About the archive
The film archive of the Ethnologisches Museum and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst comprises around 4,000 films from different eras and regions, including numerous documentaries of ethnographic research. Within the framework of “The Collaborative Museum”, these collections will be examined in greater detail and processed together with the societies of origin. The project “A Slice of Life” is a starting point in this extensive process and takes a closer look at a small collection of ethnographic film material from Napamogona, a community in the Eastern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea.
The film
Together with the residents of Napamogona, the project team developed the idea of producing individual films from the extensive ethnographic film material. In addition to the archived material, the script also features events and stories from the village. Slightly modified, they form the plot of Papua New Guinea’s first telenovela. The pilot film “A Slice of Life – Opena Gosalo” mixes documentary aspects with acted scenes, creating a new type of telenovela and thus a whole new genre of ethnological film. The villagers themselves are the actors, while the community is involved in the entire production process, thereby also pursuing its own interests: offering edutainment for other groups in the highlands and presenting them with new ways of solving current problems (on such topics as war, violence, economics, etc.). The project team hopes to be able to produce the first season soon.
The film festival
The third pillar in this extensive project is the foundation of an ethnographic film festival called “Slices of Life” (SoL), hosted by the Humboldt Forum Berlin every other year. SoL is a collaborative event with GIEFF (German International Ethnographic Film Festival). SoL features current ethnographic films, preferably by Indigenous filmmakers, that address selected topics and issues (2022: Collaboration; 2024: Memory). The next SoL will take place in May 2026 at the HUF.
Slice of Life pilot film on YouTube
Project Key Info
Region: Papua New Guinea, Eastern Highlands
Community: Napamogona, Unggai-Bena
Cooperation partners: Daisy Meko Samuel, David Papuae, Karufe Kotile
Project management: Gina Knapp
Project duration: 03/2023 – 05/2025