Election Fever: Kanjimei, East Sepik 2012

Abstract

Public screening

What do elections really mean in a small, isolated village in PNG? This observational film focuses on Kanjimei village in East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, picking up at the time when outsiders arrive to campaign for candidates in a national election. Disillusioned by governmental neglect the Awiakay people of Kanjimei follow the enthusiastic campaigners with cynicism and astute observations about PNG politics and politicians. The film was shot towards the end of Darja’s recent return fieldtrip to Kanjimei village in East Sepik Province, as a part of a bigger project of making a film ethnography of the Awiakay people, which will be intertwined with her PhD thesis in Anthropology.