Film taken by Oskar Speck in Papua New Guinea

Photographer Oskar Speck (1907 - 1993)

Date1938-1939

Object numberANMS0547[013]

NameFilm

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

ClassificationsAudio visual material

Credit LineANMM Collection Nancy Jean Steele Bequest

Terms

DescriptionFilm contains shots of dancing, huts, a classroom of students, communal eating and weaving, Papua New Guinea. 00:01 Dancers with large, pointy headdresses. 00:50 A class room (?), with large print of a steamer passenger liner on the wall. Shots of the students at their desks. 01:45 Dancers, moving in a large semicircle. 01:53 Mountains in the distance. 02:03 A dozen or so women sitting in the shade, under a tree. 02:20 Large canoe on the water with crew and passengers. Various shots. 02:50 Huts with thatched roofs. 03:05 Trying to raise the sail on a catamaran. 03:15 Close up detail of thatching. 03:40 Panning shot of men walking across the beach. 03:55 Three men preparing thatching for a roof and weaving. 04:22 Overhead shot of two-up/token game. Very crowded scene. 04:36 A person picking at a bush. 04:45 Curious youths looking at an empty turtle shell. Cleaning and removing parts of the shell. 05:16 Eating in a circle. 05:32 A woman weaving. 05:40 wide shot of thatched open huts for shade. Chickens and dogs in the scene. 06:30 Searching through the long grass with spears. 06:50 A man climbing a palm tree and cutting coconuts. 07:40 Group of men eating and sitting on the ground. 08:00 Man separating the leaves from the palm fronds. 08:15 (Out of focus). 08:25 Fishing boat, anchored in the water with mountain headland visible in the background. Camera pans right to show bay of anchored boats and catamarans. 08:55 Large fishing canoe. 09:05 Shot of huts, with chickens in foreground and a cooking fire in the middles of the shot. Palm trees in the background. 09:18 Children swimming with toy canoes. 09:35 Woman collecting water into small hallowed tree trunk. 09:55 Woman washing cloth by hand at work hole. 10:28 Women working with fleece. 10:58 Palm trees and rocky river to the beach. 11:20 Sharks head, decaying on sand. 11:28 Detail of thatched roofs. Several shots. 12:01 Shot of hut on rock, under a tree with stone fences. 12:25 Children playing near large boat. 12:44 Traditional animal sculpture. 13:00 Dancing in a circle, with feathered head dresses and spears, bows and arrows. Several shots. 15:48 End of film.