Documentary · WTYSL Original

Te Puna Ora

Director

Virginie Tetoofa

Type

Feature Documentary

Duration

75'

Release

2024

Full Film

About

Te Puna Ora (The Source of Life) follows three extraordinary Tahitian women — a community leader, a spearfisher, and a teenage activist — who unite to protect their beloved beach in Moʻorea from privatization and overdevelopment.

Weaving documentary realism with ancient Polynesian mythology, director Virginie Tetoofa explores the deep Indigenous bond between people, land, and sea — a powerful story of resistance, climate, and reclamation told from the ground up.

A production of Ahi Company, What Took You So Long?, and Studio Lyra, co-produced with Fri Film and Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC). Produced with the support of the Gouvernement de la Polynésie Française, the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée (CNC), Nia Tero, the LEF Moving Image Fund, and the Norwegian Film Institute, with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Fiscal sponsor: Women Make Movies.

Crew

Directed & Written by

Virginie Tetoofa

Produced by

Virginie Tetoofa, Riham Ezzaldeen, Kiran Jandu

Co-Written by

Gordana Othnin-Girard, Kiran Jandu

Executive Producer

Ciara Leina'ala Lacy

Co-Producer

Beathe Hofseth

Edited by

Gordana Othnin-Girard

DoP

Michael Latham

Music by

Zach Para, Teiva Viaris, O Tahiti E

Featuring

Hinano Teavai-Murphy, Poema Duprel, Anuavai Hucke-Soboul

Post-Production Supervising Company

Rewild Production

Post-Production Services

Filmreaktor

A dramatic jagged green mountain peak rises above lush tropical foliage, with a calm bay visible in the distance under a pastel sky, a landscape view of Moʻorea.

A Tahitian woman wearing a flower crown and orange sash raises her arms skyward mid-chant at a beachside gathering, with a crowd and turquoise lagoon behind her.

A traditional outrigger sailing canoe glows warmly at night on a moonlit lagoon, its triangular sail lit from within beneath a cloudy sky.

A freediver in mask and fins descends gracefully through deep blue water, sunlight filtering down from the surface above.

An aerial view of a palm-fringed beach packed with a community gathering, with dozens of outrigger canoes lined up in the turquoise lagoon.

A seated crowd wearing floral leis and woven headdresses watches as a woman blows a conch shell at a community ceremony.

Three women sit at an indoor table reviewing handwritten notes together, deep in conversation.

A line of community members in colourful patterned clothing and woven palm-leaf hats raise their arms joyfully together on the beach.

Awards & Selections

Special Jury Prize, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival '25

Prix Ananahi, FIFO '25

New Orleans Film Festival '24 · FIFO '25 · CAAMFest '25 · LA Asian Pacific Film Festival '25 · Māoriland Film Festival '25 · FIFAC '25 · FIFO Hawaiʻi '25

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