Synopsis
This is the true story of the last of the Tahitian Chiefs, Matagialalua Tavana Salmon. Now in his 80ʼs, he was born to the niece of the Queen of Tahiti, and a since forgotten, wealthy American. Tavanaʼs journey takes him throughout Polynesia to recover the lost traditions of his native Tahiti and reclaim his place in the line of Tahitian Royalty. With a bitter wit and love of all things Polynesian, Tavana is controversial, and out-spoken, unforgiving and humorous, irreverent and playful. A cross between a French Sitting Bull and a Tahitian Bukowski, he is unmistakably a living treasure for all of Polynesia. His love affair with Hawaii begins when his father retrieves him from Tahiti at the age of 7, and takes him to live with a stranger in Hilo on the Big Island. He will eventually criss-cross the Pacific in search of his mother, his Tahitian roots, and ultimately his place in History.
Lost Rites is a documentary film that becomes an investigative search for who Chief Tavana Salmon is and how the Tahitian icon and showman was shaped by his odyssey through the Pacific to ultimately becoming a catalyst to the modern revival of Polynesian Culture.
This is the true story of the last of the Tahitian Chiefs, Matagialalua Tavana Salmon. Now in his 80ʼs, he was born to the niece of the Queen of Tahiti, and a since forgotten, wealthy American. Tavanaʼs journey takes him throughout Polynesia to recover the lost traditions of his native Tahiti and reclaim his place in the line of Tahitian Royalty. With a bitter wit and love of all things Polynesian, Tavana is controversial, and out-spoken, unforgiving and humorous, irreverent and playful. A cross between a French Sitting Bull and a Tahitian Bukowski, he is unmistakably a living treasure for all of Polynesia. His love affair with Hawaii begins when his father retrieves him from Tahiti at the age of 7, and takes him to live with a stranger in Hilo on the Big Island. He will eventually criss-cross the Pacific in search of his mother, his Tahitian roots, and ultimately his place in History.
Lost Rites is a documentary film that becomes an investigative search for who Chief Tavana Salmon is and how the Tahitian icon and showman was shaped by his odyssey through the Pacific to ultimately becoming a catalyst to the modern revival of Polynesian Culture.