Adi Elenoa Titokovesi Cagi demonstrates her skills and expertise in action.

The photographs were small, but to a young Adi Elenoa Titokovesi Cagi, they held stories. At family gatherings, her mother would use a small Canon PowerShot to capture family moments before taking the photographs to Caines Jannif to be developed. Adi watched, unaware that those simple moments would one day influence the way she saw and told stories herself.

Today, Ms Cagi is the Multimedia Coordinator within the Fiji National University’s Division of Marketing and Communications, using photography, film, sound and visual storytelling to capture the experiences of students, staff and communities.

Hailing from Solovola village, Nasegai, in the Tikina of Ravitaki, Kadavu, she spent much of her childhood and teenage years in Lautoka as the youngest of five children. Her late father taught her discipline and perseverance, while her mother, who left school in form five to help care for her younger sisters, showed her the value of creativity and resourcefulness through sewing, making things by hand and photography.

“I began to realise just how much of my creativity came from her,” Ms Cagi said.

Her love for stories also began early. She enjoyed reading and writing, drawing Harry Potter characters before the books became films, playing guitar and singing with her father, and watching Hindi and Hollywood movies with her family. Reading gave her stories, drawing helped her visualise them, music gave her another form of expression, and photography and film eventually brought them together.

Finding the right career, however, took time. After secondary school, she enrolled in Stage One Shipbuilding at FNU’s then Fiji Maritime Academy but left after a year. She returned to complete form seven, later tried Welding and Fabrication and even considered becoming a nightclub DJ. Still searching for a career that combined her interests in creativity, music, technology and visual storytelling, she eventually found FNU’s Film and Television Production programme.

“It felt like I had finally found a field where the different parts of my personality could exist together,” added Ms Cagi.

Adi Elenoa Titokovesi Cagi

She completed her Certificate IV in Film and Television Production in 2015 and undertook a six-month attachment, at the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation. This led to her first full-time role as a Production Assistant and later to Promo Production, where she spent about two years creating television promos, sometimes with only 15 or 30 seconds, to capture an audience’s attention.

Freelancing followed, giving her experience in managing clients, projects, budgets and deadlines, including work on Fiji’s first National Disability Gala Awards. She later returned to FNU as a Multimedia Production Assistant, under the Office of Learning and Teaching, taking on greater responsibilities and contributing to projects involving UNESCO, UNICEF and the European Union.

Today, her work spans concept development, scripting, storyboarding, photography, filming, editing, motion graphics, social media content and major University events.

“I see myself not just as an editor or camera operator, but as a visual storyteller,” Ms Cagi further stated.

FNU Roadshows, Open Days and the School Liaison and Outreach Programme are among the projects closest to her heart, taking her into schools and communities to capture young people engaging with the University. Graduation is another highlight, particularly seeing students celebrate years of hard work with their families. Her FNU Roadshow work was recognised with the Best Video Production award in 2025.

For Ms Cagi, however, good multimedia work is not simply about producing something that looks good.

“For me, success isn’t simply whether a video looks good. It is whether the audience understands something, feels something or becomes interested enough to want to know more,” she explained.

Ms Cagi describes herself as curious, resilient and evolving, always looking for new ways to tell stories, learning from the unexpected turns in her career and recognising that there is always more to learn. She encourages young people to keep learning, experiment, create and do not be afraid to change direction.

“Sometimes you discover what you are meant to do by first discovering what you are not meant to do,” she said.

Her own story reflects that belief. The student who tried shipbuilding and welding before finding film and television eventually built a career around the interests she had carried since childhood.

“FNU has been part of my own journey from student to professional, and now I get to play a small part in helping tell the University’s story,” Ms Cagi reiterated.

And so, the story comes full circle. The little girl who watched her mother capture family memories with a Canon PowerShot now spends her days behind the lens, capturing the people and moments that make up the FNU Vuvale. The camera and technology have changed, but the purpose remains the same, to capture a moment, give it meaning and make sure the story is seen, heard and remembered.