|
|
|
|
Headhunt Revisited
|
Secondary Title:
|
: With Brush, Canvas and Camera
|
|
Filmmaker Name:
|
Michele Westmorland
|
|
Film Length:
|
76 min
|
|
Film Year:
|
2017
|
|
Duration:
|
76-90 min
|
|
Decade:
|
2010s
|
|
Color:
|
color
|
|
Closed-captioned:
|
Closed-captioned
|
|
Region:
|
Oceania
|
|
[ <script/style> code inserted at beginning of text ]
Headhunt Revisited: With Brush, Canvas, and Camera is a timely story of an exceptional woman, a talented artist, and a respectful ally of indigenous peoples whose work continues to inspire artists in her native America and in her beloved Melanesia.
In the 1920s, society woman Caroline Mytinger graced the cover of Ladies' Home Journal. A talented portrait painter, she eschewed a predictable path, charting a course instead for the "headhunters" of Melanesia and establishing herself as one of the most fascinating yet unknown talents in American history.
Headhunt Revisited retraces the journey of Caroline and her friend Margaret Warner, who crossed the Pacific on a quest to find and paint portraits of the indigenous people of Melanesia. From 1926–1930 they traveled throughout the region, carrying with them a growing collection of portraits, supplies for new works of art, and just enough money to ship their bodies home if needed.
As an artist, an explorer, and a woman, Caroline was ahead of her time. Existing on the margins of the local colonial establishment, Caroline worked against the then dominant views of Melanesian indigenous society as uncivilized and backward. She painted her subjects on their own terms, with pride and dignity, and her work is one of the first color interpretations of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islanders during the 20th century.
After four years, having braved numerous environmental threats including nearly losing the portraits during a volcanic eruption, Caroline returned with a wealth of documentation, including 25 oil paintings, more than 40 sketches, and journal entries that became the notes for two books on her travels. Upon returning to New York, the works were exhibited by Margaret Mead at the American Museum of Natural History, and continued on a national tour before being accessioned by Berkeley's Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology.
Eighty years later, Caroline's adventure inspired two contemporary artists. In 2005, photographer and film director Michele Westmorland set out to retrace Caroline's journey, and reconnect with the descendants of the individuals portrayed in Caroline's paintings.
During her Journey Michele also introduced Caroline's work to Jeffry Feeger, a renowned contemporary Papua New Guinean portrait artist. He embraced Caroline's work for its uniquely humanistic view and produced a series of his own paintings in dialogue with Caroline's artwork that capture "what it means to be a modern-day Papua New Guinean." His artwork and voice brings the legacy and story of Caroline Mytinger full circle.
Headhunt Revisited combines footage of Michele's visits with contemporary Melanesians, interviews with Jeffry and other contemporary artists, and archival footage to present a compelling story about art, identity and cultural memory.
"The film is at its best in the segments where descendants
confront the portraits of ancestors - such as the famous government
interpreter Ahuia Ova, or sorceress Kori Tabora - succeeding at both
historicizing and bringing them to life. The portrait of Ahuia, resplendent in
his feather headdress, inspires Westmorland to commission a copy by craftsman Siaka
Heni, of Hanuabada, which she then deposits in the National Museum. Another
innovative intervention is the introduction of Papua New Guinean artist Jeffry
Feeger, who is invited to respond to the Mytinger canvases with his own
artworks, which cleverly play off and reprise the themes of the originals with
more contemporary subjects and concerns."
–– Chris Ballard, The Journal of Pacific History
"Touching on a wide range of subjects––inclueding art, anthropology, 20th-century women's history, and Pacific Island culture––this is highly recommended."
–– P. Hall, Video Librarian
SELECTED SCREENINGSWinner, Best Foreign Documentary, LA Femme International Film Festival, California
Friday Harbor Film Festival, Washington
Festival International du Film documentaire Oceanian, Tahiti
Hawaii International Film Festival
Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival
Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival
Rochefort Pacfique in France
HEADHUNT REVISITED: WITH BRUSH CANVAS AND CAMERA
Director
Michele Westmorland
Producers
Michele Westmorland
Sandy Jeglum
Editor
Sandy Jeglum
Consulting Producers
Stratton Leopold
Kimberlee Bassford
Directors of Photography
Jeff Streich, First Light Films
Emmanuel Narokobi, Masalai Communications
Original Music
Eddie Freeman
Marta Victoria
Sound Design
Icarus Music
Sponsors
Bank South Pacific
International League of Conservation Photographers
Walindi Resort & M.V. FeBrina
Reef & Rainforest
Tufi Resort
Air Niugini
Lowepro
Marcia and John Friede
Alice L. Robertson
Buffy Redsecker and Alan Chung
Nancy Rosenthal
Christopher and Alida Latham
The Kling Family Foundation
Julie Bratspis
The Pollard Family - Australia
Justin Black, Visionary Wild
Lisa and Kevin Rodondi
Dr. Melissa K. Thomas
Kathy Vosters
Jerry Fielder
Daniel Campbell-Benson
Co-Producer
Rae Kataha Smart, Australia
Writer
Elle Russ
Sound
Austin Storms
Animation
Mahima Tuladhar
Color
John Davidson
Graphic Design
leDoux Design
Digital Media Producer
Sandy Jeglum
Additional Camera
McPolly Koima
Mellah Kilanget
Robert Weber
Clay Bolt
Morgan Heim
Krista Schlyer
Consulting Editors
Dina Guttmann
Jill Freidberg
Still Photography
Michele Westmorland
Archival Still Image Processing
Sandy Jeglum
Historian
Dick Doyle
Anthropologists
Dr. Andrew Moutu
Dr. Joshua A. Bell
Research
Mark Hancock
Karen Huntt
Transcriptions
Emilie Firn
Key People
Public Relations
Ryan Davis
Smarthouse Creative
Featuring
Lauren Hutton
Model/Actress as the Voice of
Caroline Mytinger
Starring (in order of appearance)
Michele Westmorland
Dick Doyle
Dr. Joshua A. Bell
John Wayne
Dr. Andrew Moutu
Turiti Boso
Karen Huntt
Ujjiah Sotutu Maika
Terry Liva Maika
Jacob Virio
Freddy Lemeki
Jeffry Feeger
Martin Ebaia
Steven
Noevea Salagomgom
Ian Tauyona
Oala Mase Ikan
Maggie Mokiri Fintic
Desmond Oala Mase
Siaka Heni
Reverend Fr. Michael J. Igo
Leontine Taita Veata
Chief Davidson Yari-Yari and Kofure Village
Legal Counsel
Nancy E. Wolff, Partner
Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard, LLP
*******
FESTIVALS AND SCREENINGS
Hawaii International Film Festival
Cascadia International Women's Film Festival
Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival
Rochefort Pacfique, France
Winner, Best Foreign Documentary, LA Femme International Film Festival, California
Friday Harbor Film Festival, Washington
Festival International du Film documentaire Oceanian, Tahiti
Hawaii International Film Festival
Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival
Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival
Rochefort Pacfique in France
Film site
Review, Video Librarian, November - December 2019, Vol 34 (6):56.
|
|
|
The
Shopping Cart
is currently empty
|