The Gospel According to the Papuans

A film by Thomas Balmes

With gentle irony, this film records the overlay of Christianity on native beliefs that occurs in the Huli tribe, one of seven hundred tribes living in Papua New Guinea. In many areas of the world where Christian missionaries have brought their message, similar confusions and misconceptions abound.
Recently, two rival groups of missionaries appeared in Papua, one Catholic and the other Seventh Day Adventists, creating competition for conversions. In past years, other Christian churches like the Lutherans, Methodists and Apostolics had tried to convert the tribe, with varying degrees of success. When chief Ghini agrees to be baptized a Catholic after being bribed with a shirt and tie, a large proportion of the Hulis follow. But first there were heated debates comparing their ancient spiritual beliefs with the tenets of Catholicism. One man argues, "Missionaries only came here to stop our traditions … they couldn’t show me God or bring him to me."
Chief Ghini organizes the sacrificial slaughter of a pig, which is divided up among the soon-to-be baptized. The film builds to a great baptismal ceremony, revealing the divisions among the tribe created by competing missionaries.

52 min. Video or DVD. Sale $350. Video rental $75.

International Documentary Festival, Amsterdam, 2000
Margaret Mead Film Festival, 2000

"This production is flawless...Recommended for undergraduate courses in sociology or anthropology..."
MCJournal: The Journal of Academic Media Librarianship