“Pierson revels in his role as cinematic proselytizer, beckoning to the Taveunians to enjoy his offerings. The uproarious laughter that floats from the cinema wonderfully illustrates the universality of the moviegoing experience.”

“Whether it was a projectionist drunk on homemade grog or faulty wiring that made equipment go up in smoke, independent film producer John Pierson was in for a challenge when he took over a rickety 288-seat movie theater on Fiji’s remote island of Taveuni.”

“The final month of Pierson’s quixotic quest is chronicled by documentary filmmaker Steve James (Hoop Dreams, Stevie) in Reel Paradise and the result is an enormously warm, comic travelogue about how you can go to the ends of the earth and still not escape from temperamental teenagers, absentee landlords and the universal language of moving pictures. “

“Toward the end of their stay, Pierson invited Steve James – the highly acclaimed director of Hoop Dreams and Stevie – to come over for a month and shoot a documentary … “to have a record of what it was like in that movie theater,” as Pierson says. Reel Paradise, however, is a good deal more than that – a look at contemporary Americans (or, at least, the Piersons) adapting to a third-world environment.”