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Editorials

Paul Néaoutyine
Président de la Province Nord

The Ânûû-rû Âboro Film Festival is turning ten! Over the decade, the Northern Province has provided the festival with political (hence financial) support for its undertaking of showing different kind of productions devoted to indigenous people, another genre focussing on a creative cinema outside of commercial logics and dominant business models.

Our initial inspiration, as much as our support, have been resolutely upheld. What has made the films we screened in the festival original is that they stood in stark contrast with what television usually called documentaries: no superfluous commentaries, no specific formats, no taboos. We have been dealing with art, where aesthetics cannot be dissociated from ethics.

I am pleased to note that NCTV - our television - and Ânûû-rû Âboro - our festival - are now working closely together. A different kind of festival, a different kind of television: this was what we were aiming for. Bridging the gap seemed obvious: it was eventually enforced and it contributed to ensure the appropriate coherence of our audio-visual public policy with film production on one side - another key component of Ânûû-rû Âboro - and broadcasting on the other side - embodied by NCTV. This coherence is benefiting our emerging directors insofar as it induces a demand for quality: it drives everybody up.

Ten years ago, the first edition of the Ânûû-rû Âboro Film Festival had organised a round table chaired by Jean-Louis Comolli on the following question: "What kind of television for what kind of challenges". The television many of us had been hoping for has now become a reality - not without difficulty. Ten years ago, in my first editorial, I wrote: in this profusion of standardised images which are bombarded faster and faster, how can the true person « aji âboro » fit into the system? What is the status of those who refuse to play the game and have chosen to contribute to our common heritage of mankind and to people-to-people exchanges by preserving their culture and environment? What could we redeem if we were all shaped on the same pattern? Is the audio-visual sector of our country consistent with the people who make it up? Would it be outrageous to consider that, in line with the Noumea Accord, we need to decolonise images?

Thanks to NCTV and Ânûû-rû Âboro, we made it! May I take this opportunity to thank Jean-François Corral and René Boutin for their significant contribution to this end? Many happy returns to the Ânûû-rû Âboro Film Festival!

René Boutin
Directeur artistique du festival Ânûû-rû Âboro

There is something of childhood when a festival celebrates its tenth edition: uncertainties and challenges associated to fundation are no longer relevant and with a kind of adolescence comes all sorts of possibilities.

Looking back on our journey, it is obvious that from the very beginning we have chosen to screen hybrid productions dealing with documentary and cinema equally... People become what they behold, and this aesthetic treatment of current events was not an option. Soundly established between the need to describe and the need to be, the festival is proud to examine both contents and forms; it is meant to question the off-screen of its own images.

Creative documentaries are key instruments to shorten the way between people, to reach out to their own stories and consider all aspects of life.

As world cultures and civilisations coexist in a permeable fashion, uneducated or selfish interactions generate conflicts and are responsible for violence and geopolitical disruption as much as inward-looking attitudes. Tradition is becoming an easy benchmark and an identity issue, which justifies rejection and radical ideologies driven by the fear of no longer existing.

Documentaries think in terms of action and they proceed in a passive manner. They promote brotherhood in a world at peace. They contribute to the awareness that underpins our deeds.

Defining a programme for this festival boils down to dealing with more than 2,000 films to retain a mere 60, seeking consistency between local challenges and a fruitful dialogue with our audience.

The end result is necessarily subjective, even unfair: a programme is a work in its own right, both complex and multifaceted; it fulfils all requirements of contemporary art. Programming is creating...

On this commemorative occasion, the Ânûû-rû Âboro team wishes you a good festival. May I take this opportunity to thank everyone working behind the scene: your dedication has helped make this event a true, popular success.