About

TAHITIANS:

Tahiti is an island, the principal one in a scattering of islands in the south Pacific; and the people who live on any of these islands are generally called Tahitians. Tahiti itself is best known as the place where the French painter Paul Gauguin spent his last years.

Tahitians are part of a much larger ethnic and cultural group called Polynesians whose principal language is Maori. For many decades, the islands were a French colony, and are now a protectorate called French Polynesia. For this reason, most Tahitians speak French in addition to Maori.

Like all Polynesians, Tahitians are adventurous and great sea travelers who thousands of years ago developed a highly sophisticated means of navigation that did not require a compass and instead, relied on the shape of the waves, the action of the currents, the position of the stars, and other factors. Their music and dance tell stories of their great voyages, as well as of ancient battles, pearl fishing, the coming of the French, and more universal stories about love and life.

The documentary includes lots of performance along with interviews, on-location footage, photographs and a host's narration. Our principal performers come from a group called Te Mana 'O Te Ra. Some 50 minutes long, it is in SD (the square format image).

We'd like to express out special thanks to the Aguilars, and the Polynesian Voyaging Society.

PALOMINO PRODUCTIONS' OTHER PROJECTS

Palomino Productions (whose legal name is Palomino Pro, LLC) is the production arm of filmmaker Eve A. Ma. Productions include her more than 15 documentaries, several experimental shorts, and a one-hour drama. We will only mention the highlights here.

Ma's work has been in festivals and important events in seven countries on three continents (North America, Europe and Asia). Her work has won awards, and much of it is presented in two languages: English and Spanish. Her principal concerns are ethnic and cultural diversity; world music and dance; and communicating across boundaries. As she explains, "I'd like everyone to walk a mile in someone else's shoes."

Major work in HD includes Masters of Rhythm, released in 2017 and expected on PBS in 2019; and Domino: Caught in the Crisis (DominĂ³: agarrado por la crisis) , released in 2014.

In addition, she has created a series of broadcast one-hour documentaries about world music and dance, one of which - A Zest for Life: Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz - has been broadcast coast to coast on educational television, and was also finalist in the category of Best Documentary in the Jan. 2016 San Diego Black Film Festival. Other work includes experimental shorts shot in Spain and the United States.

To learn more about Ma's films, go to www.PalominoPro.com or sign up for her monthly newsletter, www.PalominoPro-signup.com.