Bougainvillean Filmmaker needs new equipment

As far back as the late 1990’s, Bougainvillean documentary filmmaker/video journalist Clive Porabou has brought voices of their Islands people to the world. In the aftermath of the horrific crisis caused by Rio Tinto’s Panguna gold and copper mine, where tens of thousands of people lost their lives, came clarity from the people that the mine would never operate in the same way again. Clive’s passion for ensuring peace, stability and environmental protection on Bougainville during and after the war turned him toward film making as the way to achieve this.
“I started filming in July 1997 during the height of the Bougainville civil war.. Some of my footage was used in the well known documentary ,’The Coconut Revolution’ from 2001. In 2009 we did the follow up film ‘Reopening old wound’ both with English filmmaker Dom Rotheroe
In between I made four films myself under my clan name Eel Productions, all of those about my island story, especially about no mining.
1) The Panguna Mine Dilemma (2008)
2) Saving Our Land: People's Power against the Mining Company with Money Power (2011) European film festival entry
3) Bougainville After the War (2012)
4) Inside Bougainville (2017)

Some of my footage was also used in the New Zealand filmmaker Will Watson’s documentary, ‘Soldiers without Guns’ from 2005. Finally in 2014 I worked with Olivier Pollet who produced ‘Ophir’ released in 2020”.

Clive also did several collaborations including with the Melanesian Indigenous Land Defense Alliance (MILDA) such as ‘Mining Our Future’ and many video journalism projects including political and environmental activism, traditional ceremonies, tourism promotions, music videos-including his own and sporting events. He also maintained a blog site during this time. https://mekamui.wordpress.com/

“ For the last 3 months I have been filming on the ground in Bougainville. Starting with May 17th Remembrance day, June 15th Autonomous Bougainville day & Panguna landowners meeting.. also other small crises related stories.. Wanting to make short stories or films.. then late last month my camera stopped working..
When I get the new equipment I will continue making content on the ground.. The main story will be the road to independence, interviewing our leaders & people as well..
The main objective is to reach people who miss out on other news outlets & also our side of the story instead of foreign media people who just come in for a few days & tell stories not much in reality”.

It is a tribute that his 2010 MacBook Pro with final cut pro 7 and his camera equipment lasted as long as it did, producing so much content in extreme tropical conditions.

The equipment needed for contemporary filmmaking in a remote Pacific Island has changed dramatically over the past decade. Feature length films burned to DVD for a local and international audience have now moved to online streaming and social media platforms. The current technology suited to Clive’s work in 2023 and beyond consists of the following equipment as budgeted for as the outcome of this cause;

Apple Macbook Pro 13.3” Laptop M2 8GB 256GB $1999
Cannon Vixia HF G70 UHD 4K Camcorder $1,799
DJI Mavic Air 1 Drone (Already donated) *$1,299*
GoPro Hero 9 Camera (Already donated) *$429.95*
Compatible Smartphone for DJI Drone $300est.
Sairen VM-Q1 Professional GoPro microphone $59.50
GoPro 9 Media Mod V Log $139.50

This cause is initiated by four of Clive's supporters in particular;
An incredibly generous donation has already been made by Natalie Lowrey, Director of Aidwatch and Campaigner against deep sea mining. Nat has donated her DJI Mavic Air 1 Drone and GoPro Hero 9 both of which can bring Clive’s filmmaking to another level.
Sydney filmmakers Amanda King and Fabio Cavadini from Front Yard films have supported Clive's filmmaking from the beginning. From technical advice to providing his camera and editing equipment over the last decade or more, they continue to support his work.
Finally myself, Daniel Jones have been a friend and supporter of Clive's work since 2011. I fundraised and delivered a solar power project for his studio in Arawa in 2012 and have assisted with production, distribution and promotion ever since. I will be again be delivering this cause in person in November 2023 and provide ongoing support through my own coffee shop business.

We thankyou very much for any financial support you can provide for this cause. Clive will happily acknowledge your contributions in the credits of his new works and anyone who would like more information or copies of Clive's past work can contact me, Dan by email d3antares@gmail.com