Films a bird that was in country once (7,5)

I believe the answer is:

western samoa

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'country once' is the definition.

'films a bird' is the wordplay.
'films' becomes 'westerns' (Western is an example).
'bird' becomes 'Moa' (extinct flightless bird of New Zealand).
'westerns'+'a'+'moa'='WESTERN SAMOA'

'that was in' acts as a link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for western samoa that I've seen is " Pacific location".)

I've seen this clue in The Everyman puzzle in The Observer.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.