Conservationists Jim and Jean Thomas braved the steamy jungles of Papua New Guinea to save a tree kangaroo from extinction and ended up providing water and sanitation to ten thousand people in one of the most remote places on earth.
A mostly true account of future Hollywood star Errol Flynn's sea adventures in the early thirties, sailing from Australia to Papua in search of gold, along with his best friend Rex, a former Canadian smuggler; Dook, a handy English gentleman; and Charlie, a grumpy old sailor.
A documentary that reveals the underbelly of the global aid and investment industry. It's a complex web of interests that span the earth from powerful nations and multinational corporations to tribal and village leaders. This documentary offers unique insights into a multi-billion dollar world by investigating how aid dollars are spent.
Aliko & Ambai is a feature film about two young women facing the challenges of growing up in the beautiful Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. The challenges are significant: tribal conflict, poverty, bullying, domestic violence,and forced marriage. Aliko struggles to complete her education and Ambai searches to escape her abusive home and reunite with her biological father. They navigate the many obstacles in their lives and endeavour to build brighter futures for themselves, supported by the strength of friendship.
Melissa and Jonathan are worlds apart and when they meet, Jonathan's controversial ideas mean their conversations erupt in a fiery clash of minds.
David Attenborough tells the remarkable story of how these " birds of paradise " have captivated explorers , naturalists, artists, filmmakers and even royalty.
The Road to Home (2015), tells the story of Benny Wenda, the Nobel Peace Prize nominated West Papuan independence leader, in his ongoing struggle to free his people from Indonesian colonial rule. Since his dramatic escape from an Indonesian prison in 2002, where he was held in isolation and tortured as a political prisoner, Benny has been an unceasing crusader on the international scene, campaigning to bring about an end to the suffering of his people at the hands Indonesia's brutal colonial regime. Granted political asylum in the UK, Wenda's freedom of movement was restricted in 2011 when, at the behest of the Indonesian government, Interpol issued a 'red notice' putting him at extreme risk of extradition should he travel.
As a war rages on in the province of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, a young girl becomes transfixed by the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations, which is being read at school by the only white man in the village. In 1991, a war over a copper mine in the South Pacific tore the island of Bougainville apart. The reclusive “Popeye” (Hugh Laurie) offers the children in fourteen-year-old Matilda’s tiny village an escape with Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. But on an island at war, fiction can have dangerous consequences.
National Geographic joins author and explorer Piers Gibbon as he investigates one of mankind's ultimate taboos: cannibalism.
Gibbon treks into the rain forest of Papua New Guinea to find tribe members who ate human flesh. And, meets the members of the once-feared Biami tribe to witness their ritual techniques.
Master diver Frank McGuire has explored the South Pacific's Esa-ala Caves for months. But when his exit is cut off in a flash flood, Frank's team—including 17-year-old son Josh and financier Carl Hurley are forced to radically alter plans. With dwindling supplies, the crew must navigate an underwater labyrinth to make it out.
A Japanese animal photographer, Tadashi Shimada, captures crucial photographs of wild birds in Oceania. This episode of Shimada filmed in high-definition, focuses on the rare and fascinating Birds of Paradise in New Guinea and their beautiful yet humorous courtship behavior. In yellow, red, and hybrid orange, the long-feathered Greater Bird of Paradise and Raggiana Bird of Paradise dance together in the air. The Paradise Riflebird with its distinctive jet-black body and long blue feathers lives deep in the jungle. The program captures splendid images of the Magnificent Bird of Paradise's courtship dance that's never been seen on film before. Shimada's brilliant camera work creates the supreme art of nature..
The western half of the island of New Guinea has been known by many names including Netherlands New Guinea, West Papua, Irian Jaya and Papua. It is an extraordinary place where snow-capped mountains drain into massive rivers and 250 languages are spoken. For centuries, the world has jostled for control of this rugged, isolated region, with its abundant natural resources and strategic position. Through eyewitness accounts and rare archival film, this fascinating documentary paints a picture that is intimate in detail but epic in scope. It is a sweeping saga of colonial ambitions, cold war sellouts and fervent nationalism, which highlights the role of players such as Australia and the UN at crucial points.
Two anthropologists married to each other go to an island off of Papua New Guinea for field research in pre-World War II. Eventually the war breaks out and many lives are disrupted and complicated.
After squandering his grant money, despondent and recently widowed anthropologist James Krippendorf must produce hard evidence of the existence of a heretofore undiscovered New Guinea tribe. Grass skirts, makeup, and staged rituals transform his three troubled children into the Shelmikedmu, a primitive culture whose habits enthrall scholars. But when a spiteful rival threatens to blow the whistle on Krippendorf's ruse, he gets into the act as well.
A report following the dramatic events of the Sandline affair, which resulted in the resignation of Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister, Sir Julius Chan.
An Australian widower living in New Guinea starts a relationship with a woman very similar to his much-beloved wife, but their life together turns out to be far from the imagined romantic ideal.
Joe Leahy is the half-caste son of one of the first explorers of the Papua New Guinean interior. The documentary explores his relationship with the tribes that work his coffee plantation and explores what happens when the coffee market situation becomes more difficult.
A man encounters colorful characters while driving a taxi in Papua New Guinea.
A detailed record of the first stage male initiation ceremony of the Baruya of the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. A group of nine to 12 year old boys are followed through their first initiation - from the last days with their families through their nose-piercing and other rituals and ordeals to the final feast given in their honour. It is a tough time, the beginning of a ten-year journey to warrior and manhood.
John Waiko is the first Papua New Guinea man to graduate with a PhD and be appointed a professor. He returns to the Binandere clan and his small village of Tabara in the Northern Province of PNG. Once there, he has to organise a celebration for his achievements with his family’s help. Since he has been away for most of his life, he has no recognised wealth in the village (the pigs used for gift giving), nor a network of supporters or knowledge of the preparation and rituals for having such a celebration. He wants the event to happen quickly but that’s not the way it works in Tabara. Man without pigs focuses on the antagonism aroused by the clash between traditional customs and Western values in this remote PNG community.