Waiting for the Big Bang (1983) (excerpt)
Title
Waiting for the Big Bang (1983) (excerpt)
Subject
Volcanoes--Papua New Guinea
Environmental sciences
URL
Video available through Alexander Street:
https://search.alexanderstreet.com/preview/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cvideo_work%7C2711890
https://search.alexanderstreet.com/preview/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cvideo_work%7C2711890
Description
Content description from WorldCat (https://www.worldcat.org/title/waiting-for-the-big-bang/oclc/921961091):
Rabaul, New Britain is sitting on a time bomb. It's hard for the Tolai inhabitants to cope with the constant threat of volcanic eruption as they wait and prepare for the next big one. The last time this happened was between 1937 and 1942, when an estimated 500 people died. Historical footage showing the luxuriant lifestyle of German colonialists pre World War II and then the occupation of the Japanese army, as well as contemporary scenes of the easygoing Tolai lifestyle is interspersed with full-blown evacuation exercises and scientific excursions into the craters of active volcanoes. Ten years after Waiting for the Big Bang was made, two active vents-;Tavurvur and Vulcan-;erupted in 1994 with cataclysmic effect. The township of Rabaul was completely buried under a deep layer of thick brown volcanic silt. The citizens were forced to abandon their town and move to Kokopo 20 kilometres away.
Ephemera: none available
Limitations: This page displays video content associated with a videotape in the CCDR Collections audiovisual library recorded by Joann W. Kealiinohomoku. Please be advised that, because this videotape has not yet been digitized for direct access, we cannot guarantee that the video content on this page is an exact match with the content originally recorded by Dr. Kealiinohomoku. We also cannot guarantee function or access for re-hosted video content.
Rabaul, New Britain is sitting on a time bomb. It's hard for the Tolai inhabitants to cope with the constant threat of volcanic eruption as they wait and prepare for the next big one. The last time this happened was between 1937 and 1942, when an estimated 500 people died. Historical footage showing the luxuriant lifestyle of German colonialists pre World War II and then the occupation of the Japanese army, as well as contemporary scenes of the easygoing Tolai lifestyle is interspersed with full-blown evacuation exercises and scientific excursions into the craters of active volcanoes. Ten years after Waiting for the Big Bang was made, two active vents-;Tavurvur and Vulcan-;erupted in 1994 with cataclysmic effect. The township of Rabaul was completely buried under a deep layer of thick brown volcanic silt. The citizens were forced to abandon their town and move to Kokopo 20 kilometres away.
Ephemera: none available
Limitations: This page displays video content associated with a videotape in the CCDR Collections audiovisual library recorded by Joann W. Kealiinohomoku. Please be advised that, because this videotape has not yet been digitized for direct access, we cannot guarantee that the video content on this page is an exact match with the content originally recorded by Dr. Kealiinohomoku. We also cannot guarantee function or access for re-hosted video content.
Original Format
TV broadcast recorded off air by JWK: Betamax tape
Creator
Robert Bruning (narrator)
Bob Kingsbury (director, producer, and writer)
Martyn Down (writer)
Geoffrey Simpson (cinematographer)
Publisher
National Film and Sound Archive of Australia
Date
1983
Citation
“Waiting for the Big Bang (1983) (excerpt),” Cross-Cultural Dance Resources Collections, accessed March 29, 2024, https://ccdrcollections.omeka.net/items/show/751.