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She produced ‘Te Henua E Hono,’ ‘There Once was an Island,’ the FIFO 2010 jury grand prix laureate. An interview was squeezed in between two glasses of champagne.

Once upon a time there was Takuu, a small island off Papua New Guinea, lost in the Pacific. How did you discover it?

The film director Briar March, read an article by Richard Moyle, an anthropologist at the University of Auckland, who has worked in particular on Takuu for many years. In this article, he described the situation on the island and talked about the fact that the inhabitants were to be moved in light of the first devastating effects of climate change. I contacted him and because he has close links with the island, he was able to gain authorisation to film there.

Did you decide to make the film for the environmental aspect?

In effect no. Briar wanted to do it and I wasn’t clever enough to say no (laughs). Above all I found that it was a good story. At the beginning we explored the fascinating idea that the island was in the process of being submerged. It turned out subsequently that it wasn’t being submerged but that it suffers from severe flooding, water enters the houses, the storms are more and more intense and there is no support, no help for these people. They don’t have a spokesperson either. I felt responsible to stand for their cause.

So there is no political activism?

To tell you the truth when we began the film, we were still wondering if climate change was a reality. People’s awareness of this problem was very different from today. So we are a little avant-garde in this domain for this type of reportage. Now it seems to have changed: it is clear that beyond the simple question of the environment, it is becoming a problem for societies, in the plural, and I am very happy that the film is coming out at a time when people are beginning to seriously reflect upon the subject. I hope that a solution will be found.

At the moment Takuu’s inhabitants are hesitating to leave their island because of this new reality, through fear of abandoning their way of life, their culture. What is their alternative?

The government of Bougainville, the main island which they are dependent upon, envisage their move as a long term solution. They still have the choice to stay. Besides most of them don’t want to move, but they are torn. When we were there, there was a huge flood. All of a sudden, they are under pressure to decide. Should they stay or go? It is fear of the unknown.

How was the filming?

We did it in two parts. First of all two months, when just the director and a technical advisor went, then another month, during which I went with them. By radio, Richard Moyle was able to warn the inhabitants about our arrival. I think that they were happy that we were interested in their problems.

Have they seen the film?

Not yet, I tried to bring them before coming to FIFO but the boat which serves the island isn’t very reliable and I wasn’t able to go there again. But it is obvious it is very important that they see it. We plan to return there in April, if it is possible. Richard Moyle has planned to go there.

The project took four years to come to fruition…

It was very difficult to film because there is no money for overseas films. We needed four years to gather the funds to finance the film. First of all we had to wait for a year at the outset and again two years afterwards in order to be able to return to the island. In the end we were very lucky to have a lot of support from industry but we had to fit into the planning of others.

Today, for your first film as a producer, you have just won this jury grand prix. An important first step…

I am delighted that the film has been recognised after four years of work and I am also really very happy that the first worldwide projection of the film began on such a good footing.

Do you have any other projects at the moment?

I currently have two documentary projects at the development stage but I can’t talk about them yet as I still have research to do.

What can we wish for you whilst waiting for the next productions?

I hope that this evening’s prize will permit us to show the film to many people and to get everyone talking about this problem.

Manon Hericher