Cap Bocage: Tracing the militant voice of environmental protest in New Caledonia

This article is an attempt to document some of the filmmaking processes and highlight some of the specific factors that determined the final form of the film Cap Bocage. I see this as an opportunity to outline more personal reflections on process. This article will firstly give context to some of the filmmaking challenges by discussing the idea of the voice of a documentary (Nichols, 2010, p. 256) as it relates to subject matter. Here I will emphasise the idea of a personal approach to story that sometimes runs adjacent to the traditional techniques one may find in more expositional work or in a purely journalistic rendering of the narrative. This article also explores two other works that concern themselves with militant struggle in New Caledonia. One is the feature length drama Rebellion (Kassowitz, 2011) and the other a documentary: Tjibaou le pardon (Dagneau, 2006). While the approach to the history of militancy in the films is different, both works are good examples of the challenges filmmakers face while tracing stories involving conflict or societal trauma.Image: Florent Eurisouké in a still from Jim Marbrook’s 2014 documentary Cap Bocage

IN VITRO AND IN VIVO STUDIES OF THE IMMUNE RESPONSE TO SHEEP ERYTHROCYTES USING PARTIALLY PURIFIED CELL PREPARATIONS

The BSA density-gradient technique for separating mouse spleen cells into partially purified populations has been used to compare the responsiveness of such populations to SRBC using in vivo and in vitro techniques. Two major populations were distinguished, one of which responded very well in vivo with an exponential dose response and poorly in vitro (fraction 3), and another which responded in vivo and in vitro with a linear dose response (fraction 2). A light density, radiation-resistant component was identified which markedly stimulated the response of fraction 3 in vitro, and a density gradient profile was obtained for this cell which did not correspond with a macrophage profile. A high density, radiation-sensitive cell was identified which stimulated the response of PFC precursors in lighter regions of the gradient. The activity of this cell could be replaced using thymus cells. A density profile for the PFC precursor cell was obtained by assaying small numbers of spleen cell fractions in the presence of an excess of the two auxiliary cell types

Foci of proliferating antibody-producing cells in a primary immune response in vitro

Spleen cells from normal unimmunized mice were grown with sheep erythrocytes in liquid medium over agar. Proliferating haemolysin-forming cells appeared in these cultures. As the top layer of agar contained sheep erythrocytes, foci of antibody-forming cells could be detected by the areas of haemolysis they produced in the agar

Significant social documentary examines PNG missionary: Review of Papa Bilong Chimbu, directed and produced by Verena Thomas

Papa Bilong Chimbu is Verena Thomas' affectionate examination of the life of her great uncle John Nilles. Father Nilles was a German missionary who worked in the highlands of Papua New Guinea for more than 50 years. Thomas steers us through Father Nilles' career and life as we return with her to the Chimbu region to meet his friends, parishioners, those who converted, educated and supported.&nbsp

King Tide

King Tide is a 114 minute comedy-drama that is an exploration of care and of community. It follows the middle-aged Reade as he returns to New Zealand from the Gold Coast to begin an unofficial investigation into ACC fraud in the Kaipara/Dargaville community. He has left the Gold Coast under a cloud. His relationship with girlfriend Sharon has also drastically soured. Worst of all, he must leave his adored step-daughter Summer as he starts a new life in Dargaville. His undercover investigation is soon complicated by the possibilities of a new relationship with country school teacher Nadine. Adding to this complexity is the very make-up of the community he finds himself in. News spreads fast here. His cover is blown almost immediately when he follows up on a tip and seeks out the head-injured Clay, a possible recipient of illegal ACC funds. Clay, the local woodchopping hero whose injury has reduced him to a silent state, is also Nadine’s ex. The stumbling block of any investigation in the area is Roy, the enigmatic ACC co-ordinator and charismatic guardian of this town. Coalescing around him are a host of locals; hairdressers, carers, woodchoppers, fishermen and the local antique dealer Merle. While the spine of the film centres on Reade’s enquiry and investigation into fraud and community connivance, his journey also becomes a prism through which other things are seen; there is the Kaipara environment itself, small town culture and also Reade’s own personal connection to the area (and this is mostly kept hidden). While Aoetoeroa / New Zealand has a reputation for its “cinema of unease” (Botes, 2008), King Tide represents an attempt to circumvent this by embracing weakness, disability and idiosyncracy as the ties that can bind and protect a community. NOTE: The screenplay is embargoed until 20 August 2019