The friendship between a boy and a shark: a heart-warming environmental fable, set in the magnificent Polynesian islands
Inspired by the book Ti-Koyo et son requin by Martiniquais author Clément Richer, which had previously been adapted for the cinema in 1962 by Folco Quilici, Manidù is a heart-warming fairytale that today could be defined as an “environmental fable”. The story revolves around the friendship between a young boy and an animal we would normally keep our distance from: a tiger shark, a species usually depicted in films as a killing machine. It is reminiscent of the Free Willy series that conquered the world, in which a young boy befriends an orca (more commonly known as a “killer” whale). Manidù, set in and around the magnificent Polynesian island of Bora Bora, using real sharks and involving sublime underwater photography, is a film full of emotions that are in harmony with nature.
On a Polynesian island, a young boy named Ti-Koyo is given a present of a small tiger shark by his mentor Manidù. The animal’s mother has been killed. Following the death of Manidù, the boy becomes convinced that the old man’s spirit has been transferred to the shark. A close friendship develops between the boy and the shark, now renamed Manidù. The shark also defends the sacred black pearls hidden in the lagoon. He will attack only those who dare endanger Ti-Koyo or attempt to take the untouchable pearls.
The friendship between a boy and a shark: a heart-warming environmental fable, set in the magnificent Polynesian islands
Inspired by the book Ti-Koyo et son requin by Martiniquais author Clément Richer, which had previously been adapted for the cinema in 1962 by Folco Quilici, Manidù is a heart-warming fairytale that today could be defined as an “environmental fable”. The story revolves around the friendship between a young boy and an animal we would normally keep our distance from: a tiger shark, a species usually depicted in films as a killing machine. It is reminiscent of the Free Willy series that conquered the world, in which a young boy befriends an orca (more commonly known as a “killer” whale). Manidù, set in and around the magnificent Polynesian island of Bora Bora, using real sharks and involving sublime underwater photography, is a film full of emotions that are in harmony with nature.
On a Polynesian island, a young boy named Ti-Koyo is given a present of a small tiger shark by his mentor Manidù. The animal’s mother has been killed. Following the death of Manidù, the boy becomes convinced that the old man’s spirit has been transferred to the shark. A close friendship develops between the boy and the shark, now renamed Manidù. The shark also defends the sacred black pearls hidden in the lagoon. He will attack only those who dare endanger Ti-Koyo or attempt to take the untouchable pearls.
