A homage to Dusky Maiden images as well as a playful take on the low art of velvet painting, Sima Urale’s second film Velvet Dreams provides a tongue-in-cheek exploration of Pacific Island stereotypes. Part detective story, part documentary, an unseen narrator goes in search of a Dusky Maiden painting he has fallen in love with. Along the way he meets artists, fans and critics of the kitsch art genre as well as the Gaugin-like figure of Charlie McPhee. The film won Best Documentary at the 1997 Yorkton Film Festival, Canada.
If the black and white footage of Urale’s O Tamaiti (1996) provides a sobering and fresh approach to the portrayal of Pacific Island culture, Urale’s second film Velvet ...
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