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The Opposition

In a David-and-Goliath battle over land in Papua New Guinea, Joe Moses, leader of the Paga Hill Settlement, must save the families before they are evicted. Battling it out in the courts, Joe may find his community replaced with an international five star hotel and marina development.

  • Hollie Fifer
    Director
  • Rebecca Barry
    Producer
    The Surgery Ship, I Am A Girl, Call Me Dad
  • Madeleine Hetherton
    Producer
    The Surgery Ship, Future Families, Beats Across Borders, Love In Our Own Time
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Genres:
    Investigative
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 17 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 12, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    290,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Papua New Guinea, United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English, Other
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Hot Docs
    Toronto
    May 3, 2016
    International Premiere
Director Biography - Hollie Fifer

As a director Hollie Fifer’s documentaries are inspired by the true life stories that are too bizarre and courageous too believe.

Her first documentary in 2009 was commissioned by Australian Volunteers International to direct CHILDREN OF THE RAINBOW SERPENT (NITV) set in Tamil Nadu, India. She went onto make COMMON GROUND (SBS) which won 7 awards from international and Australian festivals.

Her most recent shorts CORINNA and VERY IMPRESSIVE both premiered at the Antenna Documentary Film Festival 2013 and 2014 respectively. Currently she is in production on her first feature documentary THE OPPOSITION set in Papua New Guinea and the UK to be released in 2016.

Hollie has attended Asian Side of the Doc 2013 in Malaysia under the Strategic Opportunities Program by Screen NSW and has pitched at FIFO Oceania Pitching Forum 2013 and Good Pitch 2014 at Sydney's Opera House. Hollie is also the documentary tutor at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).

Hollie studied a Bachelor of Film and Television (Hons) at Swinburne University and The Northern Film School in the UK under the Vice-Chancellor's Scholarship graduating with First Class Honours and the Award for Creative Excellence. Hollie continued her studies to receive a Graduate Certificate in Sustainability and Social Change followed by a Graduate Diploma of Documentary from the Australian Film Television and Radio School graduating with the Shark Island Prize for Best Social Impact Documentary.

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Director Statement

Some stories pick you. On my second day in Papua New Guinea I would find myself in the middle of a human rights abuse standing between the police holding machetes and machine guns and the Paga Hill community watching their homes being destroyed fearing for their lives.

The community were peaceful and yet refused to be defeated. When I found out that an Australian-run company was after the Paga Hill land to develop a five star hotel, marina wharf and national cultural centre I knew I had an obligation to continue to capture the community’s resistance.

The irony of forcefully evicting a Papua New Guinean community to replace their homes with a national cultural centre was startling. The fallacy of ‘development’ was clear.

The last four years have been constantly watching the story unfold trying to capture it as it does. The twist and turns throughout kept me in a constant state of fear that I would miss that decisive moment. Ultimately however the more I trusted the process, the more smooth it become.

The Opposition investigates the miscarriage of justice for the Paga Hill Settlement and the journey of our hero Joe Moses; who, along with his unlikely alliance of leaders, lawyers, politicians, researchers and artists, must save the community from forced eviction. They have no where else to go.

We now live in a world where big business and governments sit above the law. We live in a world where human beings are treated as either consumers or parasites. However, I strongly believe that when a miscarriage of justice occurs, the fight has only just begun.

The Opposition will shine a blinding light onto the perpetrators of injustice and this time there will be no government sanctions or court rulings behind which they can hide. The Paga Hill community have a story that they would like to share with you; one of heart, determination and hard evidence.

Using observational footage, archive and interviews, The Opposition contrasts the dark pressure of court preparation, death threats and exhaustion within the leadership with the slow sun filled lifestyle of the Paga Hill community fishing on the waters, kneading bread and practicing yoga at dusk.

Tropical Papua New Guinea is then contrasted against the United Kingdom where the international alliance extends to where Dr. Kristin Lasslett continues to investigate the corruption in 21 degrees (Fahrenheit). It is Kris’ humour which brings the paperwork to life and his genuine and unwavering concern for the community is contagious. Through Kris’ eyes the gap between Western and Papua New Guinea culture is bridged and we begin to question whether the west is over-developed.

The development company’s perspective is seen through the perspective of one of their consultants and the news reports celebrating their efforts.

With the court case and continual demolitions at Paga Hill framing the narrative structure we see a pressurized world of real danger. The impending doom in an otherwise peaceful seaside community brings an intensity to the interviews and observational footage. It is through our intimate access with the characters that we see and feel how desperate they are to win – to keep their homes.

Hollie Fifer, 15 December 2015