The stories etched on their Polynesian skin document this micro-nation’s history. Unlike other Polynesian societies, Marquesans created a vocabulary and an art by which to tell their people’s story, their way of seeing the world and human kind’s place in it. In 1920, 97% of their population was decimated, only 2000 survived. With tattoo declared illegal by church and state, the last of the “black-skinned” elders found unique ways to guard their dying people’s precious history.

Witness how a remote Southern Pacific islander people rediscover and celebrate their nearly lost identity by uncovering the cultural puzzles left behind through Patutiki, the art of Marquesan tattoo, the world’s first film directed, written, and produced by a native Marquesan.

With tattoo declared illegal by church & state in the early 1900’s, the last of the “black-skinned” Marquesan elders find clever ways to guard their dying people’s Polynesian history, leaving a cultural puzzle of art and belief to be uncovered by future generations.

First-time feature filmmakers, Heretu and Christophe delve audiences deeply into the ritual art of Marquesan tattoo, sharing its cultural and historical significance by re-enacting the past and challenging the present through a visually and acoustically immersive 55-minute documentary, PATUTIKI.

English Language Trailer

Screened in the native Polynesian language of the Marquesas and subtitled in French and English, Patutiki won the Audience Prize at Tahiti’s 2019 International Festival of Oceania Documentary Films’ (FIFO). Hoping to reach a larger audience, the filmmakers produced this English-language version: PATUTIKI: The Guardians of Marquesan Tattoo.

Submitted to several international film festivals, focusing on indigenous documentary, the filmmakers strive to expose this fascinating spiritual perspective to a receptive global audience.