Looking Forward to 2019!

As I write this newsletter, I’m reflecting on the incredible visit in Papua New Guinea last month.  My husband, George, joined me on a magical trip to spend time with some of our dearest friends in Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea.  Walidini Resort and the M/V FeBrina hosted us to celebrate the completion and release of the film they have intimately been a part of.  It was time to laugh, remember – and just blow some bubbles in this pristine bay and out at the Witu Islands.

What was an absolute delight was to show the film to guests at the resort, then on board FeBrina. A new audience now hearing the story of Caroline and Margaret for the first time. As we watched, the staff and crew were busy making sure all the guests were happy and while this was going on, many crew members kept trying to get little peeks of what was shown on the screen.  It was the following day that I learned from Josie Waiai, the crew came to have their own personal viewing of Headhunt Revisited and the comments relayed touched me and reminded me why I produced this film.

“It was an eye opening film to everyone about our country and the different cultures. Caroline captured many different stories of people and places in Melanesia. Breathtaking artwork she captured on her journey and are very admirable. What it taught us is to look at the present and future and to know the past. These two brave women took great risk each day to discover and capture our unique cultures in paintings . And today you are our Caroline with a good heart and strong.  You capture your portraits of our culture in a different way – through photography.”

From Isako Feka in Port Moresby:  Isako has been a dear friend and provided help during lectures, events and at the premiere in the capital city. She now has her own bamboo USB with the film. At a recent gathering of lady friends, Isako got back to me with comments.

One of the ladies, whose family roots come from Western Province and includes the Fly River Territory, said that she never knew how her people dressed 100 years ago. The painting of “Taupaurapi” and the historic footage was very important in addition to her surprise and approval of the journey Caroline and Margaret achieved. Isako added, “You would be my Oscar  winner for doing all this research and producing this movie for the Melanesian people to appreciate their cultural heritage.”

My personal dream is to have the film available to many more in the communities of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

But now is the time to make the film available to YOU!  As I said in the last newsletter, we were preparing the SHOP page on the website.  It’s ready for orders via PayPal, which has an option to use a credit card.  If you live in Australia, you won’t have to pay for long distance shipping. We have a limited supply of each of the formats with friend/supporter, Lynne Ainsworth.  More lovely items will be added for your shopping pleasure in the near future. 

All profits from sales of products goes directly to Mytinger Project, LLC to pay existing debt and future costs of screenings and other events.  If you are interested in hosting a screening, just contact me at screenings@headhuntrevisited.org or michele@westmorlandimages.com.

Requests for screenings and film products in an institutional/educational facility will be directed to Documentary Educational Resources.