BLACK HARVEST

BLACK HARVEST, an extraordinary, award-winning documentary, presents a harrowing view of a complex and disastrous conflict in the highlands of New Guinea. This film is the third installment in a trilogy produced by Australian husband and wife team Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson. FIRST CONTACT, their first film, reviews the consequences of the first encounters between white Australian prospectors and the highland natives of New Guinea. BLACK HARVEST continues the story begun in the second film, JOE LEAHY’S NEIGHBORS, of Joe Leahy, an illegitimate son of one of the white prospectors. Joe was accepted by neither white Australians or by black tribesmen. However, against many odds, Joe now owns a coffee plantation and is a leader in forging a link between the native and white worlds. BLACK HARVEST explores his problems as they relate to economic conditions and the eruption of an age-old war between two tribes. Before a week’s worth of harvesting is done, arrows are flying, guns are blazing and the wounded are piling up while the crops rot.

BLACK HARVEST is a powerful look at encounters between modern and ancient cultures without an annoying, politically correct message. It could not be reenacted with more power by even the most skilled actors. However, please note that some shots of war wounds and the staccato obscenity of a few heated exchanges are very troublesome.