Sacred Vessels: Navigating Tradition and Identity in Micronesia
May 01, 2026 | IMDB 7
29 min Watch NowDocumentary, History
A 1997 documentary by Micronesian scholar, Vicente M. Diaz, that follows a new generation of traditional outrigger canoe builders and navigators from Polowat, Central Carolines, Federated States of Micronesia, and Guam in their respective efforts to continue and resuscitate an ancient tradition of outrigger canoe carving and sailing in the late twentieth century. Like the motif of water that flows through the documentary and blurs lines between surface and depth, and between water, land and air, an indefatigable tradition and aesthetic of seafaring is shown to also challenge pat and problematic distinctions between past and present, tradition and modernity, indigenous and Christian religiosity and spirituality, that prevail in conventional understandings of Micronesian culture and history.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
Around My Island
Golden Door
Mururoa 1973
Dawn of the Great Steppe
The Young Man and the Deep Sea
Kon-Tiki
Voyages au centre de la Terre : Dans les pas de Jules Verne
Buddha Wild: Monk in a Hut
Los conquistadores del Pacífico
The Ra Expeditions
Spain: The First Globalization
Pearl Harbor: The world on fire
Moana
Ocean Souls
Die Flotte der Römer
The Raft
« Je ne suis pas chinetoque » : Histoire du racisme anti-asiatique
Segeljungs - Mit Null Ahnung um die Welt
Alone at Sea
Becoming Cousteau
SIMILAR MOVIES
Around My Island
IMDB 8 | Aug , 2024
Cameras follow Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan as he attempts to sail single-handed around the island of Ireland, which is one of the toughest feats in sailing.Golden Door
IMDB 6.5 | Sep , 2006
The story is set at the beginning of the 20th century in Sicily. Salvatore, a very poor farmer, and a widower, decides to emigrate to the US with all his family, including his old mother. Before they embark, they meet Lucy. She is supposed to be a British lady and wants to come back to the States. Lucy, or Luce as Salvatore calls her, for unknown reasons wants to marry someone before to arrive to Ellis Island in New York. Salvatore accepts the proposal. Once they arrive in Ellis Island they spend the quarantine period trying to pass the examinations to be admitted to the States. Tests are not so simple for poor farmers coming from Sicily. Their destiny is in the hands of the custom officers.Mururoa 1973
IMDB 0 | Oct , 1973
In 1973 Alister Barry joined the crew of a protest boat (The Fri) to Mururoa Atoll, where the French Government were testing nuclear weapons. Barry records the assembly of the crew, the long journey from Northland, and their reception in the test zone; when The Fri was boarded and impounded by French military he had to hide his camera in a barrel of oranges.Dawn of the Great Steppe
IMDB 7 | May , 2022
In the 16th century, during the Kazakh Khanate, Kasym Khan was the fourth ruler, often viewed as the greatest leader to unite the Kazakh tribes.The Young Man and the Deep Sea
IMDB 0 | Dec , 2024
Lim Hyunsik, a KPOP idol group BTOB member and solo artist, heads to the South Pacific to film a music video for his new song. Despite a bad weather forecast, the whole crew hopes the shoot will go smoothly. The story unfolds as the crew navigates the challenges of filming amidst the stunning South Pacific scenery.Kon-Tiki
IMDB 7.4 | Jan , 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.Voyages au centre de la Terre : Dans les pas de Jules Verne
IMDB 8.5 | Oct , 2023
Buddha Wild: Monk in a Hut
IMDB 9.5 | Apr , 2008
Buddhist monks open up about the joys and challenges of living out the precepts of the Buddha as a full-time vocation. Controversies swirling within modern monastic Buddhism are examined, from celibacy and the role of women to racism and concerns about the environment.Los conquistadores del Pacífico
IMDB 5.3 | Oct , 1963
Frank Latimore is cast as Balboa, the heroic Spanish explorer who discovers the Pacific Ocean. Along the way, he must pacify the wrath of his enemies and battle his way through a forest inhabited by savage natives. This one features some really nice battles, stunning ocean photography, and tolerable reconstruction of historic events.The Ra Expeditions
IMDB 7.1 | Feb , 1972
Ra [also known as The Ra Expeditions] is a 1972 documentary film directed by Lennart Ehrenborg and Thor Heyerdahl about the expeditions organised by Thor Heyerdahl in 1969 and 1970 in attempt to cross the Atlantic on papyrus boats. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.Spain: The First Globalization
IMDB 7.8 | Oct , 2021
A new reading of the historical period that began with the reign of the Catholic Monarchs (1479-1516) and the discovery of America (1492), as well as an analysis of its undeniable influence on the subsequent evolution of the history of Spain and the world.Pearl Harbor: The world on fire
IMDB 7.7 | Dec , 2021
Hawaii, Pacific Ocean. In this heavenly place, one of the most memorable battles of the Second World War took place 80 years ago. On December 7, 1941, at 7:53 am, a Japanese air squadron struck the American fleet which anchored in the waters of Pearl Harbor. The United States were struck at the heart of their defensive system and entered the conflict the very next day. How Pearl Harbor changed the face of World War II and therefore the face of the world? What are the diplomatic undersides of Pearl Harbor? Was the attack really a surprise attack? Is it really a Japanese victory?Moana
IMDB 6.7 | Jan , 1926
Robert J. Flaherty’s follow-up to Nanook of the North shifts from the Arctic to the South Seas, portraying Samoan village life with a painterly eye. Blending ethnographic detail with a romanticized “Gauguin idyll,” the film celebrates daily rituals, communal traditions, and the passage into adulthood, suffused with what Flaherty called “pride of beauty, pride of strength.”Ocean Souls
IMDB 8.6 | Dec , 2021
Ocean Souls Films and Wildlife Media unite 100+ filmmakers, scientists, and leading experts to shine a bright, new spotlight on humanity’s closest living relatives - cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises). New footage and scientific discoveries reveal the extraordinary world beneath the ocean’s surface, where these majestic beings exhibit characteristics not unlike ours in terms of emotions, language, family, intelligence, and human interaction. Directed by Philip Hamilton, this multi-award-winning film inspires people to care and want to protect the oceans.Die Flotte der Römer
IMDB 7 | Oct , 2024
The Raft
IMDB 5.8 | Feb , 2019
In 1973, five men and six women drifted across the Atlantic on a raft as part of a scientific experiment exploring the origins of violence and sexual attraction. Nobody expected what ultimately took place on that 3-month journey. Through archive material and a reunion of the surviving members of the expedition, this film tells the hidden story of the project.« Je ne suis pas chinetoque » : Histoire du racisme anti-asiatique
IMDB 7.8 | Feb , 2024
Journalist Émilie Tran Nguyen invites the viewer to follow her in her quest and discover, at the same time as her, the historical origins of this anti-Asian racism. Told in the first person, alternating archive images, interviews with historians, sociologists and field sequences, this film traces the making of prejudices in the French imagination and pop culture, to twist the neck of stereotypes, deconstruct and act.Segeljungs - Mit Null Ahnung um die Welt
IMDB 0 | Apr , 2026
Four Bavarians with no sailing experience decide to conquer the world's oceans. They are confronted with the untamed power of the sea, unexpected meetings and new challenges.Alone at Sea
IMDB 5.6 | Feb , 2019
A feature-length documentary tracing Eric Bellion's psychological journey during his race on the Vendée Globe 2016-2017, a yacht race around the globe, single-handed and without assistance. Eric Bellion filmed himself during the 99 days of his race. He has never sailed solo for more than 6 days. This is an unprecedented immersive document of a man facing himself, loneliness and natural elements.Becoming Cousteau
IMDB 7 | Oct , 2021
Adventurer, filmmaker, inventor, author, unlikely celebrity and conservationist: For over four decades, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his explorations under the ocean became synonymous with a love of science and the natural world. As he learned to protect the environment, he brought the whole world with him, sounding alarms more than 50 years ago about the warming seas and our planet’s vulnerability. In BECOMING COUSTEAU, from National Geographic Documentary Films, two-time Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus takes an inside look at Cousteau and his life, his iconic films and inventions, and the experiences that made him the 20th century’s most unique and renowned environmental voice — and the man who inspired generations to protect the Earth.