• Director(s):

    Molia (Agnès)

  • Producer(s):

    TOURNEZ S'IL VOUS PLAÎT PRODUCTION, ARTE FRANCE

  • Territories:

    Worldwide.

  • Production year:

    2019

  • Language(s):

    German, English, French

  • Rights:

    TV, DVD, NON-THEATRICAL, INTERNET, VOD

For the past two weeks, Stivi has been getting tattooed every day. In a few hours, he will start the final and most painful phase of his tattooing: The navel. The tattooing practiced in Samoa is not comparable to the fashionable trend in Europe, where tattoos remain fairly soft.

In Samoa, it’s the opposite. Tattooing is above all a rite signifying that the individual belongs to a group, and it is extremely painful. The tattoo artist is an emblematic figure held in great respect. His knowledge has been handed down orally for generations, and the techniques of making tools (scissors, knives, hammers, etc.) have remained unchanged since time immemorial. His skill is considered sacred. 
Stivi must withstand the pain and above all show others it can be withstood to enter the process of constructing his identity. The more painful it is, the more Stivi approaches the state of a real, accomplished man, and the more he will be recognized as such by the group.