Synopsis:
Ophir tells the story of an extraordinary indigenous revolution for life, land and culture, leading up to the potential creation of the world’s newest nation in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. A poetic yet dramatic ode to the indelible 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.
Directors Bios:
Alexandre Berman
Alexandre Berman is a French documentary filmmaker and editor, based in Paris, France. He co-directs the documentary “The Panguna Syndrome” with Olivier Pollet and the film is a finalist for Albert Londres Prize 2017 in France. In 2018, his feature documentary “Norvège: Les Ombres sur la Mer” captures cultural heritage stories in Norway. Part of the relaunch of French “Connaissance du Monde” cinema circuit, it is screened in France and Switzerland for several months across 2018 and 2019.
Olivier Pollet
Olivier Pollet is an investigative journalist, researcher and documentary director and producer based in the UK. Olivier directed and produced the documentary “Canning Paradise” (2012, 90min) which won several awards and was nominated for an F4 Factual Awards at the AIDC, as best emerging factual filmmaker in Australia. He also co-directed “When we were Hela” (2014, 14min) which featured in the Nation and the Guardian, and co-directed with Alexandre Berman and co-produced “The Panguna Syndrome”, which was a finalist for the Albert Londres Prize 2017, the most prestigious journalism award in France. He created the web-documentary platform “The Colonial Syndrome,” released in late 2020 as a multimedia complement to the feature documentary “Ophir”.