Can eleven of 16mm film by Oskar Speck

Photographer Oskar Speck (1907 - 1993)

Date1937

Object numberANMS0547[011]

NameFilm

MediumCellulose acetate reel of film 1- Acetate (measured by NFSA)

ClassificationsAudio visual material

Credit LineANMM Collection Nancy Jean Steele Bequest

Terms

DescriptionFilm contains scenes of large dancing crowds, women weaving, canoes and kayaks on the water and cooking on the beach, Papua New Guinea. 00:00 – 00:40 SMPTE colour bars then blank. 00:41 A crowd has gathered around, watching. Two men are holding a spit with rabbits (?), above the drummer. 00:55 Several men in ceremonial dress (grass skirts and shell necklaces) are dancing on the spot. 01:43 Marchers, in a formation, marching on the spot while playing the drums. 01:57 Cock fighting – various shots of the watching crowd, close ups of chickens and the owners parading prize chickens around the ring. The men and boys wear white shirts and sarongs. 04:15 Man in foreground, holding long chicken feathers, dancing on a dirt floor. Behind him a crowd dances too. Man in the white shirt comes back into frame and the man in the striped shirt leaves. 04:48 A man in a long skirt, dances down a dirt road, with a crowd of onlookers following him in a semi-circle. They all appear to be wearing traditional costume and moving to the beat of a drum/song. A second man joins him in the centre of the circle. The circle seems to be predominately made up of women. 05:55 Another shot of the circle, from a different angle. The women have small drums under their right arms. 06:25 A woman is asleep, on the ground, with four small drums beside her. She wears a shell bracelet on her wrist. 06:36 Two men crouching, holding chickens attempting to fight each other. 07:00 Overhead shot of people playing a game with small tokens. 07:12 Two people dancing with ceremonial swords, with a line of women dancing and playing drums behind them. Various shots. 09:37 Man playing a trumpet with beach in the background. Close up of trumpet player. White/bank (this was the end of ANMS0547[001]_1 at this point). 10:15 Camp at a beach. 10:39 Large canoe with a man wearing a hat, coming into shore. 10:50 Child cooking food on a small fire at the beach. 11:37 Canoes on the water and the tide coming it (panning shot to the left). Shots of long huts on the beach. Shot of church and surrounding village. 13:37 Woman weaving. Another shot of a woman weaving with a child on her lap. 14:07 Various shots of canoes at sea and coming into shore. 14:33 Shot of beachside village from nearby cliff. 15:57 Shots of village life – cooking food, walking around, details of the huts and weaving. 17:10 Frames of partially built huts. 18:35 Weaving with large fern leaves. (This was the end of ANMS0547[008]_4). (From here the film is a copy of most of ANMS0547[008]_1). 19:21 Two men playing drums; the one of the left plays a drum on his hip, the person on the right plays a long drum from between their knees. A line of women move to the left, behind the drummers. The shot pans around showing more dancers moving to the left, in a large circle. Several other shots, from different angles of the scene. 20:42 Group of children playing flutes. 21:08 Three women, in silhouette, working large poles up and down, in front of a thatched hut. 21:27 Shot of a lone kayak coming down a wide river. Speck (?) comes into shore, greeted by a crowd who then carry his canoe up the hills. 22:05 Man standing in front of a hut, wearing a loincloth, holding two poles. 22:12 Beach. 22:42 End of film. The first part of the film is a mirrored version of the middle of ANMS0547[001]_1. The second part of the film is a copy of ANMS0547[008]_4 and parts of ANMS0547[008]_1.