Bikpela Bagarap reveals the human face of logging in Papua New Guinea.

Filmed undercover, it is a tale of exploitation and broken promises, where local people are treated as second-rate citizens in their own country by Malaysian logging companies and corrupt politicians.

Customary landowners are forced into signing documents they don’t understand, for the promise of “development” – fresh water, health and education, but these essential services are rarely provided. Instead, their traditional hunting grounds are destroyed, waterways polluted, and their way of life ruined forever.

Filmmaker David Fedele spent almost three months travelling solo in Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea, in order to film Bikpela Bagarap. Based in Vanimo town, David travelled extensively into the jungle visiting local villages and exploring current and past logging operations. A lot of time was also spent in two of the main logging camps in Sandaun Province – Maka Basecamp and Amanab 56 Basecamp.

Watch this film on Vimeo: English – French – German

For background or more information about the film, visit http://www.bikpelabagarap.com/

Note from the filmmaker
Bikpela Bagarap / Big Damage has been independently produced and funded. If you have been moved in any way by the film or the issues that it presents, please take it upon yourself to raise and spread awareness about the situation in Papua New Guinea.

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, it doesn’t make a sound”.