Bridging the divide between two worlds

A new feature-length documentary by Victoria University of Wellington film studies senior lecturer Dr Paul Wolffram will have its world premiere at the 2017 New Zealand International Film Festival.

Close up of the face of a shaman from the Lak community of Papua New Guinea

What Lies That Way depicts Paul’s journey to a remote part of Papua New Guinea to take part in a traditional shamanistic ritual involving isolation, fasting, and going without water for five days.

Paul had spent time among the Lak community in the New Ireland region of Papua New Guinea 15 years earlier while doing field research for his PhD in ethnomusicology, but says his experience of the shaman practice was more of a spiritual encounter.

The aim of the ritual is to enhance the participant’s creative powers, and while it was physically and psychologically gruelling, Paul says it took him to a new level of cultural engagement.

“Part of the experience for me was turning off my analytical side. What we tend to do at universities is look at things theoretically, but the idea of doing this initiation was to open myself up to new ways of understanding.”

Paul was alone in the remote village with cinematographer Luke Frater and the local shaman Elson, who is in his eighties and had to fast as part of the ritual.

Paul says people in the local community were surprised by his willingness to take part in the ritual, as it had never been undertaken by an outsider before and is only practised by a few remaining elders in the region. “All societies and cultures change, and in some ways I’m bridging a gap between these two worlds. Many of the younger people there are really interested in the older traditions, but can’t access them anymore.”

After completing the film, Paul returned to Papua New Guinea to show it to the community where it was made. “They were thrilled to see themselves on screen,” he says. “A number of people came up to me afterwards—particularly younger people—and talked about their own desire to enter into the shaman practice. It’s nice to think that the film and my own initiation are a way of bolstering their pride and belief in their own cultural practices.”

What Lies That Way will screen in Auckland and Wellington as part of the New Zealand International Film Festival in August, and Paul hopes that New Zealand audiences will also gain something from the film.

“People are interested in different ways of understanding the world, and the film offers quite a privileged insight into this culture. I have a special position within this community so I can access these other ways of knowing—no tourist or adventurer could step into those worlds.”

This is Paul’s third film about culture in Papua New Guinea after Rubber’s Kastom (2011) and Stori Tumbuna: Ancestors' Tales (2011), which was invited to over 30 film festivals worldwide.

He says he chooses film to convey his experiences because of its ability to communicate across linguistic and cultural barriers. “Film is a really powerful medium for communicating narratives, ideas and emotional states.”

Paul says What Lies That Way is not intended to provide any answers—“it’s not a ‘how to’ guide on being a shaman. It takes you on a ride to another world of spirituality and creativity that is just so vastly different from our own.”

What Lies That Way screens on 1 and 8 August in Wellington, and 3 and 4 August in Auckland.

Watch the trailer for What Lies That Way and find out more about film.