HOME MOVIES: 1960s TRIP TO TAHITI

Genre: home movie

Year Published: 1960s

Format: 16mm

Description: Shot by an unknown visitor, this gorgeous, silent color movie shows a trip to Tahiti in the 1960s, including shots in Vaitape, Papeete, Paea and elsewhere. It's possible this film was shot to create a documentary or industrial film, or simply that it is a well shot amateur home movie. Tahiti is the largest island in French Polynesia, the South Pacific archipelago. Shaped like a figure-8, it's divided into Tahiti Nui (the larger, western section) and Tahiti Iti (the eastern peninsula). With black-sand beaches, lagoons, waterfalls and 2 extinct volcanoes, it's a popular tourist destination. Opening: blue ocean water near trees. Palm trees. A man walks near some trees and rocks (:08-1:17). Piles of open Tahitian nuts. Palm trees near the shore. Foggy mountaintop. A hut set back amongst the trees (1:18-3:10). Women fish in the ocean. A man throws a fishing net into the water and then on shore he and a young girl go through its contents. A tourist boat comes to dock and people exit. A woman sits on a scooter watching. Children walk, a tourist rides a scooter bike (3:11-5:52). Children sit and watch people walk by. Tourists on scooter bikes. A woman walks two children down a street. Children on bikes, cars drive by (5:53-7:58). Evangelical church at Vaitape, Bora Bora. Women walk holding hats. A young boy near the water. A tourist car drives by the church, goes down a dirt road near the ocean. The car drives into the forest (7:59-9:57). People sell their wares on tables. An Air Tahiti DC-4 airplane arrives on the island, the plane is a commercial exploitation of RAI (Régie Aérienne Interinsulaire – Inter-Island Aviation Board) tail #F-BORJ. People line up for the plane. Aerial shot of the island. People near the water (9:58-11:52). People line up near a truck. An Anglo priest talks with locals. People stand around. Tahitian woman poses with tourists (11:53-13:54). A Tahitian woman sits in a chair. A hut next to palm trees. Women and children walk around. A man walks around. A woman walks children and a dog (13:55-16:03).A boy strums a guitar (14;15). Children near a hut. People wait under an overhang. Tahitian women walk near tourists (16:04-18:15). Priest walks amongst the tourists. Children in the water. A child walks on a white sand beach. People walk with their luggage towards a plane (18:16-19:54). Mount Otemanu, one of two peaks of an extinct volcano located at the center of the island of Bora Bora. Tourist buses (19:55-21:11). A Short Sandringham seaplane tail #F-OBIP approaches the shore. People fishing. Sea plane takes off (21:12-23:29). Children of Tahiti. A tourist gives the children food. A young boy holds a bag. A scooter races by near a small store (23:30-25:56). An old Coca-Cola sign hangs behind a group of natives. People walk around a damp street. A sunny day on the island. Tourists sit in the back of a truck. Trucks slowly move down the street (25:57-28:33). Women and children sit on a wall. A woman hands a young girl a bikini top. Young girls smile at the camera. People sit and wait in a cargo area. A little girl dances (28:34-31:03). People wait to board a RAI (Régie Aérienne Interinsulaire) - Air Tahiti flight. Citroën 2CV deux chevaux (31:45). People eat and drink in a nice bar-restaurant with a sign above that reads "Trafic Local." People wait with their luggage (31:04-33:14). Bustling city street, cars and tourists. A couple enter a car. Cars, trucks, scooters, bikes all make up the busy city (33:15-35:41). People sit and relax in a cafe. Notre Dame Cathedral in Papeete, Tahiti. Women help push a truck so cars can get by. An open air marketplace. Bus reads 'Roniu II' in Papeete (35:42-37:28). Busload of tourists with luggage on the roof. A man adjusts the luggage on the roof. Bus turns onto a quiet rural street. Green mountaintops. A woman washes clothes while children play near the strong water current of a dam. A child jumps into the water. Children walk (37:39-39:51). Children cut fruit in the water. Ocean at the shore. A small group of huts (39:52-41:55). Polynesian outrigger canoes by the shore, probably along Paea’s coast. Children get into an outrigger canoe. A woman sews. Huts. Green mountaintop. Papaya on a tree. Flowers on trees (41:56-43:54). Tahitian gardenias. A waterfall. Rows of plants and flowers (43:55-45:34). Marae Arahurahu, a sacred temple platform made from stones with unu, or carved wooden stele, and sacred trees, in Paea, on the island of Tahiti, in the Windward Islands (45:54) Tomb of King Pomare V in Papeete (45:35-47:10).

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