Forgotten Bird of Paradise (2009) A film by Dominic Brown. Colour, Sound, 27 mins.

In this critically acclaimed undercover documentary, English filmmaker Dominic Brown takes a rare and moving look into the ongoing struggle for freedom being fought by the West Papuan tribal peoples against Indonesian colonial rule. Their call is one to have their voice heard, their human rights respected, and to denounce the devastation of their ancestral land.

Director Dominic Brown travelled in West Papua without the knowledge or authority of the Indonesian authorities. With the Indonesian government’s media blackout in the territory, foreign press are extremely restricted and when caught are often detained and jailed, as highlighted by the most recent case of French journalists Valentine Bourrat and Thomas Dandois, who were sentenced to two months and 15 days imprisonment in an Indonesian jail for reporting in the West Papua province while on a tourist visa.

Since 1963, Papuan tribal people have suffered in silence under a brutal Indonesian military occupation.

Forgotten Bird of Paradise reveals West Papuans’ fight for their right to self determination: to live peacefully on their ancestral land, one which they have called home for over sixty thousand years, and which they depend upon for their survival and way of life.

Read The Third Eye’s story with BENNY WENDA, Tribal Chief and leader of the Free West Papua camapign.

To find out more about the Free West Papua campaign and to support Papuans’ right to self determination, visit www.freewestpapua.org