ESCAPE TO PAPUA-NEW GUINEA (2015)
Episode 5 – The Mighty Sepik, the longest river of Papua New Guinea is known as the living anthropological museum. Local tribes remain very proud of their crocodile cult, only practiced today in a few villages. Each village has its own characteristic and very distinct crocodile pattern. We had the opportunity to witness these patterns carved into the skin of village men in a very painful and dangerous ritual.
The atmosphere in Marab, a village hidden deep in the wild, is bursting with raw human spirit – the air is full of ancient mystery the and power of hypnotizing drums is palpable. Local men experience the ritual metamorphosis from boyhood to manhood, our camera capture this for the first time ever.
On a small canoe, we continue to travel through previously unexplored diversity, learning about rare cultures, their traditions and unique tribal art typical in this captivating part of Papua New Guinea. After experiencing life on the Sepik we move to neighbor islands, bastions of a vast wilderness. While swimming with the sharks, turtles and other fascinating underwater creatures we discover coral reefs with one of the widest diversity of marine life in the world.
- Production: Escape to Nature
- Script: Libor Spacek and Petra Dolezalova
- Director: Libor Spacek
- Camera/DoP: Libor Spacek
- Aerial Camera: Dragan Trifunovic (Serbia)
- Commentary: Petra Dolezalova
- Commentary read: Robert Polo, Amy Huck
- Sound: KlenkaSound
- Music: Michal Dvorak
- Dramaturgy: Ladislava Jirova
- Edit: Vilem Srail
Runtime: 52min : 10sec
Format: PAL, 16:9, Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Languages: Czech, English
Locations of our stay during filming:
Papua New Guinea:
– Tufi Dive Resort
– Wewak (Kraimbit Village, Palimbe/Kanganamun, Wagu Lakes, Apangai Village)
– Loloata Island Resort
New Britain:
– East part of island – Kokopo Beach Bungalow Resort
– West part of island – Walindi Resort & M.V. FeBrina
This project is being created in co-production with Ceska televize (National Czech TV)
The main partner of the project Escape to Papua New Guinea is Investiční společnost České spořitelny, a.s. (the Investment Company Czech Savings Bank)
Testimonial:
“The Escape to Nature Series is nothing less than exceptional documentary film productions. The latest’s episode: Escape to Papua New Guinea, transports the viewer to an island paradise and from there experience nature both above and below. The film brings onto the screen the unique flora & fauna of the island’s terrestrial animals and then slips beneath the waters to see a world few people will ever experience. As Libor and Petra explore the underwater world of Papua New Guinea they take the audience on a journey to see sharks, cuttlefish, brilliant corals, clowns fish among anemones. Once back on the surface they continue their journey into the jungles that few westerners will ever see and introduce the audience to the indigenous people of the island. The film is unique in anyways and one highlight is the initiation of the
Christopher J. Gervais, Founder & CEO
Wildlife Conservation Film Festival
& Biodiversity Conference
