Driftlines Film Festival: Feature Documentary - Te Puna Ora, The Source of Life

​About this event

​This session features the film Te Puna Ora, The Source of Life (2024), followed by an in-person discussion with Producer Kiran Jandu.

​About the films

​Te Puna Ora, The Source of Life (2024, 76 min): Te Puna Ora, The Source of Life follows the intertwined stories of Hinano, Poema, and Anuavai, three women from the island of Mo’orea, as they come together to protect their ancestral lands and waters. Their relationships with the ocean form the heart of the film, rooted in familial bonds, ancestral legends, and the rhythms of daily life. Despite these deep connections, they face systemic exclusion from the very places that sustain them, from daily moments of rupture to state-sanctioned privatization of the coastline. Director Virginie Tetoofa sensitively portrays the lived experiences of these violences, highlighting the intersecting impacts of capitalism and colonialism. As the government supports a hotel expansion on local beaches – in violation of Mo’orea’s Marine Protected Areas – these women lead local efforts to stop construction. Tetoofa threads the myth of Hina, Goddess of the moon, throughout the film, framing Hinano, Poema, and Anuavai’s collective fight for their home as a journey that is both political and sacred.

​The Driftlines Ocean Justice Film Festival is supported by Nippon Foundation-Ocean Nexus and The University of Rhode Island.