NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL 1984

26. NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL (1984)

“Here, feel my head” said Victor, the star of the PNG movie showing at the New York Foreign Film Festival in Feb 1984.

Gingerly I pushed into his Afro hair and there was a sizable lump on his cranium.

“That’s where Peter Leonard hit me with a four by two”

That wild American monk certainly left his mark.

It was a strange encounter. Here I was in the Big Apple from August 1983 to September1984 while attending Fordham University in the Bronx. It was quite a magical year for me. This encounter with a Bougainvillean was just one of many unexpected and fascinating experiences I had.

Coming from a renewal course in Switzerland I lobbed into a community of young Brothers in the ‘Gold House’

Murdock Street

in the “upper” Bronx. Now, that had not been my intention at all. In planning this Master’s course, I had hoped to live with a large community of Brothers at “the Mount”- Mt. Saint Michael’s Academy with its 1400 mixed race high school students. In such a large institution I was guaranteed a dream run as far as services provided. No cooking, no house keeping, and other fringe benefits with a range of some twenty Brothers whose company I would surely enjoy. That plan was derailed when the Provincial approached me and requested that I beef up the small community across the road.  Without my addition the community there would collapse. When a Br. Tom Lee left, it meant that two unprofessed Brothers- Tom and Mike were left stranded. Canon Law demanded a professed Brother accompany them. If not, they would have to decamp across the road.

 I was hesitant. But in a burst of manic good, will I acquiesced. God was most gracious in response, because in a matter of a month I realised the decision plunged me happily into the culture in so many lively ways. Certainly, in the institutional setting I would be cast into a formalised monastery eco-system. Besides, I do believe I have the rare distinction of being the only Australian Brother to appear on the US appointment list…..and as SUPERIOR.



Kieta harbour. Marist school at Rigu (foreground)



It wasn’t long before I realised this was the best mistake I had made in a long time. Mike and Tom were great company, both teaching at the “Mount”, full of enthusiasm and so very entertaining. This was a most pleasant immersion in the US culture. We had others joining our community for several months like Br. George Fontana  and for four months, I enjoyed the company of Justin, an Aussie of great charm and wisdom. (In fact WE WERE THERE to see Alan Bond’s billion dollar yacht, Australia II, wrench that fabled American Cup and cart back in triumph to Australia.) The ‘young guys’ would invite their friends and through them I met quite a few of the teachers. We took turns to cook and shop and that certainly extended my skills. Hard to believe that I found I always cooked better if I had a scotch while perched over the stove. Most days I would be caught up in study for most of the day, and in the evening I would head for Fordham University where the Jesuits carried on their great tradition of education. The whole experience was so enriching and exciting.



Br. Danile and his ambulance

 Another rare stroke of luck was the appointment of the new Solomon Ambassador to United Nations. Francis Saemala, an ex-student of Tenaru in Solomons, who had risen and risen after some wild years after graduating.  Now, with his wife and two children he luxuriated in a penthouse in Manhatten, several solar systems away from his village in Malaita! We became good mates and enjoyed various outings together. One such treat was an invite to the NY Foreign Film Festival. The fact that a PNG movie had made it to this exalted stage demanded our attendance.

The movie was well received. It chose a familiar enough theme: the impact of rapid transformation of culture, where one’s world is suddenly upended and you find yourself drowning in this revolution and anomie with all its destructive power which embroils you in a whirlpool of self destructiveness. Much of it was very familiar to me as it was filmed in Bougainville and Port Moresby. At that stage, the island of Bougainville and its people were in state of upheaval with the arrival of western power and culture with the development of a huge copper mine at Panguna. (Much later this would unleash a war of such viciousness and human cost that the country even now struggles to cope)

The “hero” in the movie, Victor was but one of a generation of smart boys who were selected for university, far away from home in Port Moresby,and where they would be exposed to so many challenges and crises. It was a brutal uprooting and a monumental culture shock.

But, it was the high school part of his story that fascinated me. It was set at our school, St. Joseph’s at Rigu in Bougainville. Among the extras there were several of my mates- like Br. Peter Page, as Principal and Br. Danny McEwan as the infirmarian/nurse who had set up his own ambulance service!!

One notable absentee was the “soldier of fortune” Marist Brother from the States- a very redoubtable Brother Peter Leonard. He had lobbed into Kieta direct from a warzone, South Vietnam. Here he had been engaged in the tactic of “strategic villages”. Walled around and with high powered security they were supposed to keep the Viet Cong at bay when they rampaged during the night. Peter had some leadership here. But in a deal between the Australian and American province there was a swap and we scored this tough missionary who could have stepped out of Fort Bragg. I recall a fascinating conversation with him in Sydney when a bunch of us Brothers showed some disapproval of the U.S. tactics where patrols seem to roam through the jungle, radios blaring and the odd grunt smoking pot! He listened intently and then drawled.

“Yeah you Aussies are pretty good and return to base in good order, but we deliberately draw fire and then pound them with artillery or gunships.”

I sadly reflect on that monument in Washington where 50,000 young men are commemorated in that futile war.




Miilitant at Panguna mine.

  Back to the movie: there were class scenes and sport scenes, and there were work scenes.  Here, in the gardens the boys grew much of their own food- kau kau, pana and cassava. In a third world country this was so necessary to help keep the school afloat and the boys well fed. In one such scene, Alfred was less than industrious or willing. While the others slashed and dug, he was “swinging the lead.” Unhappily for him, “Brother” caught the culprit red handed. But, there was a twist: the American Brother in the movie, was a rather gentle Louis Dubois. Well, Louie administered punishment well enough, a slap with the shover on Albert’s backside. Ah, but the truth had been doctored with a kinder spin put on this explosive reaction of our Brother who had spent time in Vietnam and was noted for his toughness..

Alfred was able to put this right that evening in New York.

When I accosted him, after introducing myself with “Alfred I said:

“ I’ll bet that was Br. Peter and not Louis who made his mark on you.”

With a certain passion, and maybe some pride, he was able to highlight the real scar he still carried buried under all that afro hair.