open and honest documentary. Follow the incredible journey of a man that overcame severe odds to inspire a nation.
National Geographic: Islands (2011-) | A classic series of films exploring nature and man in various cultural and historical contexts.
Suva: ‘Pride of Fiji’ (1940) | James A. FitzPatrick takes a tour of the Fiji Islands. The short depicts the different types of natives that inhabit the islands and shows villages that have not been changed in architecture for centuries. There are ceremonial dances, and FitzPatrick politically correctly describes the rule of the islands under the British government.
Other Fijian Documentaries | Trailers
Coral Reef Adventure (2003) | Take a once-in-a-lifetime journey across the South Pacific for a spectacular IMAX adventure. Joy, ecstasy, a spiritual high: these words describe the exhilaration of diving a pristine coral reef, and ocean explorers Howard and Michele Hall bring their love of the ocean into action. With Jean-Michael Cousteau, deep reef scientist Richard Pyle and Fijian diver Rusi Vulakoro, they explore and capture on film the dazzling underwater world of coral reefs, magical places here on Earth. This tropical excursion through the South Pacific will surprise and delight you as you fall in love with the reefs, and your heart will ache at the tragic, irretrievable loss of these fragile worlds.
Reel Paradise (2005) | Former indie film “guru” John Pierson takes his family to Fiji for one year to run the world’s most remote movie theater.
80 Waves (2010) | Filmed in glorious HD over 5 years and in 10 locations, 80 Waves is a collection of huge waves and big-name riders from across the globe. Amongst the culture, wildlife, and beautiful scenery of exotic surf spots like Fiji, Hawaii, and Bali, we see surfers and foil-boarders, tow-in surfing and body-boarding on such iconic waves as Hawaii’s ‘Jaws’ and Indonesia’s ‘G-Land’, all set to an eclectic collection of world music. With tons of spectacular wipeouts, interviews with pro surfers like Adam D’Esposito and Ken Bradshaw, and unmissable underwater footage of the largest great white shark ever seen off the coast of Hawaii, 80 Waves will make you want to run for the airport with your passport in one hand and your surfboard in the other!
Miss South Pacific: Beauty and the Sea (2011) | What does a beauty pageant in Suva, Fiji have to do with climate change? Quite a lot, as it turns out. ‘Miss South Pacific: Beauty and the Sea’ is a short documentary film about the 2009-2010 Miss South Pacific Pageant that brought contestants, or Queens, from all the major Pacific Island Nations to compete in a week-long pageant for the crown of Miss South Pacific.
Addressing the theme of Climate Change and its impact on Pacific Island countries, the Queens eloquently and passionately implore judges, spectators, and the world at large to reduce global carbon emission lest their island homes will be lost to rising seas. Is it too late to turn back the tide? Watch Miss South Pacific and see.
This Is Your Ocean: Sharks (2011) | Three of the world’s top artists shatter your perception of sharks. Emmy-award-winning producer George C. Schellenger takes you into the world of sharks through the eyes of Wyland, Dr. Guy Harvey, and Jim Abernethy. These amazing artists take you into the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas, one of the last shark sanctuaries on Earth. They’ll you’ll learn why it’s critical to protect the ocean’s remaining sharks – and what will happen if we don’t. You’ll also meet Emma, a 14-foot tiger shark. With breathtaking footage shot on location around the world and breakthrough discoveries, it’s an adventure that will have you seeing sharks very differently.
Come Hell or High Water (2011) | Come Hell or High Water travels to oceans around the world showcasing body surfing’s characters, pioneers, innovators along with the simplicity and beauty of the sport. It’s about taking a breath and kicking your feet in the big blue sea. The movie, shot mainly on 16-millimeter film spans the globe from Tahiti to Fiji, to Montana, Hawaii, and California.
The movie dives into the underground sport that most people know little about. Not only does Come Hell or High Water have incredible underwater imagery, but it will also wrench your heart as well as make you laugh! A one-kind film, Come Hell or High Water has already won Best Film and Best Cinematography at the London and New York Surf Film Festivals.
Pacific Pirates (2011) | Some are calling it the biggest and best swell to hit Fiji in 20 years, check out Dean Bowen, Scardy, Nick Vasicek, and Mikey Brennan chase down some monster waves at Cloud Break.
My Gentile Neighbor (2012) | In the beautiful Fiji Islands in the South Pacific, half of the population are Indian descendants who migrated as indentured sugarcane farmers during the British Colony. After living for more than a century in a Christian country, they remain Hindus and Muslims. This film portrays and interviews six people telling a single mission story of FIJI, Fijians Introducing Jesus to Indians.
This film is not made for mission mobilization purposes in developed countries. This is made by native Fijians for native Fijians to reach out to their Indian neighbors. It has been two centuries since the missionaries brought the gospel to the Pacific but they were reluctant in sharing it with others. Stories of six Fijians and Indians working actively in reaching out to Hindu and Muslims in Fiji reveal God’s love for His people in these forgotten Islands, where the churches in the States and South Korea have excluded them from their tactical mission fields.
Immersion the Movie (2012) | Immersion in the movie is a journey of what is surfing now. 7 years in the making, Immersion features some of surfing’s greatest talents and personalities and takes you to some of the world’s most isolated, notorious, and picturesque surfing locations – Australia, Hawaii, Fiji, Tahiti. This film captures mind-blowing swell events that made history and glue the viewer to its seat. You will travel following the footsteps of the filmmaker, Tim Bonython, and will embark on a memorable journey. Each sequence has a purpose and a story to tell.
Waverider (2013) | In the early ’90s, an iconic photo of a young boy dropping in on a huge unknown wave made the cover of Surfing Life. 20 years on, in 2013, the boy the world had never heard of earned his chance to compete against the best surfer the world has ever seen.
Of Shark and Man (2015) | A thirty-two-year-old man, trapped in a dead-end job in England’s industrial north, his life going nowhere, gambles everything to tell an inspiring untold story, a story which finds him in the middle of a feeding frenzy with sixty of the world’s most dangerous sharks.
Chapter One: The Kiteboard Legacy Begins (2016) | Chapter One introduces the world to the most exciting sport on the planet; kitesurfing. For the first time in history, a movie shot in 4K unites the legends, current champions, and future talents from the sport. By chasing the toughest storms, riding the biggest waves, or performing thrilling stunts, these athletes have found the key to the ultimate sense of freedom. Chapter One will take viewers on a ride-along with the most beautiful places on earth and inspires viewers to pursue a passionate life. The kiteboard legacy begins.
Given (2016) | GIVEN is the story of a legacy that takes one unique family on an adventure from their home in Kauai around the world. Told through the memories of a child, Given is the simple yet powerfully contemplative story of a unique family legacy that comes full circle.
Wonders of the Sea (2017) | Armed with cutting-edge 3D technology, French ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau and his adult children explore the ocean and learn about what puts it at risk.
Turtle Odyssey (2018) | Follow the daily life of a beautiful sea turtle named Bungee and all of her largest obstacles.
White Rhino (2019) | A professional surf photographer chases down the largest surf ever seen in hopes of capturing a once-in-a-lifetime image. What he receives is much more than that.
Dancing Joy (2020) | The powerful music of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is the score; traditional dance from 21 cultures is the action. This is a filmed journey around the world. No spoken narration; the music, dance, and imagery tell the story. The film celebrates humanity, and the earth: a dynamic realization of Beethoven’s message of the brotherhood of all people, bound together by a loving source and sharing a single goal.
Oceans Apart: Greed, Betrayal, and Pacific Island Rugby (2020) | Presented by former Samoa rugby player Dan Leo, who sacrificed his own career to confront corruption in his national union, Oceans Apart looks at the bond between the Pacific and modern Rugby and reveals the darker side of the sport.