Emmanuel Tjibaou wants to take advantage of the reconstruction of the large building in the south of the cultural center of Tjibaou to bring together all the communities present in New Caledonia. Maxha: Reclaiming our heads, by Emmanuel Tjibaou and Nunë Luepack, recounts this unprecedented moment of sharing.
In the absence of the two directors, it is Fabien Laubry, the chief editor of the film. Maxha documentary: raising our heads, who came telling the story of the film during an Inside the doc Organized this Wednesday afternoon. The large hall in the traditional part of the Tjibaou Cultural Centre needs to be «repaired»: its entire roof must be rebuilt with new straw and it must be checked that its interior is still level. This is an opportunity for Emmanuel Tjibaou to invite all the communities present in New Caledonia to participate in the event. We first see him introducing himself to the elders, performing the ritual, and asking their permission: «Do we have the right to let the communities in?» He answers yes: «The words exchanged in the box must be transmitted and shared.». He then presents himself to all the communities: Tahitian, Caledoche, Wallisian, Indonesian, Arab... And he invites them to participate in the reconstruction of the house. More specifically, each of them must bring an object that represents them, and that object will be placed at the top of the house, in the «basket», where all the words come up, a sacred place. Emmanuel came up with the idea of integrating all the communities in a Kanak event: «He said that it's enough to create identity blocs in Caledonia, We need to stop doing things that divide us but rather do things that bring us together.. »This is the time to renovate the pavilion: it is our cultural symbol, but it is possible to bring everyone together," says Fabien Laubry.
We thus witnessed all these exchanges. «The filming took place in a spirit of collecting words. The directors, Emmanuel Tjibaou and Nunë Luepack, wanted to try to collect as many words as possible. Going to the end in the interviews was to store important words. During the filming, we present ourselves with a lot of humility; each one leaves the word to the other, listening to each other. We rarely prepare what we are going to say; it has to come from the heart.» This moment of inviting the communities to participate was intended to be recorded: «When we started discussing the project, I asked them who they were making the film for? Nunë Luepack told me that he was making it for his elders and Emmanuel Tjibaou for his children. Our elders are important, but what are we giving to our youth?» Each community welcomed this proposal to join the project as a blessing:« We want to seize this opportunity to become one. What more can we ask for? We are happy to participate. » For others, it is a sign of acceptance: « We are becoming children of the country; we are no longer outsiders. »
The new straw that will be installed, tightly packed on the cover of the enclosure, comes from all over the country. «We had to travel a long way to get the straw, and it came from a huge number of places in New Caledonia so that all the tribes could participate in the reconstruction of the enclosure. The work of covering the enclosure is something that gets lost because the youth have somewhat become isolated from the tribe. But young people came to do the work and participate. The straw helped bring everyone together.» Then once this part was finished, the communities came to the enclosure to perform the ceremony and deposit their objects. Through the reconstruction of an enclosure, an entire society is being rebuilt together.
Article written by Lucie Rabreaud
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