Cannibal Tours

‘I wonder if their way of life is better than ours, truly living with nature.’ ‘The experts say they are happy, well-fed, satisfied.’ ‘That's right. The problem is apathy and indolence.’ ‘But we must try to help them advance in the world. To educate and stimulate them to behave differently.’ This is a short dialogue from “CANNIBAL TOURS”, in which tourists discuss the life of the aborigines along the Sepik River. They are on a luxury river cruise through the jungle of New Guinea. “CANNIBAL TOURS” examines the differences and the surprising similarities that come to light when ‘civilised’ and ‘primitive’ peoples come together. Director and Joris Ivens jurymember Dennis O’Rourke says about his film that it visualises two journeys: the cruise that is actually shown and a journey in the metaphysical sense of the word. In the latter, an attempt is made to find an answer to the question how people see ‘the other’. O'Rourke wryly observes the ‘visitors’ and the ‘visited’, giving both parties ample room to comment on each other’s behaviour.