« Metal Pacifique, la mélodie de l’enfer au paradis » is the first feature film by Tevai Maiau and Marion Bois. It is currently being screened at FIFO, out of competition. Meet the co-director of this 54-minute documentary dedicated to metal music.
150 bpm. It’s the musical tempo of metal, but also the frantic pace of life for Tevai Maiau. The man who lives life at full speed has no time to himself. He is bursting with ideas and wants to see his projects come to life. Sporting a laid-back attitude and a face reminiscent of a returning Californian adventurer, he leaves nothing to chance. It has to run smoothly, quickly, and efficiently.
A videographer for 14 years, the 39-year-old man loves to navigate between various environments. He spent his entire youth on a skateboard, grinding and pulling tricks with his friends around Taravao. This universe shaped his personality as a rebellious child who didn’t want to fit into any boxes. Tevai and his crew created their own codes. “Everything comes from there. What defines me is perseverance. In skateboarding, falling, getting up, falling again, getting up again, failing, failing, failing… you end up saying, I will do whatever it takes to succeed,” Tevai laughs.
He continues: “I’m going to go all in until I land a trick, for example. That’s what skateboarding taught me and it’s what defines me today. I could work for two years on a single trick, and when I finally succeeded, it motivated me to go even further. It opens up the realm of possibilities. All of that reflects in everything I do.”
To capture these moments, he picked up a camera. “My mom had a semi-digital camera at the time, and I started filming our ‘feats’. We were a small community. There’s always a community behind it. You always need a community to share, exchange, and culturally nourish each other. For me, everything is linked, connected, and intertwined,” the videographer philosophizes. Slightly obsessive, he archives everything and discovers a new passion.
Passionate about music.
Beyond his skateboarding practice, Tevai Maiau, co-creator of JT Vert, is deeply immersed in a culture where music plays a pivotal role. With loud music blasting in his ears—punk, rock, metal—he lives both his personal and professional life with the “no limit” attitude typical of skateboarders. “But hey, I also love jazz and other genres,” the entrepreneur adds.
Naturally, when Tevai isn’t behind the camera, he plays drums, guitar, sings, and composes his own music. A self-taught musician, he recently created Coral Gem, a self-produced music project from the plateau of Taravao, aimed at experimenting with different styles. “I’m passionate about music. What really excites me is storytelling. Telling people’s stories and capturing the essence of a person, a group, or a community— that’s what matters to me. Combining sound and image is what drives me in everything I do. It’s all connected to sound and image. For me, these are the two senses we use the most in life. It’s truly what fuels me,” says Tevai, former member of the alternative rock band Shedlight.
Conveying messages
The most important thing in life, for this fan of Luan Oliveira, is to convey emotions. Tevai, who resonates on different frequencies, insists: “What guides me in life is the desire to create emotions. I think that’s what drives everyone, really, it’s being able to feel something. When I edit a film, I sometimes find myself moved by the montage because the person is communicating their emotions, their feelings. My job is to convey that message, to make it concise and understandable for the majority of people. That’s really what excites me, being able to convey all of that. My job is also my everyday life.”
Tevai’s tumultuous journey, however, seems to be changing pace. A single dad to an 11-year-old daughter, Tevai is becoming more thoughtful and even takes vacations from time to time. “My view of the world has changed. I’m much less reckless than I used to be. I used to often go toward danger, but since the birth of my daughter, the thrill for danger has been greatly reduced. The desire to convey messages is therefore stronger today because there’s a new generation coming, and it’s our job to guide them. With all the societal issues and dangers in the world today, we have to guide them,” he says.
Still a rebel at heart, one of his pieces of advice to succeed is simple: “Don’t stress, just enjoy yourself!”
Immersion in Polynesian Metal Music
Tevai Maiau and Marion Bois present for this 22nd edition of FIFO, a 54-minute film that will be screened out of competition. The film was born from a meeting between the producers. Tevai Maiau is a videographer at Bigouane Prods, which he founded with Jerry Biret, while Marion Bois is a journalist. During a visit to French Polynesia, she shared her desire to create a documentary. Tevai is a member of the Tahiti Metalheads association and played in the alternative rock band Shedlight from 2016 to 2018.
The thirty-year-old explains that he’s been on the same stages as the metal musicians. The idea to start filming and archiving concerts came to him in 2017. He then proposed the idea to Marion Bois of making a documentary about metal in French Polynesia. Intrigued, they worked together, delving into the archives and shooting for two months in 2023. Bands like Varua Ino, Uravena, Tikahiri, Poturu, and Te Ruki feature in the documentary.
In summary, Metal Pacifique – La mélodie de l’enfer au paradis is an immersion into Polynesian metal music. Since the 90s, the movement has made its way, and although it was marginal in its early days, it now finds its audience. It’s a metal style deeply influenced by local rites, rhythms, and traditions, and it is unlike any other.
Jenny Hunter & Vaikehu Shan
French