October 17 marks the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
To mark the day in Papua New Guinea, a new short film was launched, focusing on a remote area located south of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.
The film is also a milestone for PNG in terms of digital technology, as it is the first 360-degree virtual reality film shot in Papua New Guinea.
October 17 was declared the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty by the United Nation’s General Assembly in December 1992.
Therefore, the Day is an opportunity to acknowledge the struggles as well as the efforts of people living in poverty.
The short virtual reality film is called, The Price of Conflict, the Prospect of Peace.
Participants at the launch watched the film through customised headsets which took them to Konnou, in the far south of Bougainville to meet a mother of three whose life was ripped apart by inter-community fighting and a former militant who is now using cocoa farming as a way of sustaining peace between two villages previously in conflict.
Member for South Bougainville, Timothy Masiu, launched the film and acknowledged the efforts of organisations like the World Bank who continually raise awareness and assist government to get rid of extreme poverty.
He said PNG needs to take serious steps to address poverty, before it turns into a calamity.
The UN National Human Rights Officer and Chair of the 2016 PNG Human Rights Film Festival, Josephine Mann, said the virtual reality film will also screen through customised headsets as part of the PNG Human Rights Film Festival from October 21 – 23, at the Port Moresby Arts Theater.
It will also show in Bougainville as part of the Film Festival’s roadshow between the October 27 – 29.
https://youtu.be/v4X6_LM-icU
