July 1975. Monica Flaherty, daughter of Robert and Francis Flaherty, cinéma vérité pioneer Richard Leacock and Sarah Hudson – Ricky’s student at MIT –travel to Samoa, to the island of Savai ́i. Monica’s aim is to create ‘an authentic’ sound version of the silent feature film Moana (1926), directed by her parents in her childhood paradise. Being alien to Samoan culture, Monica, Sarah and Ricky are soon pulled in a complex dynamics of gifts, exchange and honouring. “An elegant, ironic and melancholic essay on the vexing and perplexing nature of authenticity” (Olaf Möller).
Monica in the South Seas
Sami van Ingen, Mika Taanila
2023
Finland
72’
