Yumi Piksa to Air on CNN

By KATE GUNN of University of Goroka

 

In a positive development for the University of Goroka (UOG), the Yumi Piksa pilot workshop conducted earlier this year at UOG, in collaboration with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), will be aired this weekend on CNN International on Saturday 17^th October and Sunday 18^th October 2009.

As part of the its third episode,  the programme entitled: Scene by Scene – Films of Asia Pacific, Yumi Piksa will be shown on CNN International as a prelude to the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Scene by Scene takes us into the classroom as Australian filmmaker Verena Thomas teaches filmmaking to students of the University of Goroka in PNG’s Highlands.

We see some of the fruits of their labour including a film that archives the important work of a man making clay flutes used by the women to call their men.

In July/August of this year, to help students learn the skills of filmmaking and production whilst working amongst their local communities, three short films were compiled and produced by students of UOG with facilitator Ms Verena Thomas, a PhD candidate from University of Ttechnology Sydney, for the Yumi Piksa pilot workshop. 

The result of the workshop was the Yumi Piksa documentaries, which focus on telling stories from local communities and are currently gaining a lot of international interest from the media.

Vice Chancellor of the University of Goroka Dr Gairo Onagi stated that is was “great for the University to gain such international exposure for a technological and useful workshop that was helpful to both the students and community. Yumi Piksa provides a new and challenging method of telling ‘our’ stories to the world.  It also provides a new method of data collection”.

Be sure to watch Yumi Piksa on CNN on Saturday 17^th October at 11.30pm and Sunday 18^th October at 5.30am and 6.30pm (Sydney time).

 

For further information please contact:

Ms Kate Gunn

Public Relations & Marketing Officer

 University of Goroka

Ph: (675) 7311 877

Fax: (675) 732 1914

Email: gunnk@uog.ac.pg

 

Or

 

Ms Verena Thomas

Centre for Health Communication

University of Technology Sydney

Ph: +61 2 9514 3847

Email: Verena.Thomas@uts.edu.au