Papua New Guinea men recount their experiences when war came to their islands in 1942. During three years a million Americans, 300,000 Japanese and nearly half a million Australians fought their way across the country. Cut into their memories are archival film sequences shot by Japanese, American and Australian cameramen and the songs and poems of black men and white writing about life and death in time of war. Now the men speak passionately of the white man’s promises, made to them in war and never kept in peace.
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Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
016969
Language
English
Audience classification
PG
Subject categories
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → War
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → World War, 1939-1945
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → World War, 1939-1945 - Australia
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → World War, 1939-1945 - Japan
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → World War, 1939-1945 - Papua New Guinea
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → World War, 1939-1945 - United States
Documentary → Documentary films - Australia
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)
16mm film; Preservation Print (Section 5)
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)
16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)