{"id":18607,"date":"2022-02-10T11:13:24","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T21:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fifotahiti.com\/?p=14516"},"modified":"2022-02-10T11:13:24","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T21:13:24","slug":"the-island-in-me-un-pelerinage-dans-les-souvenirs-de-pukapuka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fifotahiti.com\/en\/the-island-in-me-un-pelerinage-dans-les-souvenirs-de-pukapuka\/","title":{"rendered":"The island within me: a pilgrimage through the memories of Pukapuka"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Island in me, directed and co-produced by Gemma Cubero Del Barrio, tells the story of three women marked by Pukapuka. Am\u00e9lia lived her first years there, Johnny Frisbie, daughter of the writer Robert Dean Frisbie, grew up there, and the director herself tries to understand what this place in the middle of the Pacific means.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00abAmelia left me for an island. I didn't know that Pukapuka existed. I didn't imagine that this atoll in the middle of the Pacific would change my life.\u00bb These are the first words of this documentary, The Island in me<\/a><\/strong>, Directed and co-produced by Gemma Cubero Del Barrio, it tells a very personal and intimate moment in her life. Pukapuka, an atoll in the Cook Islands, located in the northwest of Rarotonga, has remained deeply embedded in the memories of Am\u00e9lia, the woman who shares Gemma\u2019s life. But she no longer quite knows whether those early years, before she was 5, were a dream or whether this island really exists\u2026 Until she finds an old book: Mlle Ulysse from Pukapuka, by Johnny Frisbie. This time, it is Am\u00e9lia who is heard: \u00abAfter reading this book, I had to go back to it. It\u2019s the place of my childhood. It wasn\u2019t a decision, nor a choice, it was an invitation.\u00bb Upon learning that Johnny Frisbie was still alive, the director contacted her and offered to return to Pukapuka. A kind of pilgrimage will then be organized: Am\u00e9lia who wants to revisit the places of her childhood and be certain that all of this really existed; Johnny Frisbie who wants to find the traces of his adolescence and revisit the old times; and Gemma who wants to understand and get acquainted with this mysterious place that has left such a strong imprint on these two women.<\/p>\n

\u00ab All the films I have made are personal, but this one is the most intimate.<\/strong>.
\nMy motivation was to tell the story of Am\u00e9lia and Johnny. I am originally from Spain and I never thought that one day I would make a film about Pukapuka,\u00bb the director confided during Wednesday afternoon\u2019s Inside the doc. \u00abWhen I went to Pukapuka, I realized that this island was also a character in the film.\u201d. I was truly transformed by this island<\/strong>. In the documentary, we see the old footage: photos of Am\u00e9lia as a baby with her parents on the island, sounds in which Am\u00e9lia\u2019s mother assures that they need nothing, that Am\u00e9lia needs nothing. Am\u00e9lia\u2019s memories come back:\u00bb Pukapuka is very visceral<\/strong> \u00bbShe listened to the sound of the waves crashing on the reef,\u00ab she said. \u00bbEveryday life was very intense. I remember that freedom, I went wherever I wanted.\u00ab Film excerpts show Johnny Frisbie, a great dancer, who was often on stage in Hawaii with her sisters. Then the women arrive on Pukapuka: the reunions are strong, intense, we remember them, we celebrate them. Johnny reunites with his brother. \u00bbIt's good to be back, I feel like I'm going to explode,\" Johnny Frisbie said.<\/p>\n