Current events full brunt
The International Oceanian Film Festival (FIFO) is it
topical? Undoubtedly. The FIFO
jury reached agreement wisely in order to distinguish the documentary
creations that best illustrated the vital concerns of this continent scattered
in the Pacific.
The FIFO selection, as the
Public prize are subject to the same criteria: a topic thoughtful in depth, an
original and based information, the feast of the senses also, and above all a
connection of feelings between characters and us. The success follows from this
intensity implemented by the sensitivity of the movie-directors. And the 13th
session has fulfilled us.
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| The winners in a snap |
In fact, the winning paintings cover all the
crisis of living together which exceeds Oceania and affects the whole world.
They are all treated according to an innovative artistic thread: in terms of
narrative and audio-visual framework, from the viewpoint of witness, etc. They
are acts of creation and not impassive reports that would be therefore, them,
superficial.
Beyond aesthetics, the issues that sometimes emerge,
they relate to existential dramas. An exception, however, in the short film
category: Fixed (Australia) is the
winner in the cold humor genre. Its 7 min are especially sharp, they touch a
subject as serious: our obtrusive and indecent conviction of disposing freely
of the natural order of mammals called inferior.
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An image of the
lucid innocence
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What lesson learned from this edition? She seems to be in this little
movie gem (Fixed). The scenario
invites us not to be fooled by the "grown-ups": this is the picture
of innocence. We all projected ourselves into this child, her insight to refuse
untruths and to declare it bluntly. Our world is to be revisited with new eyes.
In full context
All themes of the films
awarded by the jury, condemn unexpected scandals. Including the problematics of
actual integration of indigenous minorities of Australia (Another Country), the essential balance between work and leisure (The Ground we won), the fight to end the
wounds of colonization (The Price of
Peace), rehabilitation of hidden history sections (Tupaia), critical analysis of the economic monopoly,
over-exploitation of the sea and environment of workers (Le Salaire des profondeurs), the unavoidable question of abuse on
pet animals (Fixed)...
As for the public, it bestowed
its favors to a conciliation work in which the approach of Ancients joined the
aspirations of young people and won the challenge of generations. Although it
doesn't hide this sinister intransigence advocating vitality, profitability,
score and trying to oust the seniors from physical prowess, Hip-Hop-Eration is a genuine smile in
this film competition.
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| Alex Lee and the challenge of "Hip-Hop-Eration" |
When the FIFO and the premiere
of Totem Liberté (New Caledonia)
debuted, Noumea's penitentiary is living the double tragedy of a mutiny
and the suicide
of an inmate. The sad fact of detention conditions thus catches the dream
of artistic breakaway showed by the documentaries. The cinematic approach of
Camp East, refined by emotion and modesty of the camera, can no longer
dissociate from silhouettes overshadowed behind their ilma (totem).
Incarceration, a recurring
theme of the "off" and "in" with Prison Songs, bounces from north to south of the Pacific continent and echoes in our
fresh memory with the accents of the Rap from Berrimah (Australia).
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| The prison whose we get off, our heads held high. |
Does the captivity participate
in the symbol of this insular confinement? Isolated from the rest of the world,
handicapped by the maritime distance between each islands, Oceania is largely
marked by this dependence on monopolies of the international market. Linked to
the power of the descendants of European settlers who make fortunes at the
expense of indigenous Māori or Mā'ohi, despite its many accessions to
independence or autonomy, the Oceanian continent is vegetating in misery, still more immured in its
insularity.
Overview across Awards
The Grand Prix (FIFO-France TV),
awarded to Another country (Australia), works on the principle of aboriginal incantatory voice,
addressing the Whites. On the poetic rhythm of the voice-over, the actor David
Gulpilil, the panorama of a precarious daily follows on, picture after another.
Advocacy of a lifestyle in communion with nature and community values, it faces
autism of rulers.
The Ground we won (New Zealand), winning the 1st Special Jury Prize is paradoxical.
Neck-deep in the mud of the soil and the rugby field, it tackles on the
harshness of rural life, climate, grueling task, the sublimation of fair play
and honesty; on the smut of an exclusively male sphere, promoting the
community; on the lewd and drunken spillway, the safe morality. In fact, the
third halftime of these sporty-cattlemen will raise some prudery waves among
the spectators. A team so far
from the dream of another reality in Samoa!
In the clay that
makes us
With The Price of Peace (New Zealand), which won the 2nd Special Jury Prize,
the challenge is different. The impeccable Tame Iti and members of his
movement, victims of police brutality which unmasks families, including
children and old people, traces his career. It's an arm wrestling seven years
of harassment and imprisonment between a minority Ngai Tuhoe, parked on a tiny
plot of the island of Aotearoa and the Whites' majority. After more than a
century and a half under British crown. And although law enforcement officials
came to ask forgiveness, "The past is in front of us with his
injury," concluded the reluctant hero.
The 3rd Special Jury Prize, Tupaia (French Polynesia - New Zealand), is designed
between archival documents, petroglyphs and other traces in New Zealand and a blank
of historical pageant. It dispels the mists of a browser, Cook, overshadowing
the role of a national of fenua, the priest and arioi (actor) Tupaia, native of Leeward Islands.
The paltry cost of living...
The Special Jury Mention, Le Salaire des profondeurs (New Caledonia), conveys us to Fidji.
Dish particularly popular in Asia including China, sea cucumbers are threatened
by overfishing... As for other marine species endangered, the Oceanian divers
are incurring irreversible risks. Far from the myths, there is nothing left,
only overexploitation, lived as a curse.
On the sidelines, the assessment of FIFO
The FIFO is still far from
representing all the 16 states and 15 territories that make up Oceania. But
it's approaching, through intervening productions. Its images are broadcasted
everywhere and increase its visibility. Is it not the role of art as boost political
decisions? The COP21 is a fruitful example...
Don't neglect the amateurs'craze
for the 7th Art. Their imagination bloom in various stages of the genesis of a
movie. Welcome to the winner of the "1st Writing Marathon", Sophie Blanc,
on a proposal for a "departure"; and its co-competitor, Mireille
Bindé, bedecked with a special mention for his screenplay: L'abeille (The Bee).
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| The deserted FIFO. |
The Oceanian documentary
cinema? One concern that challenges us all... anonymous spectators or
participants, increasingly numerous at workshops. The FIFO is active; it's a
good sign, all the same!
Le prize list 2016, in the
image of its President Abderrahmane Sissako, just like its Oceanian documentary
makers, reflects more than ever the human dimension: the humanist fiber on
alert, the respect for the pain and the hope of a future better.
An article
of Monak
For the begining of this 13th
edition of FIFO, you can consult:
The subject is inexhaustible,
other items follow:
Copyright
Monak. Ask for the author’s agreement before any reproduction of the text
or the images on Internet or traditional press.
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