PNG film premieres globally
Adocumentary examining the longterm impact of gold mining on the remote Misima Island has been premiered at international film festivals and is now available in Papua New Guinea via video on demand.
The film, Misima, is set on the island in Milne Bay Province, which was impacted by gold mining between 1990 and 2004.
The main subject of the film, Diuma Heni, portrays how the island’s culture was turned on its head, due to the unexpected and sudden access men had to employment, cash and consumer goods.
Her marriage fell apart and her access to the land she used for subsistence farming became tied up in a land dispute with a rival clan.
American filmmaker Bryan Pitcher followed Heni for 18 months as she fought for the recognition of her matrilineal land rights, strived to maintain her mountain garden, and reclaimed her only daughter from her ex-husband’s relatives. ■