Screening of a West Papuan documentary ‘Strange Birds in Paradise’

Parinya Boonridrerthaikul, Director of Amnesty International (Thailand) will inaugurate the DVD, which will be followed by a screening of ‘Strange Birds in Paradise’ a documentary about West Papua. The post-screening discussion will feature panelists: Phil Robertson, Deputy Director, Asia Division of Human Rights Watch and Wensislaus Fatubun, a West Papuan Human Rights activist.

Info: ‘Strange Birds in Paradise’ by Charlie Hill-Smith

The story is in the form of an expedition of imagination and discovery in the hidden Indonesian province of West Papua. The film exposes the sad history and desperate hopes of Jacob and Donny who escaped oppression and exile, listen to the defiant songs of murdered musician and independence hero Arnold Ap, and follow Charlie when he confronts the basic question: how can two vibrant cultures, Melanesian and Javanese, be at war and why the rest of the world doesn’t care? This film about the search for answers through the archival footage of recent Indonesian history. He seeks out experts and revisits his own innocent tourist footage shot many years ago in West Papua and returns to Java to discover a local political resistance.

This film is written and directed by Charlie Hill-Smith and produced by Jamie Nicolai with co-producer John Cherry. 

Refreshments will feature West Papuan cuisine.

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