Selection of FIFO 2025 Films
COMPETING FILMS
Ten to fifteen films are selected in the Competing Films category each year because they are the very essence of FIFO. While several themes mesh the FIFO selection, the films in this category testify both to the great diversity of Oceania but also to the technical quality of film productions in the region.
ÉTATS-UNISSamoa
Before the Moon Falls
Résumé : After being diagnosed with a mental illness, acclaimed Samoan writer Sia Figiel uncovers the origins of her pain. But her journey toward healing carries an unspeakable cost, revealing a deeply personal and profoundly affecting story. Détails du film : 2025 – ÉTATS-UNIS, SAMOA – 101 min Anglais Réalisation : Kimberlee Bassford Production : ...
AOTEAROANiue
Being Niuean
Résumé : The film reflects the story of many Pacific Islands, where migration empties homelands and turns villages into ghost towns. It follows those who stayed, those who left, and those who returned, exploring how identity continues to evolve in the hearts of the diaspora and the steadfast guardians of home. Détails du film : ...
Australie
Emily: I Am Kam
Résumé : This film honours the legacy of Emily Kam Kngwarray, one of Australia’s most significant and prolific artists. It explores the power of her work and the role it plays in protecting her Country, Alhalker. Détails du film : 2025 – AUSTRALIE – 59 min Anglais, Anmatyerr Réalisation : Danielle MacLean Production : Anna ...
Polynésie française
Ma Rue
Résumé : In Papeete, 38-year-old Marama bears the marks of a disability and a life spent on the streets since her adolescence. Through hardship, motherhood, and addiction, she keeps moving forward, still holding onto her smile. Now enrolled in a reintegration program, she remains deeply connected to “her street,” questioning both the possibility and the ...
FranceWALLIS-ET-FUTUNA
Manae Feleu, Captain Futuna
Résumé : Captain Futuna profiles Manae Feleu, captain of the French women’s rugby team, future doctor, and ambassador for the often-overlooked island of Futuna. Through her journey and commitment, the film explores identity, tradition, and the challenges facing France’s overseas territories, a path navigated between cultural roots and modern aspirations. Détails du film : 2025 ...
AOTEAROA
The Haka Party Incident
Résumé : On May 1st, 1979, a group of young Māori and Pasifika activists, which later became known as “He Taua”, confronted engineering students at the University of Auckland who were rehearsing a “mock” haka for their end-of-year parade. The clash that followed forced the entire nation to confront systemic racism and set in motion ...
Pays-bas
The Promise
Résumé : In the 1960s, West Papua was moving toward independence, until global power struggles intervened. Using uniquely restored and colorised archival footage, The Promise brings this hidden history to life, exposing how an entire people were systematically betrayed and oppressed. Détails du film : 2025 – PAYS-BAS – 115 min Néerlandais, Anglais, Malais Réalisation ...
AOTEAROA
The Stolen Children of Aotearoa
Résumé : A historical and contemporary account of the New Zealand governments’ systematic war against Māori children. The Stolen Children of Aotearoa exposes a legacy of harmful policies and the lasting impact they continue to have on Māori families and communities. Détails du film : 2025 – AOTEAROA – 100 min Anglais Réalisation : Julian ...
AOTEAROAÎLES SALOMON
The War Below: Restoring Hope in the Solomon Islands
Résumé : In the Solomon Islands, the forgotten centre of the Pacific War, WWII bombs continue to kill and injure families every year. The film follows Loretta, widowed and crippled, struggling to raise her children, and Maeverlyn, scarred for life. Through their stories, it exposes a humanitarian crisis the world still refuses to confront. Détails ...
Australie
Yurlu | Country
Résumé : A vivid tribute to land and an intimate, moving portrait of an Aboriginal Elder in his final year, fighting to reclaim his homeland, a place scarred by Australia’s “Chernobyl,” the most contaminated site in the Southern Hemisphere. Détails du film : 2025 – AUSTRALIE – 79 min Anglais, Banjima Réalisation : Yaara Bou ...
NON-COMPETING FILMS
The non-competing films presented at FIFO are a selection of complementary films which can shed new light, or even a new approach in the way of approaching the issues of the Pacific.
FrancePolynésie française
De Gaulle, la bombe à tout prix !
Résumé : How did France acquire its nuclear capability? This documentary explores the origins of the French atomic program—from the early tests in Algeria to those carried out in Polynesia. Featuring rare footage of de Gaulle in Mururoa and exclusive firsthand accounts, it sheds light on the political and military decisions behind a long-hidden chapter ...
ÉTATS-UNIS
Fatal Watch
Résumé : Four marine observers disappear under troubling circumstances. This gripping investigation seeks to uncover why. From the islands of Fiji to the coasts of Ghana, the film exposes the dark side of the global tuna trade, a sprawling oceanic realm where the pursuit of profit all too often outweighs human life. Détails du film ...
Polynésie française
Fenua Vice
Résumé : Beneath its postcard beauty, Polynesia is being eroded by ICE. Heimoana, Ingrid and Charles share intimate accounts of the drug’s devastation—shattered children, fractured families, and a suffocating taboo. As the crisis spreads across all layers of society, a grassroots movement emerges, calling for urgent action to confront this growing epidemic. Détails du film ...
Nouvelle-Calédonie
Hortense, la reine de l’île des Pins
Résumé : This film tells the story of Kanak leader Hortense Kanedjo Vendegou, the first literate Melanesian woman and a key figure for the Kunié people. Through the testimonies of those who keep her legacy alive, her journey intersects with the stories of the Paris Commune deportees and the Kabyle uprising. An inspiring heroine from ...
Australie
How To Poison A Planet
Résumé : This film uncovers how “forever chemicals” came to contaminate every corner of the planet, triggering an environmental crisis that stretches from the heart of New York City to the shores of Australia and far beyond. Détails du film : 2024 – AUSTRALIE – 79 min Anglais Réalisation : Katrina McGowan Production : Katrina ...
Polynésie française
L’héritage des Lapita
Résumé : A journey through time following the Lapita people of Micronesia, ancestors of today’s Polynesians. Combining archaeology and contemporary history, the film traces their remarkable migration and explores how their legacy continues to shape Pacific societies today. Détails du film : 2025 – POLYNÉSIE FRANÇAISE – 30 min Français Réalisation : Jean-François Benhamza Production ...
FrancePapouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée
Le Sanctuaire Sasi de Papouasie
Résumé : Raja Ampat is one of the most pristine places on Earth. The Sasi Sanctuary in Papua stands as a tribute to environmental protection and traditional stewardship. This film reveals how, with limited resources, Papuan communities have successfully protected their habitat and natural wealth—offering an inspiring model of conservation. Détails du film : 2024 ...
Polynésie française
Les Mots Qui Blessent
Résumé : Heiva Taure’a 2024: students from Maco Tevane College create a heartfelt performance addressing the issue of bullying. The film follows the making of their show, revealing a new generation using culture and creativity to deliver a powerful message: bullying destroys and must be confronted. Détails du film : 2025 – POLYNÉSIE FRANÇAISE – ...
AOTEAROA
Marlon Williams: Two Worlds (Ngã Ao e Rua)
Résumé : Follow a singer-songwriter from Aotearoa on an introspective journey as he explores his roots and creates his very first album in te reo Māori. An intimate quest for identity, where artistic creation becomes a language, and language becomes a message. Détails du film : 2025 – AOTEAROA – 93 min Anglais, Māori Réalisation ...
France
Nouvelle-Calédonie : un retour aux racines
Résumé : Born deaf in New Caledonia and raised in mainland France in pursuit of a better future, Wallès returns to his homeland forty years later. There, he meets the local deaf community and confronts his complex, layered identity: deaf, Kanak, and raised in France. An intimate journey toward belonging and self-reconnection. Détails du film ...
CHILERapa Nui
Ŋa Hinarere
Résumé : In 1955, Thor Heyerdahl’s expedition drew global attention to Rapa Nui. While the world focused on the fallen moai, the island’s people continued to live under Chilean naval rule. This film revisits how Lázaro Hotu and his community, defying colonial doubt, raised their ancestors’ faces once again and reclaimed a stolen memory. Détails ...
AOTEAROAAustralie
Sukundimi Walks Before Me
Résumé : As a mining project threatens the headwaters of one of the last great wild rivers, the people of the Sepik in Papua New Guinea launch an Indigenous-led resistance to protect its waters. Through stories of struggle and life along this “mother river,” the film explores an existential fight for the survival of a ...
Australie
The Raftsmen
Résumé : Twelve misfits from seven different countries join an explorer’s audacious dream: to cross the Pacific Ocean on three handmade wooden rafts, navigating only by the stars and the sun. Battling storms, sharks, and their own inner demons, they embark on an extraordinary six-month voyage—the longest raft expedition in history. Détails du film : ...
ÉTATS-UNIS
The Shape of Things, the Dick Brewer Story
Résumé : This documentary traces the life of Dick Brewer, a pivotal figure in surfboard design. It explores the inventive mind of a visionary whose innovations reshaped the sport of surfing not once, but three different times. Détails du film : 2025 – ÉTATS-UNIS – 70 min Anglais Réalisation : Bob Campi Production : Bob ...
SHORT FILMS
The “Short Films” is the annual event that opens the door to the region’s audiovisual know-how and on the storytelling talent of our Oceanian cousins. An evening to travel to the borders of Oceanian stories, cultures and imaginary worlds! This evening will focus on the themes of family, love and identity.
FIDJI
Nothing is Impossible: The Primanavia Story
Résumé : With only six weeks to prepare for the World Choir Games, the newly formed Fijian choir “Primanavia” faces seemingly impossible odds. What unfolds is a moving story of faith, a deep love of music, and an unrelenting drive that proves anything is possible. Détails du film : 2024 – FIDJI – 15 min ...
AOTEAROAÎles Cook
Papa Tom, From the Seas to the Stars
Résumé : This film traces the extraordinary life of “Papa” Tom Davis, a major figure from the Cook Islands. A traditional navigator, the first Pacific scientist to work with NASA, and a doctor devoted to island communities, he pushed the boundaries of both the seas and the stars. The documentary shows how his brilliance and ...
Australie
Ngadjuri, Spirit and Songs of Country
Résumé : What does it mean to be Aboriginal, the first people of Country? This film shares culture, knowledge, and a deep connection to Country. Filmed on Ngadjuri First Nations land in regional South Australia, it offers an intimate reflection on identity, heritage, and belonging. Détails du film : 2024 – AUSTRALIE – 4 min ...
AOTEAROAFrance
Land Back!
Résumé : From Aotearoa New Zealand, this film takes us on an immersive journey into the Hīkoi, the Māori people’s long walk, driven by their steadfast fight to protect their rights and lands from Christopher Luxon’s conservative government. Through this powerful movement, the film highlights the enduring shadows of colonisation and the struggles that persist ...
AOTERAOA
Fearlessli
Résumé : After her gender identity was denied in her homeland, Lee Li, a transgender asylum seeker, was forced to leave behind her country, her family, and her language. What follows is a profound journey toward freedom, belonging, and self-empowerment. Détails du film : 2025 – AOTERAOA – 10 min Anglais Réalisation : Lee Li ...
AOTEAROANiue
The Forgotten Soldiers of Niue
Résumé : The little-known story of Niue’s “Forgotten Soldiers”: 150 men taken from their island home and sent to the freezing frontlines of WWI France to fight a war that was not their own. But the Niuean soldiers never reached the battlefield, many died along the way, lost to illness and the brutal journey itself. ...
15th Oceanian Fiction Night
Since 2007, FIFO has opened its screens to fiction. The idea: a selection of short fiction films, each lasting less than 30 minutes. Diversity, creativity, identity, originality, traditions and modernity, a few portraits, a quality selection. Not to be missed… and to be enjoyed without moderation!
Polynésie française
Fa’aheimoe
Résumé : After discovering a mysterious book, a woman is drawn into a world of dreams. She wanders through a realm where reality and imagination blur. Détails du film : 2024 – POLYNÉSIE FRANÇAISE – 3 min Sans Parole Réalisation : Percy Neagle Production : Percy Neagle, Alice Guillaume
Polynésie française
The Pumpkin
Résumé : On Halloween night, in the dim hallways of an apartment building, a young girl finds herself hunted by a mysterious man. The line between danger and imagination grows thinner. Détails du film : 2024 – POLYNÉSIE FRANÇAISE – 3 min Sans Parole Réalisation : Matteo Damesin Production : Matteo Damesin
AOTEAROA
Pākehā
Résumé : In 1980s, New Zealand, a young Pākehā mother’s determination to learn Te Reo Māori, exposes her struggles, resilience, and courage, in an inspiring true story of cultural reconciliation. Détails du film : 2025 – AOTEAROA – 15 min Anglais, Te Reo Māori Réalisation : Mana Hira Davis Production : Eddie Page Productions, Larissa ...
AOTEAROA
Wait, Wait, Now!
Résumé : Two best friends raid mum’s wardrobe and discover a world where they can be fearless, fabulous, and free. But when the parents catch on, their secret queer bubble faces the test of reality. Détails du film : 2024 – AOTEAROA – 13 min Anglais Réalisation : Ramon Te Wake Production : Nicola Smith
Australie
Live from the Alice
Résumé : A sensationalist news reporter is sent to the remote outback town of Alice Springs to cover the town’s struggle with social disorder and is reluctantly paired with an easy going local camera operator with deep ties to the community. Détails du film : 2024 – AUSTRALIE – 16 min Anglais Réalisation : Damon ...
Australie
First Drop
Résumé : Ted, a reclusive retiree, is reluctantly tasked with caring for his Pakistani neighbour’s 8-year-old daughter, Saleha. What begins as an awkward favour blossoms into an unlikely friendship — until painful memories threaten to break it apart. Détails du film : 2023 – AUSTRALIE – 15 min Anglais Réalisation : Damon van der Schuit ...
Nouvelle-Calédonie
Pierrot Lenquette
Résumé : Pierrot Lenquette is a man, that it shows. He is also a private detective and that, it doesn’t show. One morning he reads in the News: “There is nickel in the tap water…” His day changes suddenly, driven by an investigation he hadn’t planned. Détails du film : 2023 – NOUVELLE-CALÉDONIE – 17 ...
FIDJI
The Sandbank
Résumé : Alone on a strip of sand in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, three young girls play happily on the beach surrounded by crystal clear waters. As the high tide approaches, their whole world would be undone by the arrival of a single plastic bottle. Détails du film : 2024 – FIDJI – ...
AOTEAROA
Rapido
Résumé : A Māori boy’s favourite war comic, filled with fantastical action and adventure, sparks his imagination. During a spiritual cleansing, he discovers his estranged grandfather was a World War II veteran. Détails du film : 2024 – AOTEAROA – 13 min Anglais, Te Reo Māori Réalisation : Richard J Curtis Production : Miro Productions, ...
AOTEAROA
Küī
Résumé : In the face of her mother’s absence and her father’s alcoholism, 12 year old girl, Küī, rises above her age, caring for her brothers and confronting life’s harsh realities. Inspired by a true story. Détails du film : 2024 – AOTEAROA, POLYNÉSIE FRANÇAISE – 11 min Anglais, Te Reo Māori Réalisation : Kahu ...
Hawaii
The Arrangements
Résumé : In Kalihi, a working-class neighborhood of Oʻahu, three Micronesian boys have just one day to arrange the funeral of their friend who passed away too soon and to search for the treasure he claimed to have hidden. A sensitive portrayal of childhood, grief, and solidarity within Hawaiʻi’s Micronesian community. Détails du film : ...
Australie
The Wake
Résumé : Following the death of his father, an emotionally deflective son’s attempt to return home and reconnect with his mother are strained when she reveals that she has seen a giant sea monster carcass on the beach. Détails du film : 2025 – AUSTRALIE – 14 min Anglais Réalisation : Tadji Ulrich Production : ...
French