About
Ophir tells the story of an extraordinary Indigenous revolution for life, land and culture: a poetic and dramatic ode to the thirst for freedom, culture and sovereignty. The film sheds light on the biggest conflict of the Pacific since WWII, revealing the visible and invisible chains of colonisation and its enduring cycles of physical and psychological warfare.
Voiced entirely by the Indigenous people of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, the film deconstructs the mechanisms of exploitation through the colonisation of land and its people, who at the end of the 1980s were left with no choice but to revolt for their right to exist. A small group of islanders first armed with bows and arrows fought helicopters and guns. They defiantly defended the core principles that formed the basis of their society, in the face of absolute destruction of their mental, physical, and spiritual conception of what it means to be human.
It was a decade-long civil war which killed around 20,000 Bougainvilleans, wiping out approximately 10% of the island's population.
The people of Bougainville ultimately won in their fight against the colonial powers, in a bid to secede from their motherland Papua New Guinea, despite the government's support from Australia and one of the biggest of the mining giants, Rio Tinto.
Reviews
“(5 out of 5 stars)...may be the best environmental documentary I have ever seen. It is rare to see an indigenous lead revolution succeed, and rarer still to hear about such success. This documentary gives the viewer a chance to hear the residents of Bougainville speak for themselves in their own words. They speak of colonialism and all of its faces. Beautiful poetry is used to drive this documentary from segment to segment, connecting the thoughts and ideas spoken by this film’s subjects to one another through cultural expression." – J. Zimmerman, Video Librarian
“Edifying... A remarkable reflection on the aftermath of an anti-colonial struggle.” – Christine Chaumeau, Télérama TTT
“It's just really an incredible film. It plays out like a Greek tragedy.” – Gabrielle Kelly, Guam IFF 2020 Jury Member
“The things that the filmmakers managed to see and film are quite exceptional.” – Eric Barbier, FIFO 2020 Jury President
Subjects:
Indigenous Studies:
Credits
Assistant Director
Nathan Matbob
Writers
Alexandre Berman
Olivier Pollet
Cinematography & Sound
Alexandre Berman
Olivier Pollet
Producers
Ilann Girard (Arsam International)
Olivier Pollet (Fourth World Films)
Kristian Lasslett (Ulster University)
Editors
Alexandre Berman
Marie Estelle Dieterlé
Research
Theonila Roka-Matob
Additional Research
Clive Porabou
Composer
Xavier Thiry
Sound Mix
Thomas Musso
Colorist
Jean-Christophe Savelli
Communications
Aditi Bhonagiri