Océanie
Charles Belmont
2001 - 87 min - 35 mm - Couleur - France

"Océanie" is a film that, thanks to the living shows of 26 peoples at the 8th Pacific Arts Festival in Nouméa, shows the attachment of strong cultures which try to exist between the words of yesterday and the words of today. So, the theme was set down and the artistes expressed themselves through dancing, music and the theatre...
The perception of Ariane Mnouchkine, invited by Marie-Claude Tjibaou, enriches and reinforces what the artistes say. The two women meet, discover each other, they talk to the choreographers, the dancers, Ariane Mnouchkine hears the force of the songs and the movements on the lands of a drama that is still very present in the memories.
The film transports the political aspect of each person’s artistic approach with great finesse. They comment, tell us about this fundamental need for identity and recognition to which these peoples aspire. They are many but they are one, as a village chief points out during the custom.
The film brilliantly evokes the quest of each person in a perfect resonance of everyone’s desire.