BY DON HOOK
A SYMPOSIUM ON Maslyn Williams’ historic film New Guinea Patrol will be held at the Australian National University in Canberra on Friday.
The film, released in 1958, recorded the experiences of a government patrol north west of Tari in the Southern Highlands, including the first contacts made by patrol officers with local people.
At the time, it was described as the film that had been “crying out” to be made following extravagant media reports about the discovery of the ‘Shangri-la’ or Lebani Valley by a petroleum prospecting patrol in 1954.
From 1955, a series of exploratory patrols led by James Sinclair set out to extend control over the area.
The convener of the one-day symposium, Dr Jane Landman, researches film history with a special interest in Australian films made in the Pacific. She teaches media studies at Victoria University, Melbourne.
The program includes a panel discussion with James Sinclair, and a paper entitled North West of Tari by Chris Ballard, an ANU historian with an interest in the history of colonial encounters in PNG.
He has long-term field experience in the Tari-Koroba region where New Guinea Patrol was filmed.
Full program details: www.vu.edu.au/events/new-guinea-patrol-one-day-symposium
Venue: Seminar Room A, Coombs Building, ANU, starting at 9.30am
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