Erased Taino culture? No, it arouses the interest of visitors to the Musée du quai Branly Jacques-Chirac, which is dedicating a major exhibition to it to be seen until mid-October in Paris. The history of the Taïno people also piqued the curiosity of director and producer Marie-France Brière, who today gives an evocation of it that is both gentle and personal, poetic and documented.
“They lived in my adopted village”
The documentary “The Return of the Taïnos” (52 minutes), directed by Marie-France Brière, is a La Curiisés production, in co-production with France Télévisions and the support of TV5 Monde and Public Sénate.
Curiosity
This little woman, great lady of French television, has lived for thirty years in Charente, where she created the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival with Dominique Besnehard. We know less about her love of Latin America (she grew up in Argentina) and her secret garden in the Dominican Republic, where she recharges her batteries whenever she can.
“Why did I want to introduce you to these Tainos? Because they lived in my adopted village more than 1,500 years ago,” exclaims Marie-France Brière in the first minute of a highly acclaimed documentary at the last Biarritz Latin America Festival. The film, entitled “The Return of the Taïnos”, is broadcast this Thursday evening on France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Taino means “good”
Take a close look at it despite the late hour: its freedom of tone makes a beautiful and tragic story sparkle under the trade winds. In her thin voice, Marie-France Brière recounts the shipwreck of a people and the resurgence of a way of life.
The documentary suggests that crossing centuries and continents, Taino culture does not only transmit sculptures, legends and beliefs. It testifies to values in tune with our times: harmony with nature, the sense of sharing and the importance of free time. The Taino people worked little. Taïno meant “good”, the director tells us.
