First Contact

  • Documentary
10/1/1982
58

Storyline

First Contact is a 1983 documentary by Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson which recounts the discovery of a flourishing native population in the interior highlands of New Guinea in 1930 in what had been thought to be an uninhabited area. It is based on the book of the same name by the same authors. Inhabitants of the region and surviving members of the Leahy brothers' gold prospecting party recount their astonishment at this unforeseen meeting. The film includes still photographs taken by a member of the expedition and contemporary footage of the island's terrain. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Cast

Reviews

  • Geronimo1967

    The opening few quotes of this documentary suggested to me just how the Inca might have felt when Pizarro arrived on their doorstep in the 16th century and made his presence felt amongst natives who had never seen a white man. Those that these people did see were Australian prospectors who had moved inland from their increasingly impoverished local coastal locations on the island of New Guinea in search of gold. What we are now shown is an impressive collection of archive from these virgin territories in the 1930s where little had changed for the lives of the natives for generations. Needless to say, the new arrivals were better armed and placed to impose themselves on the more primitive culture they encountered, but although there were ini...

    June 21, 2025

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