Dead Birds (1963)
• October 1st, 1963 • 1h 24min
Documentary
Overview
The film's title is borrowed from a Dani fable that Gardner recounts in voice-over. The Dani people, whom Gardner identifies mysteriously as "a mountain people," believe that there was once a great race between a bird and a snake, which was to determine the lives of human beings. Should men shed their skins and live forever like snakes, or die like birds? The bird won the race, dictating that man must die. The film's plot revolves around two characters, Weyak and Pua. Weyak is a warrior who guards the frontier between the land of his tribe and that of the neighboring tribe. Pua is a young boy whom Gardner depicts as weak and inept.
Make sure to check your pop-up blocker!!
Trailer
Similar Movies
Papua New Guinea: Anthropology on Trial
Released on: 1983-11-01
Documentary
"Papua New Guinea: Anthropology on Trial" was a 1983 episode of the PBS science documentary series N...
Power Meri
Released on: 2018-09-15
Documentary
Power Meri follows Papua New Guinea's first national women's rugby league team, the PNG Orchids, on ...
Birds from the Gods
Released on: 2004-01-01
Documentary
A Japanese animal photographer, Tadashi Shimada, captures crucial photographs of wild birds in Ocean...
Man without Pigs
Released on: 1990-01-01
Documentary
John Waiko is the first Papua New Guinea man to graduate with a PhD and be appointed a professor. He...
Along the Sepik
Released on: 1964-01-01
Documentary
Set on the Upper Sepik River in New Guinea, this film records the day-to-day experiences of Kiap (on...
Papua and Kalabahai, Weird Haunts of Strange People
Released on: 1933-09-09
Documentary
This Traveltalk series short visits Papua and Kalabahai.
Black Harvest
Released on: 1992-04-04
Documentary
Joe Leahy is the half-caste son of one of the first explorers of the Papua New Guinean interior. The...
Finding Amelia
Released on: 2024-08-07
Adventure, Documentary, History
In 1945, a group of Australian soldiers inadvertently stumbled across Amelia Earhart's downed airpla...
The Road to Home
Released on: 2015-01-01
Documentary
The Road to Home (2015), tells the story of Benny Wenda, the Nobel Peace Prize nominated West Papuan...
Disaster Capitalism
Released on: 2018-02-22
Documentary
A documentary that reveals the underbelly of the global aid and investment industry. It's a complex ...
Land of the Morning Star
Released on: 2003-01-01
Documentary
The western half of the island of New Guinea has been known by many names including Netherlands New ...
Into the Jungle
Released on: 2018-08-31
Documentary
Conservationists Jim and Jean Thomas braved the steamy jungles of Papua New Guinea to save a tree ka...
Eating With Cannibals
Released on: 2011-04-03
Documentary
National Geographic joins author and explorer Piers Gibbon as he investigates one of mankind's ultim...
Attenborough's Paradise Birds
Released on: 2015-01-29
Documentary, TV Movie
David Attenborough tells the remarkable story of how these " birds of paradise " have captivated exp...
With the Army
Released on: 1997-04-01
Documentary
A report following the dramatic events of the Sandline affair, which resulted in the resignation of ...
Baruya Muka Archival
Released on: 1991-02-03
Documentary
A detailed record of the first stage male initiation ceremony of the Baruya of the Eastern Highlands...
Human Nature
Released on: 2001-09-12
Drama, Comedy
A philosophical burlesque, Human Nature follows the ups and downs of an obsessive scientist, a femal...
Krippendorf's Tribe
Released on: 1998-02-27
Comedy, Family
After squandering his grant money, despondent and recently widowed anthropologist James Krippendorf ...