Research and traditional lore are neatly interlaced in this film by ethnomusicologist Paul Wolffram, who spent two years recording the culture of the Lak people in the remote southern region of New Ireland, New Guinea.
I was to become enmeshed in events that resulted in bloodshed and death. What’s more, I was held responsible.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2017
Stori Tumbuna: Ancestors’ Tales 2011
Both a fascinating look at the lives and culture of a remote and isolated people and a surprising jungle adventure, Stori Tumbuna brings the customs and mythologies of the Lak people of the New Guinea islands to vivid life. In 2001 ethnomusicologist and filmmaker Paul Wolffram visited the remote southern region of theisland ofNew Ireland to learn and record the music and dance traditions of the Lak. He spent over two years living and working there, adapting to village life, learning the language and rituals – and, as this film clearly testifies, becoming beguiled by the playful humour of the Lak men. However, the mysterious death of one of the village men led Wolffram to become entangled in village lore in ways he never intended. His Western curiosity got the better of him and he tried to find out more about the dreaded culprit, a monstrous wild man from the dense mountain jungles, known only as the ‘Song’. — MM