Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey

May 6, 1999

0h 57m

★ 0.0

Overview

This award-winning PBS documentary sweeps viewers into a seafaring adventure with a community of Polynesians, as they build traditional sailing canoes, learn how to follow the stars across the open ocean, and embark upon a 2,000-mile voyage in the wake of their ancestors.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

PBS

Maiden Voyage Productions

Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Narrator

Napualani Cassidy

Captain Cook

Patrick Stewart

In April 1978, the annual Ensenada Yacht Race from Newport Beach, California, to Ensenada, Mexico, occurred over the course of twenty-four hours. More than 600 yachts and sailboats competed in the 200-mile race. In the final stretch into Ensenada Harbor, the winds calmed, leaving the boats moving slowly to the finish line.

0.0

Garbage Ho!

Dec 14, 2022

Harald Reichenbach sets off around the globe in a sailing boat collecting garbage from the sea with local people. Using a press, he compresses what they find and pours it into resin to form ‚G-Cubes’. He then takes the garbage back as art to the people who created it – consumers in industrialized countries. Nothing on the journey goes exactly as planned, however, and Reichenbach finds himself teetering between art and activism.

6.2

Women & the Wind

Dec 18, 2025

Shot over the course of 30 days at sea, filmmaker Alizé Jireh documents the group’s voyage across the North Atlantic—from moments of stillness and calm to the chaos of storms and setbacks. With an observational approach and an eye for the emotional and physical rhythms of life at sea, Jireh captures not just the external landscape, but the internal shifts that come with navigating the vast unknown.

8.0

Mediterranean Holiday

Dec 19, 1962

A 1962 West German documentary film directed by Hermann Leitner and Rudolf Nussgruber.

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0.0

Blakey

Dec 6, 2011

The life and times of sailor and adventurer Sir Peter Blake, one of New Zealand's favourite sons.

0.0

Patutiki the Guardians of The Marquesan Tattoo

Oct 8, 2020

First-time feature filmmakers Heretu Tetahiotupa, Christophe Cordier delve into the ritual art of Marquesan tattoo, sharing its cultural and historical significance by reenacting the past and challenging the present.

7.4

Kon-Tiki

Jan 13, 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.

0.0

Black Magic - The Team New Zealand Story

Jan 3, 2021

In this epic story of humble heroes and Kiwi ingenuity, relive the glory and the magic of the America's Cup 1995, when Sir Peter Blake carved out New Zealand's identity as innovators and world class sailors.

0.0

Under the Hull: an 11th Hour Racing Team Documentary

Jun 15, 2022

Under the Hull takes viewers behind the scenes as the Newport, Rhode Island based team lines up against the masters of the sport of offshore sailing – the French – in the build-up to the double-handed race across the Atlantic. From the building of a brand new, state-of-the-art 60-foot foiling race boat, to the physical, mental and onboard training, the film gives unrivaled insights into the highs and lows as the four sailors, supported by an international shore team, prepared their two entries – Mālama and Alaka’i – for the race of the year.

5.5

Morning Light

Mar 12, 2008

Fifteen young sailors... six months of intense training... one chance at the brass ring. This documentary tells the story of a group of intrepid and determined young men and women, on the cusp of adulthood, as they embark on life's first great adventure. Racing a high-performance 52-foot sloop the crew of "Morning Light" matches wits and skills in a dramatic 2300 mile showdown.

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0.0

Nauru, an Island Adrift

Mar 14, 2009

A quiet island, lost in the pacific ocean. Nothing worth of interest, until the day a stroke of luck, phosphate, provided by the island's coral core, led the country to incredible heights: in 1975, it became the second richest country per inhabitant in the world after Saudi Arabia... Only to plunge into ruins a few years later.

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0.0

Māori

Jul 25, 1981

This 1981 NFU film is a tour of the contemporary world of Aotearoa’s tangata whenua. It won headlines over claims that its portrayal of Māori had been sanitised for overseas viewers. Debate and a recut ensued. Writer Witi Ihimaera felt that mentions of contentious issues (Bastion Point, the land march) in his original script were ignored or elided in the final film, and withdrew from the project. He later told journalists that the controversy showed that educated members of minority groups were no longer prepared to let the majority interpret the minority view.

0.0

Girt by Sea

Feb 11, 2014

Girt By Sea is a cinematic love letter to the coastline of Australia - a poetic celebration of our connection to the sea as documented through archival footage over the past 100 years.

0.0

Belles of the South Seas

Jan 1, 1944

A tour through the South Sea islands including Tahiti, New Zealand, Fiji, Pago Pago, Papua and Kalabahai

0.0

Surf Sail

Sep 4, 1978

A documentary following the attempt by three young people to be the first windsurfers to cross Cook Strait.

10.0

Kekaiulu Hula Studio

Nov 10, 2022

Kekaiulu Hula Studio follows the Proclaimed Hula Halau of the same name, showcasing their twist on what the real reason for hula is and what life as a dancer in the halau is really like. Something previously unseen in the public eye.

5.6

Sailing with Bushnell Keeler

Jan 1, 1967

In 1967, a young David Lynch grabbed his new Bolex 16mm camera, to film his friend and mentor Bushnell Keeler and brother Dave Keeler sailing on the Chesapeake Bay in Bush's King's Cruiser. This was David Lynch's very first film, which he prefers to call a "home movie". It depicts a man, a painter, who changed David's life forever pursuing the artist's life, which he continues to this day.

4.5

Voice of the Islands

Mar 7, 2017

A behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Walt Disney Animation Studios' MOANA, as aided by the Oceanic Story Trust.

0.0

Call Me Captain

Jul 1, 1961

The Norfolk Broads tourist film promotes the pleasures of boating.

Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey Trailers