From an edition
to the next
At the International Documentary Film Festival in Oceania
(FIFO), the theme of the 11th edition, "the voices of Pacific
Islanders," augured that of "the free speech" for the 2015
session.
In the line with world events, the 12th edition
asserts "no tabu" and presents a program, especially dedicated to
women (6 films out of the 15 in competition): their claims, their aspirations,
their ways of being and their affirmations. Result of a combination of choices
rather than a deliberate intent. No specific section is created for the
selection of this year.
FIFO continues its role as unifier between
Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, and the scattered continent across the
Pacific, while continuing its dialogue with the West. Then the gender issue for
the Pacific documentary emerges: is it an artistic or an informative work? What template, for what distribution? What a debate
between concept and confrontation with
reality, between imaging sensor and the filmed individuals.
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| A FIFO can hide another |
Can the Pacific movies appropriate their images? Have the broadcasters
the willing to admit it? One answer is given by the acquiescence and the
enthusiasm of the growing number of spectators into the wide world.
The great matter that is controversial is whether there is a genuine
Pacific documentary; and whether it cannot be confused with a reporting. It was
born: with its tempo, its harmony, its expanded time, its hieratic stops, an
entity composed of characters doing relays, etc. All that remains is that it
must be recognized by the critics, to be determined as a Artistic School, to be
budgeted. Born under a fare, it
disturbs: because it does not fit into the mold of specialists (experts,
financiers, distributors).
Women's Portraits
On last year, after the
Pacific identity approach and the transmission of values of a strong
collective heritage, the screens are opting this year for feminine singular
destinies. Transgender women, women activists, passionate women, women in
search of dreams, women in daily immersion, female artists...
But let's leave the screens
a moment. Discover their linchpin: all the women who provide in parallel its
achievement. Please note: the content of all the interviews of this article, is
split into two parts: one written part and the other, seen and heard on the
video.
It's with pleasure, while
wishing a lot of stamina and drive to Mary Kops, the new organizer, I will give
you a quick picture of Miriama Bono, coordinator of the three previous
sessions.
Miriama Bono, an in
vivo portrait " at FIFO"
What could we draw from it?
"The attendance of professionals and diverse audiences, are a way to learn
about us, Tahitians, by these viewpoints. »
If the management of the
festival is like a marathon, spread over more than six months of preparation,
the ultimate touch of the last month takes the local shape of the typical
racing of fruit bearers, to the extent that the weight of this event rests on
the shoulders of a frail team. In this context that spins good wind, Miriama,
always available, adorned with a smile foolproof, unpacks treasures of
ingenuity in Tauhiti Te Fare Nui, The Culture House in the center of Papeete.
Some chance pictures, taken
at the end of the festival, could not show better the pressure that the
development of such a machinery demands. Miriama, even in slow motion, even her
voice broken, speaks only of "good tired, that of challenge accomplished
and embellished by the satisfaction of its fulfillment."
Miriama gives us the Quid of
the coordination. We find out the stress
but also the ethic aspect in the principle of neutrality which binds the members
and organizers. Discretion is paramount!
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| Marie Kops: an eye to "fifoter" the world |
What to expect? "We
dread the rain. It has caused some extra work because of the material
management, power supply and facilities. And then the rain proved to be an ally
which attracted an audience therefore. »
And if Miriama declines the
compliments of each festival-goer, she prefers to highlight the collaborative
work of those who never are named, his teammates at all levels. If the
technique can become misaligned, the team itself remains reliable to those who
know how to consider it.
This maintains the ethics of
co-founders Wallès Kotra and Pierre Ollivier since 2001. That said, let's take
the pulse of the event to one of them, still president of AFIFO (the original
Association).
Wallès Kotra and sustainability
Wallès Kotra always wants to
ensure the "visibility of the Pacific Film" in this vast ocean which
keeps rising. Does the competition from television channels submerge or is it
an appropriate and faithful support to Pacific images?
"It 's a true sake
of wielding a cultural event that mobilizes creators with little means,
it is not won!" Wallès recalls starting difficulties where"
government and political will did not see the need for the establishment of a
film festival. "
Wallès Kotra: a foolproof
ardor
"Of course, retention
and growth of the partnership overcome the dangers of termination. The
consensus of continuity persisted despite the changing of authorities. But it
is certain that the festival could not ensure viability, if it was confined to
our single geographic sphere. It had to adapt to the crisis. Its survival is its
evolution, while safeguarding its independence. It is essential to show the
fragility of the world ... The islands may disappear ... but the human
exchanges and relations remain a mythical power".
"The FIFO has truly
been created around the deep conviction that Oceania was unknown. The key is to
affirm our own mentality, our “oceanity”, our own image, to make them known to
Europe, as our stories are going to circulate everywhere.”
"As for the spirit
of the FIFO, it can be summarized thus:
We try not to take ourselves too seriously to address serious issues. (...) I
am delighted that Luc Jacquet is there. Although his work is important and
famous (The March of the Penguins, Once Upon a Forest), he remains simple (L.
Jacquet, president of the jury 2014).”
%2B%C2%A9Monak.jpg) |
| Behind this door, FIFO fever (Te Fare Nui Tauhiti) |
"We're there to kind of
shake it up, that is our strength!" No need to introduce further Wallès, shimmering
formulas man. And if Tahiti remains the center of the FIFO, don't forget the
great figures of New Caledonian who hold the keys.
Emmanuel Tjibaou and Indigenous cinema
"New Caledonia is one
of the major points of the Pacific cinema with Australia and New Zealand. Despite its dynamism, it is very isolated
from the fever of the 7th art. Added to this is the lack of resources for
learning this communication medium. The technique has not yet passed into our
custom, and it is only recently that we can expect the emergence of a new
generation of filmmakers.”
"The work done in
school are not distributed, the links of broadcast and production are actually
missing. We lack cinemas. The time slots on the TV are uninsured. It remains to
create channels.”
.jpg) |
| Candlemas and school: the FIFO 2015, let's go! |
"We must consider our
Culture: essentially oral, it is difficult to find scenarios or theater texts.
There is a pool of players trained by the Guinean-Ivorian Souleymane Koly, from
traditional African rituals communication, very close to the traditional
ceremonies of New Caledonia.
"We need to affirm this
form of expression, mixing slam / stand up / orero; the need to affirm the
existence of the actor-dancer-slammer. What exists in the theatrical field, our
original mode of expression, the peculiarity of our word, there to voice our
social themes, must be rooted in the cinema.
"Our action is
militant, we must deconstruct the mindset and return to our own indigenous or
Kanak codes. The similarities are there. We must move from the center to the
tribes. This dialogue between the film and the people who are filmed must
thought provoking, advance in the debate. In Tahiti, we have the lighting of a
mixed audience.”
Emmanuel Tjibaou: a Culture parable
"Here I come seeking in
movies the emotion enhanced by the big screen, subjects worn by our language,
something that evokes in me a share of affectivity ... The technicality is more
an artifice. It is necessary that the characters touch me, that they address
our problems ... that they are the echo of our questions.
"It has been too long
spoken for us: we must let the people talk about themselves, about us.”
With his parable of travel
(see video), Emmanuel Tjibaou demonstrates that this festival has the advantage
of looking for each other, to go through the prism of Polynesia and the world.
Find micro-answers, not lessons.
René Boutin and "Man's Shadow"
The movie is said in
customary paicî language (spoken language about Poindimié area or Pwêêdi Wiimîâ
in New Caledonia): Ânûû-rû âboro or "Man's shadow." The interview
given by René Boutin, artistic director of the "peoples of the
Festival" illustrates this world of the "shadow projected on
screen."
At the outset, he defines
"the documentary film as creative because
the Pacific film proves their identity that by making palpable
the specificity of the culture. Corresponding with what we are, by filming that
we cannot view and which is us. "
"It has the criteria of
a work of art ... his head cameraman. Bearer of emotions, of sensitivity,
reflection, conscience, of values, he speaks of himself (without the need to
paraphrase by a voice-over). It has its aesthetic: the integrity of the true
subject. It is intuitive, functional and questions the world without resorting
to ready-made answers and moved from elsewhere.”
René Boutin: The documentary film, a work of art in its own right
"It goes to the bottom
of things, explores the hidden, complex situations, paradoxical antagonisms ...
with their dark side. Its screen image is linking the symbol with
ancestors (the shadows of the past).
The work exists only endogenously, with Aboriginal filmmakers with this living
heritage.
So what does characterize
the South Pacific movie? "A world in our image which reveals its
interiority, its shades... which has its own language (touch, gestural, verbal,
sound), its own rhythm, its off-fields), its own communication codes... and
that is not truncated by the television formatting. The voice of the tribes for
the tribes… with their pain, their pain to say…
A transfer or a durability for the 12th
edition?
If you noticed in the
interviews, some prescient statements, they are not coincidental and fully
engage their authors...
The editorials of FIFO 2015
are all marked by the intention to develop the festival in the consolidating
and expanding over all the South Pacific countries. The guidelines appear in
perfect continuity with the previous FIFO.
Among the pool of projects
submitted by filmmakers in Pitchdating Workshops this year, will we have the
good fortune to discover artists with Pacific names? Do they ensure the
succession?
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| Spruce up you: the FIFO look! |
Among the innovations, there
is the emphasis on audiovisual education of young people. They will be tomorrow's moviegoers! Does that be subsequently able to attract all
the modest population of Tahiti? The FIFO Tour to the islands, the FIFO outside the walls, are awaited mixings.
Will the FIFO open the way to a more popular attendance?
The quest for identity,
founder of the FIFO, shifts to the story. It is not for nothing that Jan Kounen
said just "traveling to the Pacific galaxy of documentary-fiction".
"Now it's time we tell our stories," launched Wallès Kotra.
An article
of Monak
Translated from French by Monak
Copyrights Monak
and Julien Gué. Ask for the author’s agreement before any reproduction of
the text or the images on Internet or traditional press.
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