On Air Highlights

Strange Birds in Paradise: A tale of West Papuan independence, culture and music

4 July 2011

Listen and download: MP3

Strange Birds in Paradise is an award winning feature length documentary, which takes a journey into West Papua culture and musical traditions and traces the struggle of the West Papuans for independence from Indonesia.

The film features two West Papuan refugees: Donny Roem, a recent exile from West Papua who escaped his homeland by crossing the Arafura Sea to Australia. The other is Jacob Rumbiak, who some consider the leader of the West Papuan government-in-exile. He was a child soldier in the West Papuan resistance movement and has spent 11 years in Indonesian prisons.

Strange Birds in Paradise tells their stories of oppression and torture through film and an exquisite soundtrack.

Presenter: Isabelle Genoux

Speakers:  Charlie Hill Smith, filmmaker, and Jacob Rumbiak, former political prisoner