strictly business
Digital Technology
NAME KATHERINE REKI, FILMMAKER HER FILM MY MOTHER’S BLOOD BASED MADANG, MADANG PROVINCE Katherine Reki had dreamt of having her stories made into a film, but never thought she would be the one writing, directing and editing a movie from start to finish. But, in 2015, she entered the Commonwealth Foundation Pacific Shorts competition (commonwealthwriters.org/ pacific-voices) and won. “I was pretty surprised I got picked. I had a lot of selfdoubt, but after going through the process of making the film I realised I can do this sort of work.”
Reki’s digital short film, My Mother’s Blood, shines a spotlight on sorcery-related violence in PNG and how women are valued in society. The Divine Word University graduate and mother of four children has had her film screened in Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, the UK, and, finally, in her home country at the 2018 PNG Human Rights Film Festival. “A lot of people have thanked me for making the film and encouraged me to do more movies to highlight social issues in PNG. It was important to make this film,” she says.
NAME MELLAH KILANGIT, FILMMAKER BASED PORT MORESBY, CENTRAL PROVINCE A computer science graduate from Unitech, Mellah Kilangit never planned to be a filmmaker, but eight years ago a cousin asked him to shoot and produce a music video and he hasn’t looked back. “I was working in the mines and I would work on films during my breaks. I am entirely self taught. I went online and learnt the basics and grew from there.” Kilangit does music videos and films for politicians, but he is passionate about using digital filmmaking to document the lives of ordinary Papua New Guineans. “Film is a medium to say the things you need to
say. We have 800-plus cultures and tribes in PNG – there are so many legends and stories I would like to tell through film.” Kilangit posts his passion projects to YouTube. At the moment, he believes there is not enough investment in filmmaking in PNG, but that shouldn’t stop those interested in pursuing it. “Just pick up a camera and go online and learn as much as you can,” he advises.
The stories in our ‘Strictly Business’ section were first published in PNG’s online business magazine, businessadvantagepng.com, and are re-published by arrangement with Business Advantage International.
January – February 2019
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