This album illustrates the professional activities of my wife Martine in New Caledonia, 1974-1985. Since she had taught audio-visual techniques in a youth leader training programme when she first arrived in New Caledonia, and later ran the government's committee against alcoholism showing films in the villages, it was not too difficult after our marriage to teach herself film-making with a 16mm camera. She started making advertisements for the local television station, and then created her own company, Island Image Productions (IIP). When the French Government created the Kanak Cultural Office to record and encourage Kanak culture, the government bought out her company and hired her and her staff as the Audio-visual department of the Kanak Cultural Office, making films to document Kanak culture. She was also invited to Vanuatu to film the cultural events around their independence in 1980. When the revolutionary movement for independence took off, she was charged by her office to record all the events in the life of the Kanak people, and was able to do this because she was widely trusted and appreciated.

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Island Image Productions

Office in downtown Nouméa

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Desk I made for Martine; Martine and Jean-Pierre Le Bars

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Editing room; Jean-Pierre was the graphic artist

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Jean-Pierre and Philippe Huneau, camaraman

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Filming on Ouvea in the Loyalty Islands for my environmental film "Story of an Island"

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Kanak Cultural Office

Office culturel Kanak at Nouville

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Kanak farewell

When it was clear in 1985 that we would have to leave New Caledonia, Martine's many Kanak friends and associates organized a farewell dinner in her honour.

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