Archive of films There Is a Happy Land Further Awaay / There Is a Happy Land Further Awaay
Ben Rivers reveals the internal magic of life in the Vanuatu archipelago before it was devastated by Cyclone Pam. This meditative look at a distant world, where the fleeting lives of the native inhabitants come up against the perpetuity of capricious elements, is enhanced by recited verse from Henri Michaux.
Synopsis
The Vanuatu archipelago located west of Fiji, whose native inhabitants often follow the simple traditions of their ancestors, was devastated at the beginning of last year by Cyclone Pam. With his accustomed talent for revealing the internal magic of a place, Ben Rivers offers up a memoir of an obliterated village. In his poetic and near ethnographic approach he contemplates a distant world in which the fleeting lives of the locals come up against the perpetuity of capricious elements. The effect is enhanced by recited verse from Belgian poet and traveler Henri Michaux.
Hubert Poul
About the director

Ben Rivers (b. 1972, Somerset, UK) first took an interest in sculpture while attending art school before turning to photography and film. A key moment in his career came when he adopted the methods of shooting and developing 16 mm film. His award-winning work, which was honored with a complete retrospective at KVIFF, includes the two features Two Years at Sea (2011) and A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness (2013).
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