Fliming in PNG

Filming in Papua New Guinea

 

By Patrick Matbob

Film in Madang

Rempi villagers who live 20km north of Madang still talk about the time when ‘Robinson Crusoe’ came to live amongst them.

It was in 1993 when the villagers were privileged to witness and be involved in the production of a world class movie starring Pierce Brosnan as Crusoe. Such was the isolation of the people from the world of movie stars that they had no idea who Pierce Brosnan was before he arrived. But some did remember the classical hero Robinson Crusoe from Daniel Defoe’s book and for them Brosnan was Crusoe.

During the days when parts of the movie were shot at Rempi, the whole village came to a stand still. Some villagers got jobs on the set as assistants during the shooting while the rest abandoned all daily activities – even the sacred Sunday worship - to witness this new activity.

On location at Banara, Madang

Robinson Crusoe was probably the biggest movie ever produced in PNG starring a world renowned movie star. Co-starring as Crusoe’s companion, Friday, was PNG’s own actor and playwright William Takaku who received positive reviews for his role.

While there is no established movie industry in PNG, filming in the country has had a long history. The first film produced in Papua New Guinea is believed to be Frank Hurley’s Pearl and Savage in 1926 about life along the Papuan coast. Such ethnographic documentaries about the life and culture of the people were the types of educational films produced in PNG for the interest of western audience.

In the 1930s the Leahy brothers who were exploring for gold in the interior of PNG stumbled onto a million people with no previous contact with outsiders living in the fertile valleys of the highlands. The brothers took many pictures, both still photographs and film, of their first contact with the highland tribes. The footage taken by the Leahys became famous in the 1983 feature length documentary First Contact by Bob Conolly and Robin Anderson. The movie which told the story of the Leahy brothers’ historic contact with the highlanders was the first of The Highlands Trilogy that also featured the films Joe Leahy’s Neighbours and Black Harvest. Joe Leahy’s Neighbours is a contemporary story of the legacy of the Leahy’s presence in the Highlands. The movie features Joe Leahy, the mixed-race son of Michael Leahy who is a successful businessman operating a coffee plantation in the Highlands. He and the Ganiga tribe have a very delicate business relationship in a joint venture coffee plantation at Kaugum which promised substantial returns. However, many factions within the tribal community are suspicious of Joe and his long-term business plan. The third sequel Black Harvest continues the story of the joint venture with Kaugum plantation which become confronted by a senseless tribal warfare, and a drop in world coffee price. The situation turns critical forcing Joe Leahy’s family to abandon their home and flee for safety. The joint venture and dreams of prosperity for Joe and the Ganiga lies in ruin. The films won many international awards including the Grand Prix at the Festival Cinema du Reel in Paris and the AFI Award for Best Documentary.

The first Oscar for a film shot in PNG was won by Kokoda Front Line! in 1943. The award was given for the best documentary based on footage taken by Australian film hero Damien Parer. Parer shot the footage of the battle of Kokoda which raged for seven months between the Japanese and the Australian armies on some of the most rugged and inhospitable terrain in the world.

Parer, described as an uncompromising chronicler of armed conflict, was a film maker with the 2^nd Australian Infantry Force and served in the Middle East then in PNG. His film brought the war home to Australia who saw for the first time the awful conditions that their soldiers were fighting in New Guinea. Parer was killed while filming for the Paramount Studios the US Marines landing at Peleliu Island in Palau.

Then in 1957 Australian movie star Chips Rafferty produced another popular movie in Papua New Guinea titled Walk into Paradise (alternatively known as Walk Into Hell).

The movie stars Senior Patrol Officer Steve McAllister (Chips Rafferty) who leads a patrol in the interior of PNG. It portrays the Australian colonial romanticism in which Rafferty bears the white man’s burden of bringing civilization to the primitive people of PNG. The film was shot on location in PNG on the Sepik River and in the Highlands and showed some remarkable footage of the Sepik and the Highlands singsing. A noted feature of the film was that it was co-produced in English and French and the French version which was released in Paris was titled L’Odyssee du Capitaine Steve.

A number of documentaries were produced since the 70s in PNG which included Wokabaut bilong Tonten by Film Australia which was about the adventures of Tonten, a Karkar Islander who travels through the country to Port Moresby and experiences the different cultures including the sophisticated western life in Port Moresby. Then there were two movies capturing PNG’s independence and first national election by Dennis O’Rourke, the highly acclaimed Yumi Yet (1976) celebrating PNG’s independence and Ileksen (1979) marking the country’s first national election. Chris Owen and Les Maclaren have also produced a number of documentaries in PNG and the list includes Cowboy and Maria in Town, Gogodala: A Cultural Revival? Kama Wosi: Music in the Trobriand Islands, Malagan Labadama, Man Without Pigs, Namekas: Music in Lake Chambri and The Red Bowmen.

The establishment of the art and cultural institutions at Independence in PNG included the National Arts School, the National Theatre Company and the Skul Bilong Wokim Piksa (Film School) which enabled Papua New Guineans to become involved in film production. The pioneers were Albert Toro, Kumain Kolain, Martin Maden, Maggie Wilson, Leonie Kanawi and Pengau Nengo who became involved in films like Urban Drift, Fourth Child, Warriors in Transit, Marabe, Stap Isi, and Tukana: Asua bilong Husat. Their films dealt with the clash between the western and the local cultures and raised contemporary social, economic and political issues that affected Papua New Guineans. Marabe addressed the issue of land and urban drift and tells the story of a village councilor, Marabe, whose sons Hawai and Kerebe leave for a ‘better life’ to the urban centres of Goroka and Port Moresby. Kerebe is eventually killed in a land dispute and Hawai who ends up in Port Moresby gets tangled up in all the social ills of urban living, eventually heading back to the village to resettle on land given by a relative. The movie’s sound track featured music written and performed by music students of the National Arts School and a favorite track was the Marabe farewell featuring Aaron Murray on the flute and Tony Subam on classical guitar.

Albert Toro who wrote the script for Tukana also starred in the lead role together with actress Francisca Semoso who is now a politician on Bougainville.

The first genuine homegrown PNG production is Tinpis Run (1990). The movie directed by Pengau Nengo is about the adventures of Papa who owns a PMV which he uses as a taxi. Other main characters are his driver Naaki and his fiercely independent daughter Johanna. The adventures take him from the highlands to the coast of Lae and Madang where they get involved in politics. Later when Papa gets word of a brewing tribal fight, he returns home and dons his battle gear to lead his warriors into war.

Since Tinpis Run, no other major films have been produced by Papua New Guinean producers and this is attributed to the high costs of film making in the country. Lack of copyright laws has also been seen as a major hurdle in assisting the growth of a film industry.

Chris Owen, an Australian residing permanently in PNG, is also one of PNG’s leading filmmakers, who amongst a number of films produced the award winning Bride wealth for a Goddess (1999). The film is about highlands ‘Big Man’ Ru Kundil who tells his own story in film. Kundil has a dream about a beautiful young woman – the Spirit Goddess Amb Kor and involves his family and supporters in a cult in which the men seek to make a ‘marriage’ with the Goddess. Through elaborate rituals, the Goddess grants the men purification and protection from the menstrual powers of their human wives, the procreation of many sons, and the blessing of fertility to crops and pigs.

There has been no shortage of international film makers coming to PNG to film the cultural and geographical attractions. News documentaries have also been produced regularly and recent topics have included HIV/AIDS and environmental issues. The establishment and growth of a local movie industry has remained elusive however, because of lack of money and support.