In this companion piece to Yumi Yet,the villagers of Papua New Guinea recreate the British electoral system with their first independent election (ileksen is Melanesian Pidgin for "election"). The dominant impression is one of chaos: a land with rich cultural traditions and very specific economic and political problems striving to fit itself into an imported form of democracy.

Without media experts to package their campaigns, Papua New Guinea's politicians employ a wide variety of techniques to secure votes: megaphones, rock bands, tea with the headmistress of a British school.

Western-style campaigning may seem out of place, but the people in the film appear to understand it quite well. In the end, the significance of the community's struggle lies less in the outcome than in the process.

See also:

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

  Running time: 58 min, Year released: 1978
  Close captioned?: N, Color?: Y
  Avail. formats: 16mm,VHS
  ISBN: 1-55974-246-1
  Language: English, Subtitled?: N
  For classroom?: Y, Study Guide?: N
  Grade level: 7th and up

  Reviews:

  "Ileksen is an extraordinary documentary that entertains as well as provokes, makes you laugh as well as think. Its best feature is that it does all this without a hint of patronising, having an obvious respect for people who have had Western-style politics thrust upon them and are working out the democratic process in their own unique way."

  --Derek Malcolm, The Guardian (London)

  "We have independence but ot hasn't changed...', a resigned voter declares at one point in this second film from Papua New Guinea by Dennis O'Rourke. Sensitive and perceptive...it's another gem...Again O'Rourke displays his singular talent of constructing a political vision using simply extraordinary images and observed contradictions. It's a rich, complex and fascinating analysis of neo-colonial politics with rare insight and skill."

  --Carl Gardner, Time Out(London)

  Other Credits:

  Produced, Directed and Photographed by Dennis O`Rourke

  Co-director and Sound Recordist: Gary Kildea

  Film Editor: Peter Berry