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Papua New Guinea trilogy
| Released: | 1983 |
The trilogy is comprised of: First Contact, Joe Leahy's Neighbours, and Black Harvest
First Contact
When Columbus and Cortez ventured into the New World, there was no camera to record the drama of this first encounter. But in 1930, when the Leahy brothers penetrated the interior of New Guinea in search of gold, they carried a movie camera, thus capturing on film their unexpected confrontation with thousands of Stone Age people who had no concept of human life beyond their valleys.
Paired with this original footage, First Contact features interviews with Papuans conducted fifty years later who recount how they thought the white men were their ancestors, bleached by the sun and returned from the dead; they share their amazement at the artifacts of twentieth century life, from tin cans to airplanes, and marvel at their tenuous relationship with these mysterious beings.
54 min.
Joe Leahy's Neighbours
Joe Leahy's Neighbours is a follow-up film that traces the fortunes of Joe Leahy, the mixed-race son of Michael Leahy, in his uneasy relationship with his tribal neighbors. After building his coffee plantation on land bought from the Ganiga in the mid-1970s, Joe leads a Western lifestyle governed by individualism and the pursuit of affluence, but his neighbors won’t let him forget the original source of his prosperity. The film, shot over eighteen months, documents the conflicting values of tribalism and capitalism that ensue.
90 min.
Black Harvest
Black Harvest revisits Joe Leahy as he attempts to convince the Ganiga tribespeople to join him in a coffee growing venture, a project threatened by tribal wars and dropping market prices. Always suspect because of his mixed-race status, Joe gets into trouble when his promises of riches fail to materialize. As he organizes to emigrate to Australia, he remains uncertain of his future.
90 min.
First Contact
When Columbus and Cortez ventured into the New World, there was no camera to record the drama of this first encounter. But in 1930, when the Leahy brothers penetrated the interior of New Guinea in search of gold, they carried a movie camera, thus capturing on film their unexpected confrontation with thousands of Stone Age people who had no concept of human life beyond their valleys.
Paired with this original footage, First Contact features interviews with Papuans conducted fifty years later who recount how they thought the white men were their ancestors, bleached by the sun and returned from the dead; they share their amazement at the artifacts of twentieth century life, from tin cans to airplanes, and marvel at their tenuous relationship with these mysterious beings.
54 min.
Joe Leahy's Neighbours
Joe Leahy's Neighbours is a follow-up film that traces the fortunes of Joe Leahy, the mixed-race son of Michael Leahy, in his uneasy relationship with his tribal neighbors. After building his coffee plantation on land bought from the Ganiga in the mid-1970s, Joe leads a Western lifestyle governed by individualism and the pursuit of affluence, but his neighbors won’t let him forget the original source of his prosperity. The film, shot over eighteen months, documents the conflicting values of tribalism and capitalism that ensue.
90 min.
Black Harvest
Black Harvest revisits Joe Leahy as he attempts to convince the Ganiga tribespeople to join him in a coffee growing venture, a project threatened by tribal wars and dropping market prices. Always suspect because of his mixed-race status, Joe gets into trouble when his promises of riches fail to materialize. As he organizes to emigrate to Australia, he remains uncertain of his future.
90 min.
Grand Prix, Cinema du Reel, 1983
Red Ribbon, American Film Festival, 1983
Margaret Mead Film Festival, 1983
American Anthropological Association, 1984
Best in Sociology, San Francisco International Film Festival, 1983
Red Ribbon, American Film Festival, 1983
Margaret Mead Film Festival, 1983
American Anthropological Association, 1984
Best in Sociology, San Francisco International Film Festival, 1983
