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Headhunt Revisited: With Brush, Canvas and Camera

Michele Westmorland

Headhunt Revisited

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Headhunt Revisited: With Brush, Canvas, and Camera is a timely story of an exceptional woman, a talented artist, and a respectful ally of indigenous peoples whose work continues to inspire artists in her native America and in her beloved Melanesia.

In the 1920s, society woman Caroline Mytinger graced the cover of Ladies' Home Journal. A talented portrait painter, she eschewed a predictable path, charting a course instead for the "headhunters" of Melanesia and establishing herself as one of the most fascinating yet unknown talents in American history. 

Headhunt Revisited retraces the journey of Caroline and her friend Margaret Warner, who crossed the Pacific on a quest to find and paint portraits of the indigenous people of Melanesia. From 1926–1930 they traveled throughout the region, carrying with them a growing collection of portraits, supplies for new works of art, and just enough money to ship their bodies home if needed.

As an artist, an explorer, and a woman, Caroline was ahead of her time. Existing on the margins of the local colonial establishment, Caroline worked against the then dominant views of Melanesian indigenous society as uncivilized and backward. She painted her subjects on their own terms, with pride and dignity, and her work is one of the first color interpretations of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islanders during the 20th century.

After four years, having braved numerous environmental threats including nearly losing the portraits during a volcanic eruption, Caroline returned with a wealth of documentation, including 25 oil paintings, more than 40 sketches, and journal entries that became the notes for two books on her travels. Upon returning to New York, the works were exhibited by Margaret Mead at the American Museum of Natural History, and continued on a national tour before being accessioned by Berkeley's Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology.

Eighty years later, Caroline's adventure inspired two contemporary artists. In 2005, photographer and film director Michele Westmorland set out to retrace Caroline's journey, and reconnect with the descendants of the individuals portrayed in Caroline's paintings.

During her Journey Michele also introduced Caroline's work to Jeffry Feeger, a renowned contemporary Papua New Guinean portrait artist. He embraced Caroline's work for its uniquely humanistic view and produced a series of his own paintings in dialogue with Caroline's artwork that capture "what it means to be a modern-day Papua New Guinean." His artwork and voice brings the legacy and story of Caroline Mytinger full circle.

Headhunt Revisited combines footage of Michele's visits with contemporary Melanesians, interviews with Jeffry and other contemporary artists, and archival footage to present a compelling story about art, identity and cultural memory.



SELECTED SCREENINGS
Winner, Best Foreign Documentary, LA Femme International Film Festival, California 
Friday Harbor Film Festival, Washington 
Festival International du Film documentaire Oceanian, Tahiti
Hawaii International Film Festival
Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival
Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival
Rochefort Pacfique in France

Reviews

"The film is at its best in the segments where descendants confront the portraits of ancestors -  such as the famous government interpreter Ahuia Ova, or sorceress Kori Tabora -  succeeding at both historicizing and bringing them to life. The portrait of Ahuia, resplendent in his feather headdress, inspires Westmorland to commission a copy by craftsman Siaka Heni, of Hanuabada, which she then deposits in the National Museum. Another innovative intervention is the introduction of Papua New Guinean artist Jeffry Feeger, who is invited to respond to the Mytinger canvases with his own artworks, which cleverly play off and reprise the themes of the originals with more contemporary subjects and concerns." –– Chris Ballard, The Journal of Pacific History
"Touching on a wide range of subjects––inclueding art, anthropology, 20th-century women's history, and Pacific Island culture––this is highly recommended." –– P. Hall, Video Librarian

Film Links

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Credits

HEADHUNT REVISITED: WITH BRUSH CANVAS AND CAMERA


Director

Michele Westmorland


Producers 

Michele Westmorland

Sandy Jeglum


Editor 

Sandy Jeglum


Consulting Producers 

Stratton Leopold

Kimberlee Bassford


Directors of Photography 

Jeff Streich, First Light Films

Emmanuel Narokobi, Masalai Communications


Original Music 

Eddie Freeman

 Marta Victoria


Sound Design

Icarus Music


Sponsors

Bank South Pacific

International League of Conservation Photographers

Walindi Resort & M.V. FeBrina

Reef & Rainforest 

Tufi Resort

Air Niugini

Lowepro


Executive Producers 

Alice Apley

Marcia and John Friede

Alice L. Robertson

Buffy Redsecker and Alan Chung

Nancy Rosenthal

Christopher and Alida Latham

The Kling Family Foundation

Julie Bratspis 

The Pollard Family - Australia

Justin Black, Visionary Wild

Lisa and Kevin Rodondi

Dr. Melissa K. Thomas

Kathy Vosters 

Jerry Fielder

Daniel Campbell-Benson


Co-Producer 

Rae Kataha Smart, Australia


Writer 

Elle Russ


Sound 

Austin Storms


Animation 

Mahima Tuladhar


Color

 John Davidson


Graphic Design 

leDoux Design


Digital Media Producer

 Sandy Jeglum


Additional Camera

McPolly Koima

Mellah Kilanget

Robert Weber

Clay Bolt

Morgan Heim

Krista Schlyer


Consulting Editors

Dina Guttmann

Jill Freidberg


Still Photography

Michele Westmorland


Archival Still Image Processing 

Sandy Jeglum


Historian

Dick Doyle


Anthropologists 

Dr. Andrew Moutu

Dr. Joshua A. Bell


Research

Mark Hancock

Karen Huntt


Transcriptions

Emilie Firn 

Key People


Public Relations

Ryan Davis 

Smarthouse Creative


Featuring

Lauren Hutton


Model/Actress as the Voice of 

Caroline Mytinger


Starring (in order of appearance)

Michele Westmorland

Dick Doyle

Dr. Joshua A. Bell

John Wayne

Dr. Andrew Moutu

Turiti Boso

Karen Huntt

Ujjiah Sotutu Maika

Terry Liva Maika

Jacob Virio

Freddy Lemeki

Jeffry Feeger

Martin Ebaia

Steven

Noevea Salagomgom

Ian Tauyona

Oala Mase Ikan

Maggie Mokiri Fintic 

Desmond Oala Mase

Siaka Heni

Reverend Fr. Michael J. Igo

Leontine Taita Veata

Chief Davidson Yari-Yari and Kofure Village


Legal Counsel

Nancy E. Wolff, Partner

Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard, LLP


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FESTIVALS AND SCREENINGS

Hawaii International Film Festival

Cascadia International Women's Film Festival

Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival

Rochefort Pacfique, France

Winner, Best Foreign Documentary, LA Femme International Film Festival, California 

Friday Harbor Film Festival, Washington 

Festival International du Film documentaire Oceanian, Tahiti

Hawaii International Film Festival

Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival

Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival

Rochefort Pacfique in France


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