‘Food is life’: Documenting the politics of food in Melanesia
In this article, I discuss two recent examples of women’s filmmaking in Melanesia. The documentaries are Tanah Mama (2014), focused on West Papua and Café Niugini (2015), set in Papua New Guinea. Both films explore and represent food in profoundly different ways. Here, I consider their respective de...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Asia Pacific Network
2015-10-01
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| Series: | Pacific Journalism Review |
| Online Access: | https://ojs.aut.ac.nz/pacific-journalism-review/article/view/119 |
| _version_ | 1818744222108352512 |
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| author | Ceridwen Spark |
| author_facet | Ceridwen Spark |
| author_sort | Ceridwen Spark |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this article, I discuss two recent examples of women’s filmmaking in Melanesia. The documentaries are Tanah Mama (2014), focused on West Papua and Café Niugini (2015), set in Papua New Guinea. Both films explore and represent food in profoundly different ways. Here, I consider their respective depictions of food, demonstrating that Tanah Mama represents food as sustenance while Café Niugini renders food as ‘cuisine’ through the ‘creative performance’ of cookery. Nevertheless, and as I argue, both documentaries reflect the filmmakers’ interest in representing issues associated with food in the Pacific, including the importance of Indigenous access to land, population management, gender roles and the impact of changing cultural values on food consumption and health. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T02:40:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e029fbe0a36640e0b04a0ac3aa0125d8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1023-9499 2324-2035 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T02:40:52Z |
| publishDate | 2015-10-01 |
| publisher | Asia Pacific Network |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pacific Journalism Review |
| spelling | doaj.art-e029fbe0a36640e0b04a0ac3aa0125d82022-12-21T21:23:41ZengAsia Pacific NetworkPacific Journalism Review1023-94992324-20352015-10-0121210.24135/pjr.v21i2.119‘Food is life’: Documenting the politics of food in MelanesiaCeridwen SparkIn this article, I discuss two recent examples of women’s filmmaking in Melanesia. The documentaries are Tanah Mama (2014), focused on West Papua and Café Niugini (2015), set in Papua New Guinea. Both films explore and represent food in profoundly different ways. Here, I consider their respective depictions of food, demonstrating that Tanah Mama represents food as sustenance while Café Niugini renders food as ‘cuisine’ through the ‘creative performance’ of cookery. Nevertheless, and as I argue, both documentaries reflect the filmmakers’ interest in representing issues associated with food in the Pacific, including the importance of Indigenous access to land, population management, gender roles and the impact of changing cultural values on food consumption and health.https://ojs.aut.ac.nz/pacific-journalism-review/article/view/119 |
| spellingShingle | Ceridwen Spark ‘Food is life’: Documenting the politics of food in Melanesia Pacific Journalism Review |
| title | ‘Food is life’: Documenting the politics of food in Melanesia |
| title_full | ‘Food is life’: Documenting the politics of food in Melanesia |
| title_fullStr | ‘Food is life’: Documenting the politics of food in Melanesia |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘Food is life’: Documenting the politics of food in Melanesia |
| title_short | ‘Food is life’: Documenting the politics of food in Melanesia |
| title_sort | food is life documenting the politics of food in melanesia |
| url | https://ojs.aut.ac.nz/pacific-journalism-review/article/view/119 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ceridwenspark foodislifedocumentingthepoliticsoffoodinmelanesia |