Tahiti IS a paradise
It really is.
Having been to a few supposed ‘Paradises’ over the years that haven’t quite lived up to the mark, I was feeling a little sceptical before arriving.
From a European / Western perspective Tahiti has for generations conjured up images of uninhibited sensuality, of rampant loose morals in mythical proportions.
When Louis-Anton de Bouganville returned to Paris after ‘discovering’ Tahiti in April 1786 (he was the second known European to arrive there, less than a year after British explorer Samuel Wallis had landed his scurvy ridden crew in June 1767), he set the social Parisian scene alight with tales of Venus like women in the form of celestial goddesses, dancing naked and requesting his men to have ‘liaisons with them’. So French.
Two and bit centuries later and the mythological paradise remains deeply entrenched in the Western psyche. Well, at least the Western male psyche.
So, unreservedly and unashamedly, I am happy to proclaim to the world that Tahiti – although not through a display of the characteristics that European ancestors described – has got me hooked.
It is simply stunning and it is simply a paradise. And it is really really hot by the way.
Starting tomorrow a selection of 42 Pacific made films (including Australia and New Zealand) will be shown as part of the Festival International du Film Oceanin.
It’s very exciting.
Most of the film makers have arrived at the hotel and I’ve just spent a day with this eclectic mix of French and English speaking film makers from across the Pacific.
We visited the exquisite Moreara Island – a short 25 minute ferry journey away from the capital, Papeete.
Mashed together with a group of people from diverse backgrounds and with only a single thread of commonality is always fun to watch.
Apart from the entertainment value of watching an Australian attempt to explain the need for water conservation to a French Pacific islander fearful of rising water can be an amusing way to spend the afternoon.
Not necessarily because the topic is so original or funny, but watching as these two culturally different people perform an eye and facial ballet in the attempt to communicate can be quite entertaining.
I understand why dance as a form of expression was invented and apparently liked. It’s easier than language.
Today I found it difficult not to burst out laughing for no apparent reason in the middle of a series of conversations which I had begun to over-hear but was not a part of.
Thankfully I managed to control my idiocy as I quickly surmised that laughing out loud randomly in the direction of another’s conversation, is probably not a great way to endear.
Further observation of this assorted mix permits me to continue with the human science experiment. I feel like David Attenborough.
Some of the film maker guests are flying solo and nervously introduce themselves and their film in a downplayed manner, and seem keen to fade away into the group background noise as they quietly murmur to anyone within earshot that this was the first movie they ever made…..
Other guests are travelling in packs. They are louder of course and as they have larger support groups and follow through their confident display accordingly, indicating this might not be the first film festival they’ve attended.
The festival officially starts tomorrow, and thus far I’ve simply met some of the ‘artistes’. The film creators.
Tomorrow begins the larger crowds, the media and a whole range of cocktail parties and organised events, including a soirée with the Tahitian President on one night, and an event hosted with the French Ambassador to Tahiti on another.
The next few days will either be:
a) Highly interesting
b) Highly entertaining
c) Amusing
d) Filled with intellectual arguments dominated by a bold few
e) Or all of the above
I’ll keep you posted, but at this stage of proceedings it’s looking likely that the easy option proposed by the most used letter in the English language is odds on favourite.
Mark Hemetsberger
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