Movies Similar to Patutiki the Guardians of The Marquesan Tattoo

The Tattooist(2017)

Rooster Teeth’s Geoff Ramsey explores the subculture of tattoos and takes a crash course from a master tattoo artist.

Modify(2006)

Stories of people who regard augmenting their bodies as a way of life, whether for artistic reasons or out of pure vanity.

The Crazy Life(2008)

Reflects a depressing and hopeless reality by following some of the members of "la dieciocho", the so-called 18th Street gang in a poor San Salvador neighborhood.

Kon-Tiki(1950)

"Kon-Tiki" was the name of a wooden raft used by six Scandinavian scientists, led by Thor Heyerdahl, to make a 101-day journey from South America to the Polynesian Islands. The purpose of the expedition was to prove Heyerdal's theory that the Polynesian Islands were populated from the east- specifically Peru- rather than from the west (Asia) as had been the theory for hundreds of years. Heyerdahl made a study of the winds and tides in the Pacific, and by simulating conditions as closely as possible to those he theorized the Peruvians encountered, set out on the voyage.

Voice of the Islands(2017)

A behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Walt Disney Animation Studios' MOANA, as aided by the Oceanic Story Trust.

Ma'ohi Nui: In the Heart of the Ocean My Country Lies(2018)

For thirty years in the late-twentieth century, the people of Tahiti survived dozens of offshore nuclear tests by the French government. Since the country was colonized in 1880, the blasts left Tahitians picking through the remnants of their islands and culture in an effort to keep indigenous knowledges alive. The film offers a poetic glimpse into contemporary Tahiti, and the colonial struggles its people still face as they strive to sustain their way of life.

700 Sharks(2018)

Gombessa Expedition 4 Laurent Ballesta went to observe a gathering of thousands of groupers during the full moon of June 2014 (Le mystère mérou) in the southern pass of the Polynesian atoll of Fakarava, where he discovered a pack of over seven hundred grey sharks. How can this unprecedented density be explained? Could it be that social behaviors govern this wild horde? During three years of preparation, he and the other divers on his international scientific team tamed their fear by abandoning the defensive reflexes that provoke shark aggression, with the aim of slipping into the heart of the raging pack to study and film it from the inside. Sharks fitted with microchips, receiving antennas, hydrophones, an ark of 32 synchronized cameras...: a whole technological arsenal is mobilized for the project. As the groupers approach for their annual spawning, what battle plan will the sharks deploy?

Moana(1926)

Robert J. Flaherty's South Seas follow-up to Nanook of the North is a Gauguin idyll moved by "pride of beauty... pride of strength."

Tattoos: A Scarred History(2009)

An exploration of how the once taboo art form has become socially acceptable.

Working Class(2011)

Loosely based on Charles Dicken’s book “A Tale of Two Cities”, Working Class tells the tale of underground street artists Mike Giant and Mike Maxwell and their decade long friendship that started with a tattoo. The story is told through the cities they call home by, cutting back and forth between the neighborhoods of San Francisco and San Diego, as the artists talk about their life philosophies and the work they create.

Skin Pics(1980)

A bold reveal of a rose tattoo opens this 1980 documentary on tattooing in New Zealand. The potted history includes visits to tattoo parlours on K' Road and Hastings, and the studios of industry legends Steve Johnson and Roger Ingerton. Tattooists discuss public stigma, people's reasons for getting inked, and popular designs: sailors, serpents, swallows and tā moko. Made for documentary slot Contact, Skin Pics chronicles a time when "folk art has become high art".

Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey(1999)

This award-winning PBS documentary sweeps viewers into a seafaring adventure with a community of Polynesians, as they build traditional sailing canoes, learn how to follow the stars across the open ocean, and embark upon a 2,000-mile voyage in the wake of their ancestors.

Vive La France(2014)

Kua and Teriki will soon get married. They live on the distant Tureia island in the French Polynesia, Pacific Ocean and have just been told that something is wrong with their son Maokis heart. It is a consequence of living only 100 km away from the island of Moruroa, where France has tested 193 atom bombs for 30 years. Several of their family members are sick and Moruroa can soon collapse, which can lead to a tsunami likely to drown all of them. Vive La France is a personal and intimate story about harvesting the consequences of the French atomic program.

Nauru, an Island Adrift(2009)

A quiet island, lost in the pacific ocean. Nothing worth of interest, until the day a stroke of luck, phosphate, provided by the island's coral core, led the country to incredible heights: in 1975, it became the second richest country per inhabitant in the world after Saudi Arabia... Only to plunge into ruins a few years later.

Bora Bora, le laboratoire du futur(2022)

Bora Bora is the most popular destination in French Polynesia, certainly because of its lagoon, considered the most beautiful lagoon in the world. In this context, the islet could have sunk under concrete and pollution, and the reef could have been irreparably impacted. However, thanks to the will of a handful of inhabitants including the mayor of the island, Bora Bora is today a model of sustainable development, with water treatment technologies that are 15 years ahead of France, programs to rebuild corals and protect wildlife, educational actions and the rehabilitation of Polynesian traditions such as “rahui” and the establishment of a monitoring network using new technologies. All of this makes the island a veritable open-air laboratory that shows the way for all tropical coastal environments around the world.

Kekaiulu Hula Studio(2022)

Kekaiulu Hula Studio follows the Proclaimed Hula Halau of the same name, showcasing their twist on what the real reason for hula is and what life as a dancer in the halau is really like. Something previously unseen in the public eye.

De Charles de Gaulle à Emmanuel Macron, les gardiens de l'empire(2022)

The Scary Guy(2007)

Earl Kenneth Kaufmann is the Scary Guy. Banned and kicked out here and there. Because of his looks. A motivation trainer and speaker who campaigns worldwide to eliminate hate, violence, prejudice, and bullying in schools and corporations. In addition to being a tattoo shop owner, comic, entertainer, inspirational speaker, and performance artist.

The Man Whose Mind Exploded(2014)

In this "beautifully intimate and utterly unique piece of cinema", Toby Amies crosses the line between filmmaker and carer, trying to cope with the strange and hilarious world view of the fragile eccentric, Drako Zarharzar. A love story. Drako Oho Zaraharzar can remember modeling for Salvador Dali and hanging out with The Stones. But he can’t remember yesterday. Following a severe head injury, Drako Zaraharzar suffers from terrible memory loss, he can access memories from before his accident, but can’t imprint new ones. As he puts it, “the recording machine in my head doesn’t work”. Consequently, and as an antidote to depression he chose to live “completely in the now” according to the bizarre mottoes delivered to him whilst in a coma.

Oceano(1971)

The odyssey of a Tuamutu fisherman who sets out from his atoll-only coral island to procure fertile land in the "distant" archipelagos. Lost in the vast South Pacific, he finds the atoll from which he had departed now doomed from atomic experiments.