HITIMAHANA

Film director and screenwriter, Florence Gomez

Florence Gomez was born on 10th September 1966 in the town of Clermont-Ferrand, France. She has lived in French Polynesia for 20 years. Making her first appearance to the public after her short feature film Hitimahana, and documentaries dedicated to uncovering the lives of Polynesian artists, film director Florence Gomez (qualified with a master’s in social sciences) dedicated her life to teaching, writing and the 7th Art.
In the past, she has collaborated with film director Antoine Bal. In 2019, Florence made the decision to focus her career on directing short and medium-length feature films.
Her first short feature film depicts a story of a young woman and the choices she makes in her life whilst facing adversity. Hitimahana is one of the few prestigious films that were nominated for the official selection being presented at the international festival of film in Maui, Montreal and New-York.
Her first ever long feature film, Passeurs de légendes is a documentary-type production that describes the impact of colonisation on language and the culture of the spoken Polynesian world.
These films have an aesthetic aspiration, filmed with a focus towards celebrating and appreciating nature and the interiority of characters. Florence Gomez chooses to film and produce outside scenes using only the natural light; a number of cuts from her films being filmed during the “blue hour” that Almendros defines as being:
“The moment when the sun just starts to fall for sunset, but before the night starts to set in. The sky is bright but strictly speaking, there is hardly any sun. The light is very gentle; there’s something magical about it.”

Filmography:
2019-2020: Hitimahana - short feature film lasting 9 mins.
2020-2021 : Passeurs de légendes - documentary lasting 60 mins.
2021 : Moment d’artiste Tim Mckenna, Moment d’artiste Jean-Paul Forest – Short documentary films.
Scenario :
2019 : Hitimahana
2020 : Passeurs de légendes
2021 : Yanda