Local artist Nââwié Tutugoro has recently played a crucial role in the completion of Luke Willis Thompson’s film Le plus proche du paradis, 2026, which is showing on the world stage at the Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art.
As part of the Luke Willis Thompson studio, Nââwié travelled with a crew of eight to Kanaky New Caledonia in early September. “My active role was researching and supporting the new film, working with my extended whānau providing translation and additional guidance across all aspects of the production,” she says.
Le plus proche du paradis, which means ‘the closest to paradise’ in English, is the third and final instalment in a trilogy Luke Willis Thompson has been working on over the last four years. The first, Whakamoemoeā (2024) is set in the near future at Waitangi, exploring constitutional transformation, a united Oceania and, as the name evokes, a dreamscape. Soro (2025) is the second chapter: a black and white silent film depicting Alan Wendt presenting Jacinda Ardern’s (off-screen) Dawn Raids apology.
Full story in this week’s Gulf News & Waiheke Weekender……. Out now
© Gulf News & Waiheke Weekender Ltd 2026
