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Alex Cantatore and Vilsoni Hereniko: Woven. Kurzfilm, USA 2024.

An indigenous artist tries to revive his ancestral tradition of basket weaving with coconut leaves in an urban park by the Pacific Ocean. Despite being chased by security guards in a city of high rises who question his presence, he perseveres through rain and rejection. As he completes a stunning basket, an encounter with a homeless couple brings a glimmer of hope for his art form, highlighting the struggle of maintaining traditional practices in a city that's forgotten its roots.

This is an indigenous film informed by Rotuman/Fijian aesthetics in its use of color: red and black as colors of the world of the ancestors as well as blue for the ocean and green for the natural world. The film explores the relationship between humans and nature as well as the relationship between indigenous people and city life in which capitalism and the money economy reigns supreme. Is it possible to weave all these worlds together? A chance encounter with the homeless couple at the park (are they homeless or are they deities, manifestations of the divine?) reminds us not only of the importance of being able to “see” and recognize the value of art to humans but also of another reality that blurs the line between the ordinary and the extraordinary. In western literature, that reality is called “magical realism” which for many people, indigenous or otherwise, is a reality that is woven into their mundane lives in a way that is normal for them.

The film was produced in the context of the ERC research group devoted to 'Indigeneities in the 21st Century' that I have been convening over the last 6 years (www.indigen.eu).

Philipp Schorch

HEADER IMAGE: Mahina Poepoe (the many faces of the full moon) 
© Hawaiian kapa artist Verna Takashima (Kanaka ‘Ōiwi)