Through the commitment of Jean-Marie Tjibaou, assassinated by one of his own on the island of Ouvéa in 1989, this documentary retraces the history of the march of the Kanak people in search of their independence. With an emblematic question: will France be able to win the bet of a smooth decolonization of one of the last confetti of its empire?

Between the raising of the Kanak flag in December 1984 and the funeral procession of the independence leader in Noumea in May 1989, there were years of struggles, dramas, palaver, hopes, of which Jean-Marie Tjibaou was one of the main actors.

Through its itinerary, this documentary seeks to unravel the history of this crucial period. During the six years between the first meeting between Kanak representatives and those of the Caldoche community, in Nainville-les-Roches in 1983, and the signing of the Matignon Accords in 1989, the acceleration of history gave rise to complex and decisive events for the future of the Territory. Thus the Caledonian crisis became, during the campaign for the presidential elections of 1988, a national political issue. It led to the Ouvéa massacre which caused outrage throughout the world. Archives from this period, many of which have never been seen before, illustrate the film's content, from the Hienghène massacre to that of Ouvéa...

After restoring the historical and geographical context of the island, from the takeover of New Caledonia by France in 1853 to the birth of the independence claim in the 1970s, the authors meet the main protagonists of the "Tjibaou years", which were those of the Kanak people's dream of independence.

DIRECTOR Mehdi LALLAOUI
AUTHOR Mehdi LALLAOUI
SOUND Brigitte WHAAP
EDITOR Corinne GODEAU
MUSIC Serge KOCHYNE
CAMERA OPERATOR Martine CAILLARD
COMMENT DIT PAR Bernard LANGLOIS
PRODUCER MEMOIRES VIVES PRODUCTIONS, ARTE FRANCE

Image: color, black and white
Original language: FRENCH
Sound: mono

WITH:

Edgar Pisani and Bernard Pons, former ministers responsible for New Caledonia
Michel Rocard, former Prime Minister and initiator of the Matignon Accords
Philippe Legorgus, commander of the GIGN during the events in Ouvéa
Paul Neaoutyne, successor to Tjibaou at the head of the FLNKS
Adèle Joredie, FLNKS activist in Canala
Jacques Lafleur, president of the RPCR
Jean-Pierre Aifa, mayor of Bourail
Marie-Claude Tjibaou, today President of the Tjibaou Cultural Center and the inhabitants of the Tiendanite tribe and the Gossanah tribe in Ouvéa.