“What Lies That Way is a unique film journey that plays with and extends the genre of documentary. The film blends traditional narrative structure with new forms of storytelling to allow for multiple understandings of the world and the many people and cultures that inhabit it.
What Lies That Way is not a National Geographic documentary that conveys an account of the “other”. Instead, the film delivers an experience of another culture through the eyes of the filmmaker. The narrative and approach of the film are based on a long-term relationship with the people of the Lak region, and a deep cultural understanding established through 15 years of interaction and shared experience. The film explores the film makers relationship with the Lak people who have provided access their lives, their worldview and their secret practices.
Stylistically, the film’s form is inspired by local understandings of how people comprehend and interact with one another. In the rain forests of Southern New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, people refuse to speculate on the motivations of others: you come to know others through their actions and interactions with others. Consistent with this approach, the film takes the audience into the world of the Lak by showing the interactions.”
