For Arte, French director Daniel Vigne followed two young Papuans between tradition and change. We organised the whole shoot: more than two days by canoe up the Sepik, then the Highlands of Enga around the Porgera gold mine.
For Arte, French director Daniel Vigne followed two young Papuans living between two worlds. Benneth could not settle in the city: he went back to his Iatmul village on the Sepik River to be initiated and become a Crocodile Man. Jethro lives near the Porgera gold mine in the Highlands and speaks for the families whose land has been changed by mining.
Daniel Vigne is the director of Le Retour de Martin Guerre (1982, three César awards). He has a long connection with Papua New Guinea and its art. Papous, entre deux mondes was filmed in 2012, produced by Cinétévé for ARTE France and broadcast on Arte on 28 September 2013. In February 2014 it was selected in competition at the 11th FIFO, the Oceania documentary film festival in Tahiti.
Up the Sepik by canoe
It was an ambitious shoot. To follow Benneth home, the crew travelled up the Sepik with him: more than two days by canoe. Papua New Guinea Fixer organised everything on the ground: canoes, travel, accommodation, food and security, on the river and later in the Highlands.
Becoming a Crocodile Man
The Iatmul live along the middle Sepik. Their young men are initiated in the haus tambaran, the men’s house, where the skin of the back and chest is cut in patterns that recall the scales of the crocodile, the ancestor of the clan. A ceremony like this cannot be filmed on request: it takes the agreement of the elders, the initiates and their families, and time spent in the village before the cameras roll.
Around the Porgera mine
The second part of the film was shot in Enga Province, around the Porgera gold mine, one of the largest mines in the country. Filming there was a challenge. The crew was not given access inside the mine, but we were able to film all around it, with the customary landowners whose land surrounds the site.
The film
| Film | Papous, entre deux mondes (Papuans, between two worlds) |
| Broadcaster | Arte (28 September 2013) |
| Director | Daniel Vigne |
| Production | Cinétévé for ARTE France |
| Camera | Axel Ferrault |
| Sound | Marc Soupa |
| Editing | Thierry Simonnet |
| Music | Ardag Basmadjian |
| Duration | 52 minutes |
| Filmed | 2012, Sepik and Enga Province |
| Festival | FIFO Tahiti 2014, in competition |
| Our role | Full organisation: logistics, travel, accommodation, food, security (credited as fixer in the end titles) |
Filming on the Sepik or in the Highlands?
River journeys, initiations and mining areas take time, trust and careful preparation.