Copyright 2026, Documentary Educational Resources https://store.der.org/berman-alexandre-c1063all.aspx Mon, 21 Sep 2026 13:00:53 GMT 60 Nexternal RSS 2.0 en-us https://store.der.org/ophir-p1070.aspx Product1070 Fri, 6 May 2022 14:37:33 GMT <div style="float:left"><a class="url" href="https://store.der.org/ophir-p1070.aspx"><img src="//cdn.nexternal.com/der/images/ophir.jpg" alt="Ophir" border="0" hspace="3"></a></div><span class="riRssTitle"><a href="https://store.der.org/ophir-p1070.aspx">Ophir</a></span><br><a href="https://store.der.org/ophir-p1070.aspx">Buy Now:</a> <span color="#990000"><b>$320.00</b></span> <br /><br /><div><div><i>Ophir</i> tells the story of an extraordinary Indigenous revolution for life, land and culture: a poetic and dramatic ode to the thirst for freedom, culture and sovereignty. The film sheds light on the biggest conflict of the Pacific since WWII, revealing the visible and invisible chains of colonisation and its enduring cycles of physical and psychological warfare.</div><div><br />Voiced entirely by the Indigenous people of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, the film deconstructs the mechanisms of exploitation through the colonisation of land and its people, who at the end of the 1980s were left with no choice but to revolt for their right to exist. A small group of islanders first armed with bows and arrows fought helicopters and guns. They defiantly defended the core principles that formed the basis of their society, in the face of absolute destruction of their mental, physical, and spiritual conception of what it means to be human.</div><div><br />It was a decade-long civil war which killed around 20,000 Bougainvilleans, wiping out approximately 10% of the island's population.</div><div><br />The people of Bougainville ultimately won in their fight against the colonial powers, in a bid to secede from their motherland Papua New Guinea, despite the government's support from Australia and one of the biggest of the mining giants, Rio Tinto.</div><blockquote><div><i>“(5 out of 5 stars)...may be the best environmental documentary I have ever seen. It is rare to see an indigenous lead revolution succeed, and rarer still to hear about such success. This documentary gives the viewer a chance to hear the residents of Bougainville speak for themselves in their own words. They speak of colonialism and all of its faces. Beautiful poetry is used to drive this documentary from segment to segment, connecting the thoughts and ideas spoken by this film’s subjects to one another through cultural expression."&nbsp;</i>– J. Zimmerman, Video Librarian<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>“Edifying... A remarkable reflection on the aftermath
of an anti-colonial struggle.”</i>&nbsp;– Christine Chaumeau, Télérama&nbsp;TTT</div><div><br /></div><div><i>“It's just really an incredible film. It plays out like a Greek tragedy.”</i> – Gabrielle Kelly, Guam IFF 2020 Jury Member</div><div><br /></div><div><i>“The things that the filmmakers managed to see and film are quite exceptional.”</i> – Eric Barbier, FIFO 2020 Jury President&nbsp;&nbsp;</div></blockquote><div><div><b>Selected Screenings &amp; Awards</b></div><div>Society for Visual Anthropology Film and Media Festival, Toronto, 2023</div><div><i>Grand Prix</i>, FIFO Int'l Documentary Film Festival of Oceania, Tahiti, 2020</div><div><div><i>Grand Prix ‘Sol de Oro’</i>, Suncine Environmental Film Festival, Barcelona, Spain, 2020<br /></div><div><i>Grand Jury Prize</i>, Feature Documentary Competition, Guam Int'l Film Festival, USA, 2020</div><div><i>Grand Prix Rigoberta Menchú,</i> Montréal First Peoples Festival, Canada, 2020<br /></div><div><i>Audience Award</i>, Noma Int'l Human Rights Film Festival, Portugal, 2021<br /></div><div><i>Best Feature Film</i>, All Living Things Environmental Film Festival, Panchgani, India, 2021<br /></div><div><i>Best Foreign Film Award</i>, AegeanDocs Int'l Film Festival, Greece, 2021<br /></div></div><div><i>Film of the Year</i>, FICA Festival Internacional de Cine Ambiental, Goias, Brazil, 2021<br /></div><div><i>RAI Film Prize &amp; Basil Wright Prize Nominee</i>, RAI Film Festival, 2021</div><div><i>Silver Award, </i>Millenium Int'l Documentary Film Festival, Brussels, Belgium, 2021<br /><i>Grand Prix Best Feature Film, </i>Cinema e Ambiente Avezzano, Italy, 2021<br /><i>Special Jury Prize ‘Coup de Coeur du Jury’,</i> Martinique Int'l Doc FF, Martinique, 2021<br /><i>Special Jury Mention, </i>Noma Int'l Human Rights Film Festival, Portugal, 2021<br /><i>1st Special Jury Prize, Ecology of the Soul,</i> Green Montenegro Int'l Film Festival, Montenegro, 2021<br /><i>Best International Feature Film,</i> PukaÑawi Int'l Human Rights Film Festival of Sucre, Bolivia, 2021<br /><i>2nd Jury Prize, International Documentaries, </i>Int'l Nature Film Festival Gödöllő, Hungary, 2021<br /><i>Best Feature Film, </i>Festiver Festival de Cine Verde de Barichara, Colombia, 2021<br /><i>Benedetto Senni Award,</i> Terra di Tutti Film Festival, Italy, 2021<br /><i>Best Feature Film, Youth Jury,</i> Serra de Estrela Int’l Environmental Film Festival, Portugal, 2021<br /><i>Best Documentary Feature Film, </i>Dili Int'l Film Festival, Timor-Leste, 2021<br /><i>Best Environmental Film,</i> Bogocine Bogota Int'l Film Festival, Colombia, 2021<br /><i>Best Feature Film,</i> Mallku Features, Arica Nativa Festival, Chile, 2021<br /><i>Best Script,</i> Filmambiente Festival, Brazil, 2021<br /><i>Best Feature Film,</i> Greenfest Belgrade, Serbia, 2021</div><div><i>Environmental Justice Award,</i> Eugene Environmental Film Festival, USA, 2022<br /><i>Best International Feature Film</i>, Ecozine Film Festival, Spain, 2022</div><div><i>Best Feature Documentary Award</i>, Gibara Int'l Film Festival, Cuba, 2022<br /><i><i>Best Film, </i>Best Feature Documentary</i>, Int'l Documentary Film Festival of Ierapetra, Greece, 2022<br /><i>Invited in Competition</i>, Asia Pacific Screen Awards, 2022<br /></div></div><br /><br />Visit <a href="https://store.der.org/berman-alexandre-c1063all.aspx">Berman, Alexandre</a> to see additional products in this category.</div>