Cannibal Tours

The documentary was shot around the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea. The camera follows European and American tourists who come to the region. The tourists move from village to village. They drive hard bargains over handcrafted goods. They pay to watch ceremonies that were once sacred. They photograph every part of what they see. To them the life here is a primitive spectacle. The director talks to the tourists and puts questions to them. The more they talk, the more they give away how they see things. A widespread sense of superiority comes out of it. This time the camera makes them the object of study. Even the plainest daily task turns exotic in their eyes. The film makes tourism itself the question. The seventy two minute documentary travels along the Sepik River. It is an Australian and Papua New Guinean co-production Dennis O’Rourke finished in 1988.