Pururambo (2005) — New Guinea

           The Slovakian film maker Pavol Barabáš has won 150 awards in his home country for his documentaries about people in extreme environments who are unspoiled by civilization of any sort. In Pururambo he takes us to New Guinea, the largest tropical island in the world and home to indigenous tribes that speak 700 languages. Getting government permits to these restricted places is hard enough; getting permission from wary tribal leaders is harder still. Most of them have never seen a white person. These unknown peoples live in stone age conditions — no written language, no iron, no wheel, no shoes, and no leather. With stone axes, a bow and arrow, and bone knives, the dense jungle affords them all they need. The "tree people" live in high tree houses to avoid insects and predators. The white explorers hack their way through dense rain forests to befriend the indigenous tribes and introduce us to their communal ways, especially their diet of green bananas, termites, grubs, lizards, rats, and the sago palm. And yes, they practice cannibalism. I watched this 60-minute film on Netflix Streaming, and highly recommend it as an educational film for family night.