FILM MAKERS

How does a young Frenchman combine his love for exotic cultures, guitar playing, and photography? From Paris, Christophe enlisted as a middle-school music teacher for French Overseas Territories, got assigned to various nations, immersed himself in each nation’s culture, found and developed local bands, composed their music, produced their first albums, made music videos. But neither South America’s French Guyana nor the Indian Ocean’s island of Reunion captivated him as much as the South Pacific’s Marquesas. Christophe felt compelled to capture and share with the world the essence of this extraordinary culture. In 2013, he invited Alain Betrancourt, a director of photography based in Los Angeles, to work on different projects in Marquesas islands. Thanks to him, Christophe learned cinematography and completed his knowledge in shooting and editing. So while producing the Marquesan band, Takanini, he met young musician and filmmaker, Heretu Tetahiotupa. They soon discovered a shared purpose, sealing their bond and giving birth to their production company, Eka Eka. Patutiki, their first collaboration and for each their first documentary, won last year’s International Oceanic Film Festival’s (FIFO) Audience Choice Award.
Christophe CordierFilm Maker
Christophe Cordier
Born in 1992, Heretu grew up in a Polynesian paradise, a place time marked by the passing seasons of mango and breadfruit, by tropical bird migrations and summer storms. Raised in the midst of a Marquesan cultural renaissance, surrounded by rediscovered music, dance, sculpting, tapa, and tattoo, Heretu was particularly drawn to music. He was eventually introduced to television, mostly Tahitian news, broadcasts of old French and American episodics, and evening movies. He decided to learn to make television. His stint as an editor with Tahiti News eventually taught him the skills to produce and direct short films.In 2012, his short won prizes for Best Screenplay, Best Film and the Jury Prize at Tahiti’s Vini Film Festival. In 2015, he co-directed the short film Hakamanu (Bird Dance), revealing the grace and power of this ancient Marquesan dance of courtship. Presented in 2016 at France’s Rochefort Film Festival, Hakamanu was broadcast over French television that same year. Telling the story of Patutiki was a natural next step, aiding his people in efforts to reclaim their traditions.
Heretu TetahiotupaFilm Maker
Heretu Tetahiotupa
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Shared passion for world music and Marquesan culture brought Heretu Tetahiotupa, a native Marquesan, and Christophe Cordier, a Frenchman, together in Taiohae, Nuku Hiva. Together they would found the archipelago’s first music festival, celebrating local artists, a nearly annual event which attracted musicians and audiences from across the South Pacific. Career paths temporarily separated the two from each other and from the Marquesas. After years apart from their beloved islands, their mutual return to Nuku Hiva brought a renewed admiration and drive to share the Marquesan story and its gifts with the world. The two musicians decided to change mediums, taking their understanding of musical art and structure and translating it to visual storytelling. Patutiki, the uniquely Marquesan ritual practice, the visual art, and the holistic lore surrounding this evolutionary Polynesian tattoo practice seemed a fitting subject to tackle. Little did they realize the challenges before them.

Pre-production required travel to each and every remote bay within the six inhabited islands of this remote French Polynesian archipelago, halfway between Panama and Australia. Hundreds of villagers, young and old, where interviewed in search of the story of Patutiki, both past and present. Through ministerial grants, cultural associations, and private funding, Heretu and Christophe purchased a 4k digital camera, a microphone, and a laptop editing system. YouTube tutorials became their film school.

Two years later, the fruits of their labor produce an award winning documentary that fills its micro-nation’s people with pride. As part of their budget, the filmmakers purchased a large portable outdoor public cinema and screened their original language movie in each of the remote villages that they previously interviewed. For some villagers, it was the first time they’d experienced a cinema of any kind. For all, it was the first time they’d experienced a film in their language, with their people, depicting their culture in an honest and respectful way.

Christophe Cordier and Heretu Terahiotupa”