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COWBOY AND MARIA IN TOWN
Year: 1991
Classification: G
Runtime: 59 min
Produced In: Australia
Directed By: Les McLaren, Annie Stiven
Produced By: Les McLaren, Annie Stiven
Language: English, Tok Pisin and Mortu dialogue, English subtitles
Attracted by the myths of town life and the chance of work, people from villages all over Papua New Guinea have come to the towns. COWBOY AND MARIA IN TOWN tells the story of two such migrants living in the settlements that surround the capital, Port Moresby.
Cowboy is a reformed 'raskol'. Unemployed, illiterate and with a jail record, he invents an electric guitar out of scrap materials and plays his distinctive rock 'n' roll on street corners, earning just enough for his family to get by.
Maria lives an equally precarious existence. Seasonal gardening and her husband's small income as a night security guard are their means of survival. Only her resilient humour keeps her going when intertribal conflicts, inflamed by frustration and alcohol, erupt in the settlement.
Cowboy and Maria are vital players in the new urban Papua New Guinea. Their interwoven stories highlight the consequences of urban drift, where traditional and Western values meet.
These intelligent and determined optimists are far from being Third World victims; they go about their daily lives with humour and imagination, rising to the challenge of the enormous cultural changes that confront them.
With special thanks to the people of Erima, Horsecamp, Mahuru-Kila Kila no. 2, Morata and Sabama settlements.
Written and directed by Les MCLaren and Annie Stiven
Produced by Les McLaren
Photography - Les McLaren, Chris Owen
Editing - Les McLaren, Annie Stiven
Location sound - Lahui Geita
Research - Annie Stiven
Additional camera - Steve McMillan
Production assistants - Urgei Akon, Eric Goea, Steven Nohoro
Associate producer - Chris Owen
Executive producer (ABC) - Harry Bardwell
Produced in association with the Australian Film Commission
and with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
and the Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies
(c) 1991, Vingan Pty Ltd
Les McLaren and Annie Stiven co-wrote a short history of filmmaking in Papua New Guinea for the Australian Documentary Conference 1993, ISBN: 0646165402. Les McLaren also wrote a short memoir about early film & music experiences in Papua New Guinea for Meanjin Quarterly, Vol 62, No. 3: ISBN-10: 1740660951 ISBN-13: 978-1740660952