In terms of New Zealand “feel good” movies Red, White and Brass has been labelled as one of the best to hit our cinemas in recent times and its humble beginnings were driven by Methodists.

Halaifonua Finau admits he knew absolutely nothing about making a movie when he embarked on what was seemingly impossible.

But the 38-year-old original writer and co-producer of the just-released movie always had faith in God and his wonderful upbringing by his parents in the Wellington Methodist Church.

“My job was the WHAT and the WHY? The HOW is God’s job,” he told Touchstone on the eve of the movie’s premiere in Auckland before it hit cinemas nationally.

“I’m very blessed, when I made the film I didn’t think that it would turn into this.

“I never really anticipated it would create this kind of buzz.

“The HOW, that’s God’s job, I didn’t have to worry about the how am I gonna make a movie, or who’s gonna support me or who’s gonna fund the film, how am I gonna get the money to make the film,” the committed Methodist says.

Halaifonua says God played a big hand in the making of the movie, the people who came to help and the experts that delivered the product. His faith never wavered.

The movie was inspired by a true story and names on the production team includes famous Kiwi and Hollywood filmmaker Taika Waititi, as executive producer.

The storyline describes the extraordinary effort by a group of Tongan Methodist youths in Wellington to attend the France vs Tonga match played in the city during the Rugby World Cup in 2011.

“Maka, a Tongan superfan, will do whatever it takes to get tickets to the Tonga vs France Rugby World Cup game – even if it means promising to deliver a brass band for the pre-match entertainment. Only problem is, the band doesn’t exist and Maka has four weeks to make one,” says the New Zealand Film Commission synopsis of Red, White and Brass.

The Taulanga Ŭ brass band was formed from scratch in an effort to get inside the stadium to perform in front of thousands of people and millions of television viewers throughout the world, and then watch their beloved Tongan ‘Ikale Tahi team play.

“I’m not a qualified film producer in terms of cinema. I never went to film school or anything like that but I always wanted to become a film producer to tell the story that I want to tell,” Halaifonua says.

“I never saw anyone doing what I wanted to portray – you know being born in New Zealand and growing up in this country.

“I was doing acting and stuff, but it wasn’t the stuff I felt represented me, I think a lot of us [born here in New Zealand], we go to church, we grow up in the church, we grow up in the Tongan world, we have to live in two different worlds at the same time.

“The Tonganess in me is what makes me unique as a writer and a producer.”

The movie has won rave reviews and acclaim by media organisations including the New Zealand Herald, The Spinoff and stuff.co.nz. The Red, White and Brass world premiere was held in Wellington on March 21.

Halaifonua hopes it will send good vibes to overseas viewers.

At first, the father-of-two, did not know where to start when he set out to write the Taulanga Ŭ brass band story.

“I needed to write but I wasn’t a writer. So, I talked to my friend and I told him about the idea of my church brass band,” Halaifonua recalls.

“Yeah it’s a little bit like [the movie] Cool Runnings but this time it’s Tongans instead of Jamaicans and trumpets instead of sleds on snow ... I kinda just carried on from there, the more I was going down that path the more it was revealing itself. It was something pretty special.”

Halaifonua says he has always been a positive thinker and pursues whatever he sets his mind on.

“I try, when I set my goals, to keep a positive mind state - attracting and putting out what you want, and manifesting the things you want, your dreams and goals and combining that with the power of prayer is an unbeatable combination,” Halaifonua says.

“I’m a Christian and grew up in the Methodist Church, I have my flaws and I have my mistakes and my shortfalls but if you ever needed to see the power of prayer, it’s this film of a Tongan guy that never went to school and never dreamed of writing a story or anything that Taika Waititi is executive producer of his first feature film.”

Halaifonua’s father, Rev Tevita Finau, who plays Rev Pita and father of the main character Maka in the movie, was the presbyter for the Wellington Tongan Methodist congregation during the Rugby World Cup in 2011.

“Because of our brass band, the whole congregation ended up in the stadium to watch the game,” Rev Finau said. “It was most enjoyable because we also beat France that day.”

Halaifonua remembers his father and mother Valeti pushing for the church brass band to succeed, even when it was clear that there were no instruments for the group.

It was Rev Finau who first floated the idea to form a brass band. “We definitely weren’t a brass band at that time, we didn’t have instruments and anything like that,” Halaifonua says.

“But there was a guy from Tonga, ‘Elone Niu, here [in Wellington] to further his music studies. He knew how to play the instruments.”

The talented Tongan student gave the group a crash course in music and brass “and the rest is history.”

Halaifonua says he chose the main character name Maka, which means rock in Tongan, because he always aspired to be a rock in his culture, faith and community.

After light refreshments, the official part of the Auckland premiere began with a prayer by the Vahefonua Tonga ‘o Aotearoa synod superintendent, Rev Kalolo Fihaki.

The Taulanga Ŭ band still play every Sunday at the Wesley Church, Taranaki St, Wellington. New members have joined to continue the legacy.