For centuries, the villagers of Kontu, in Papua New Guinea, have gone to sea in frail outrigger canoes to call, trap, and kill sharks by hand. Now, after a hundred years of colonization and missionary activity, only a few men still understand the magic rituals of shark calling.The Shark Callers of Kontu illustrates the effects of cultural contact on the shark calling traditions.

The people of Kontu associate the sharks with spiritual forces and believe men can control these spiritual forces to their own advantage, or, through correct ritual, protect themselves from harm if they come in contact with the sharks. Now the base of their culture has shifted. The influence of Western culture and Christian beliefs has brought many changes to the islands. Some of the more complex rituals associated with shark calling have been lost over the years. When the men who now practice shark calling die, this unique and dangerous practice will probably die with them.

See also:

THE FILMS OF DENNIS O'ROURKE:
• Cannibal Tours
• Couldn't Be Fairer
• Cunnamulla
• Good Woman of Bangkok
• Half Life
• Ileksen
• Yap�How did you know we'd like TV?
• Yumi Yet
  

  Running time: 54 min, Year released: 1987
  Close captioned?: N, Color?: Y
  Avail. formats: 16mm,VHS
  ISBN: 1-55974-141-4
  Language: English, Subtitled?: N
  For classroom?: Y, Study Guide?: N
  Grade level: 7th and up

  Reviews:

  "O`Rourke's sympathies for his subjects are deeply political, although Sharkcallers is no dry manifesto. Rather, by allowing the villagers to speak for themselves and the camera simply to reveal the remarkable nature of the mens` work, he relates the spiritual world of `magic` to more comprehensible forces with admirable lucidity."
  - Geoff Andrew, Time Out

  "O`Rourke`s film carries us through a whole revolution, or devolution, of values, and I for one found it an experience that was sometimes beautiful, and sometimes shaming and painful ... O`Rourke is one of the great Australian documentarists."
  - John Hinde, ABC Radio (Sydney)