The Human Face of the Pacific: Atoll Life in Kiribati 1983

A Six-Part Series

Directed by Oliver Howes

The Republic of Kiribati is one of the most isolated places in the Pacific and because of this it has been possible for its people to retain much of their traditional way of life. In this film, made on Tabiteuea Island four years after independence, we witness a special three-day ritual dating from pre-colonial times, in which Manerrua – a schoolgirl of 14 – celebrates her first menstruation