I've had a long fascination with Papua New Guinea which, at the time of writing in 2022, remains a place unlike almost anywhere else in the world, in terms of the cultural norms which still operate over much of the country- still partially resistant to global westernisation.
As a result, I stumbled across the Lonely Planet travel guide to the country which highly, highly recommended this film. I found it in full, by watching it in two halves which were posted on Vimeo, and was absolutely blown away.
The film follows the Australian Leahy brothers, as they are the first Europeans to enter New Guinea's interior, and their consequent encounters with local tribes, in the densely populated highlands, which were completely unknown to westerners. The video footage alone is god-smacking, but it's masterfully put together with interviews from the Leahy brothers, and locals who were children at the time, as 'giant birds' (planes) and 'spirits' (white people) rained down from the skys.
The edits won Connolly and Anderson several awards and nominations, and didn't shy away from the darker side to exploring an area rife with tribal warfare in search of capital gains, and the documentary starts and ends with an explosive ethical dimension.
As a result, I stumbled across the Lonely Planet travel guide to the country which highly, highly recommended this film. I found it in full, by watching it in two halves which were posted on Vimeo, and was absolutely blown away.
The film follows the Australian Leahy brothers, as they are the first Europeans to enter New Guinea's interior, and their consequent encounters with local tribes, in the densely populated highlands, which were completely unknown to westerners. The video footage alone is god-smacking, but it's masterfully put together with interviews from the Leahy brothers, and locals who were children at the time, as 'giant birds' (planes) and 'spirits' (white people) rained down from the skys.
The edits won Connolly and Anderson several awards and nominations, and didn't shy away from the darker side to exploring an area rife with tribal warfare in search of capital gains, and the documentary starts and ends with an explosive ethical dimension.