The Science and the Sorcery - kuru-doco.com · Kuru: The Science and the Sorcery Electronic Press Kit The decision is made to perform an autopsy on a kuru victim and inoculate the

Kuru: The Science and the Sorcery Electronic Press Kit

Kuru

The Science and the Sorcery

Electronic Press Kit


PROJECT SUMMARY

Title | Kuru : The Science and the Sorcery

Duration | 52 minutes

Country of Origin | Australia

Format | Feature Documentary

Language| English, Fore (with English subtitles)

Genres | Science, History, Anthropology, Biography

Niches | Indigenous cultures

Production Company | Siamese

Director | Robert Bygott

1 line Synopsis | A medical detective story that unearths cannibalism and sorcery, amidst a

tragic epidemic deep in the heart of Papua New Guinea.

Copyright | 2009 Screen Australia, ScreenWest Inc , Siamese Pty Ltd

Screening Format | Digital Betacam (available in NTSC & PAL)


Short Synopsis

KURU: THE SCIENCE AND THE SORCERY follows Australian scientist, Michael Alpers, deep

into the jungles of Papua New Guinea; into a mysterious world of sorcery, cannibalism and

tribal conflict. Stranger than fiction, the research into kuru reveals a chain of discoveries,

which turned scientific understandings upside down and resulted in two Nobel prizes. It’s a

medical detective story that links strange animal diseases to terrifying fatal human diseases; and

links all humans to a remote past of cannibal practices.

Full Synopsis

KURU: THE SCIENCE AND THE SORCERY recounts, for the first time, the full story of one of

the most incredible and challenging medical detective stories of the 20th century: a history of

human tragedy, adventure and discovery. It is the story of the Fore, a people immersed in a

culture of cannibalistic mortuary practices and sorcery in one of the most remote and last

known regions on the planet, and the tragic disease that threatened to wipe out their entire

population.

In 1961, a young Australian medical researcher, Michael Alpers, puts up his hand to work on a

new and strange disease in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Here he teams up

with an American outer Dr. Carleton Gajdusek, who has been in the local Fore region since

1957. For Michael it is the beginning of a lifelong obsession.

Together, they are amidst a major epidemic. It’s killing over 200 people a year with devastating

effects. It mainly targets women and children. The local people, the Fore, term the disease kuru:

their word for shivering. They believe it is caused by sorcery.

Michael and Carleton are baffled by the disease. There are no scientific disciplines to guide

them as they attempt to unravel its mysteries. By pure chance, a link is made to a strange

transmissible animal disease in sheep, Scrapie. The two kuru researchers embark on a 10-year

experiment to see if the fatal degenerative brain disease in humans could be transmissible like

Scrapie.


The decision is made to perform an autopsy on a kuru victim and inoculate the kuru material

into a chimpanzee. Kigea, a young girl in the village is identified as being in the early stages of

kuru. Kigea’s family, gives Michael permission to perform an autopsy upon her death.

A brain sample taken from Kigea after her death is flown to the USA and injected into a

chimpanzee called Daisy. While Michael follows the progress of the transmission experiment,

he starts to collate all the recorded data on kuru and begins to suspect cannibalism as the cause

of the spread of the disease.

Within two years, he diagnoses Daisy with kuru. This is a defining moment. It confirms kuru is

transmissible and can cross the species barrier. The revelation, together with epidemiological

data collated with anthropologist Shirley Lindenbaum, links the Fore’s mortuary feasts

(consumption of dead relatives) to the transmission of kuru. Cannibalism is the cause, and its

origin is linked to a rare disease called Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (CJD), but the story of kuru is

far from over.

The infecting agent is the first new pathogen – prions – to be discovered in over 100 years.

Research results in two Nobel prizes: it’s discoveries turning scientific understanding upside

down; causing rifts in the beliefs of the science community.

Then Mad Cow Disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or BSE) reared its head in the mid

1980’s, and 10 years later the human variant CJD. All eyes turned to kuru: the only model of a

prion epidemic in human populations. Many unknowns still surround prion diseases: there is

no cure for kuru, or any of the prion diseases. The effects are devastating and unprecedented

incubation periods can extend beyond 50 years.

Michael is the key and heart to this story, providing unique access to the Fore people, and the

world’s other leading authorities on the matter; including; Americans Prof. DC Gajdusek (Nobel

Prize 1976), Prof. Stan Prusiner (Nobel Prize 1997), Prof Shirley Lindenbaum (Anthropologist)

and British Prof. John Collinge (Director, MRC Prion Unit, UK). Through Michael, KURU: The

Science and the Sorcery meets them all and documents their roles as medical detectives in the

unfolding story.

KURU: The Science and the Sorcery combines history, science and anthropology to tell a

unique and ongoing ‘history of science’ documentary spanning five decades. It intertwines the

thinking of great minds, locally and internationally, to reveal how this rare disease in the


remote highlands of PNG exploded to international attention and how Prion research has now

revealed we are all descendants of a remote past of cannibal practices.


Director’s Statement

I first heard about kuru nine years ago, when a friend, Ben Alpers, showed me a book

(Deadly Feasts by Richard Rhodes) that featured his dad, Michael Alpers. It was the

stuff that late night horror shows are made of, with endless twists and turns, but it

wasn’t fiction. I found it extraordinary. Then when I saw some of the 16mm films

Michael and other researchers had shot I knew this was an opportunity not to let pass.

I was naturally intrigued by the mysterious world of cannibalism and sorcery, but at the

heart of this complex medical detective story was the remarkable personal journey of

Michael Alpers.

KURU follows the 75-year-old researcher, who traveled to the remote wilds of New

Guinea as a young medical graduate in a bid to unlock the mysteries behind this fatal

brain disease. Little did he know the friendships that would be formed as he tried to

understand the strange disease that terrorized the entire Fore population.

When I undertook this film with Ben, we had no idea it would take eight years to

complete and would be so difficult to realise.

The project started in 2001, when we first traveled to PNG to seek permission from the

Fore, to see if they would be willing participants to share their stories. After returning

to Australia we decided to independently fund the main shoot. On a shoestring budget

we bought some filming equipment, two airfares and set off around the world packed

like mules. We collected interviews from key researchers in London, Amsterdam, New

York and San Francisco before heading to PNG where we then spent 8 weeks living

with the Fore in the remote highland village.

It was very humbling to be welcomed into that community and into the homes of the

many that helped us and shared their stories. The more I came to appreciate the

cultural significance of their mortuary practices – the eating of their kin – the more

important it became to challenge the way we denigrate people with words like


‘primitive’, ‘cannibal’, ‘uncivilized’ etc. and hope that the film successfully paves the

way to a better understanding.

As a first time documentary director, combating the complex web of history, science,

anthropology and personal journey, KURU was not without its challenges. It has been

a privilege to have such unique access to this remarkable story; the people behind it;

and the hours of incredible archive material photographed by the researchers, which

the Fore so graciously gave us permission to use.

Robert Bygott | Director


Character Notes

Michael Alpers

Professor Michael Alpers, now 75, is the main character of this documentary. He is

regarded as the world authority on kuru.

A medical graduate from Adelaide, he went to Papua New Guinea in 1961 in pursuit of

the mysterious new disease: kuru. He has devoted more than 50 years to the study of

this disease and has contributed greatly to the understanding and knowledge

surrounding kuru and other prion diseases.

He learnt as much as he could about the Fore culture and their beliefs. As an

investigator into this disease, Michael decided to live amongst the Fore in the remote

village of Waisa, where he performed autopsies on the deceased kuru patients and

studied the epidemiology of the disease.

Michael is known by many of the Fore as a ‘Story Master’. He has spent years

collecting the stories of the Fore, searching for anything that might inform him more

about their culture and anything that might lead to a greater understanding of kuru. He

has forged extremely close relationships with many of the Fore, regarding many of them

as his closest friends and family.

Michael worked on kuru in close collaboration with Nobel laureate Carleton Gajdusek.

The two continued to be close friends till Carleton died in December 2008, before

filming of the documentary was complete. Michael spent the years of 1964 to 1968 in

the USA at the NIH where he worked on animal inoculation in laboratories in

collaboration with Carleton.

Michael has lived in the Eastern Highlands of PNG for the better part of 30 years,

where he was Director of the PNG Institute of Medical Research from 1974 to 1998.


Here he continued his research into kuru and furthered his understandings of the Fore

culture and belief systems.

Now living in Fremantle, Western Australia, Michael continues his research on kuru in

collaboration with John Collinge at the MRC Prion Unit at St. Mary’s Hospital in

London, researching the genetics of prion diseases.

The Fore

This story, like no other, presents the Fore perspective of kuru. They have endured one

of the world’s most tragic epidemics. Their story holds the key to understanding more

about the current rise of prion diseases.

They live a very remote existence in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea.

Most of the Fore speak pidgin, but there are many of the older villagers that only speak

traditional Fore. They continue to live in grass-thatched houses: there is no power or

running water. The Fore are a very pragmatic people. They speak openly about the

mortuary practices of their past, sorcery, and provide intimate details of watching close

relatives die of the fatal disease. Kuru is an inherent part of their life.

Every character that appears in this documentary has had close relatives (mothers,

sisters, daughters) die from kuru. The Fore culture has been through what they term

‘hard times’ in which many children have grown up without mothers. In the early 60s,

fewer than 10% of females survived past childbearing age, while males had only a 20%

chance of dying of the disease.

Many of the Fore interviewees in the documentary assisted Michael and Carleton

Gajdusek on their early kuru research. Some of them even shot 16mm film and 35mm

still film, assisting Michael and Carleton in the field.

In a rapidly changing culture, only 50 years after first contact, the beliefs surrounding


kuru differ considerably. There are still many Fore who believe that kuru is caused by

sorcery but there is now a gradual shift towards a belief that it is in fact a disease.

Now that kuru has almost disappeared the Fore population is growing rapidly. In

contrast to the ‘hard times’ at the height of the epidemic there is now a mass of children

in the remote Eastern Highlands.

The older villagers talk about kuru, sorcery and cannibal practices in the privacy of

their own houses. For many of the men in the remote villages the stories provide an

opportunity for a performance, where story telling is an essential part of their culture.


PRODUCTION NOTES

10,000 Ft of Archive

The documentary filmmakers had unprecedented access to all of the remarkable kuru research

film of Gajdusek, Alpers and others. The archive includes thousands of 35mm slides and

hundreds of hours of 16mm film, which documented the tragic effects of kuru and the lives of

the Fore. It belongs to the largest Melanesian film archive in the world, which was only

recently bestowed to Michael Alpers and Curtin University in Western Australia by Carleton

Gajdusek, prior to his death in 2008.

The Fore, as custodians and relatives of the subjects of the filmed images granted permission to

the filmmakers to use the films for the purpose of this documentary.

2 Nobel Prizes

The research into Kuru has resulted in 2 Nobel Prizes.

In 1976 Carleton Gajdusek won the Nobel Prize for his kuru-related work on ‘Slow and

Temperate Viruses’. He explained that although they thought kuru was a virus it actually

turned out to be something different.

In 1982 American Professor Stanley Prusiner revealed the real culprit to be a completely new

biological principle of infection, which he called prions. In 1997, two decades after kuru’s first

Nobel Prize, Stanley was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of prions, the first new

pathogen to be discovered in over 100 years.

Michael Alpers predicts that there will be a third Nobel Prize to come: when they find a cure.


CREDITS

Card 1: This film is dedicated to the Fore and other people

who suffered from the kuru epidemic in Papua New Guinea Card 2:

Written & Directed by Rob Bygott

Based on an original idea by Rob Bygott and Ben Alpers

Card 3: Producers

Peter Du Cane & Francesca Hope

Editor Merlin Cornish

Narrator

Judy Davis

SBS Executive Producer John Godfrey

Commence Roll: Cinematography

Rob Bygott

Contributing Director Additional Camera & Sound Recordist

Ben Alpers

Fore Interpreter and Interviewer Wandagi Pako

Music Composer

Myles Wright

Sound Design Ric Curtin, Curtin Productions

Colourist & Animation Design

Merlin Cornish

3D Animator Wil Manning

Archive Transfers Digital Pictures, Melbourne


Subtitles Produced by

SBS (Australia)

Production Assistant/Picture Research Louise Bertoncini

Production Accounting

Garry Seeley

Transcripts Angela Seeley

Post Production Script

Reezy Miller

Insurance IBNA Insurance

Completion Guarantor

Jenny Woods Film Finances Inc

Auditor Greg Ledger

Legals

Fiocco Lawyers

Use of Melanesian archival material approved by elders of the Fore and Keiagana people

Melanesian Archival material recorded by

Michael Alpers Carleton Gajdusek Richard Sorenson

Overlay, Articles and Images supplied courtesy of

,

, eFootage, LLC, Screen Australia, Newspix/New Ltd, Estate of RM Berndt, JE Stanton Literary Executor, Gajdusek Collection courtesy of the Archives

and Modern Manuscripts Program, History of Medicine - National Library of Medicine, AAP Macmillan Publishers Ltd, AAAS, Christine Lord, Derek & June Richer, David Powers, Judith

Farquhar, Stormland Productions

Thanks to all of the people from the following villages in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea for their hospitality and assistance:

Waisa, Ketabi, Takai Purosa, Takai, Wanitabe, Agakamatasa, Ivingoi, Kimobilo, Mugaiamuti, Kaguwoti, Kekwambe and Mala.


The filmmakers would also like to thank:

Michael Alpers, John Reeder, Pako Ombeya, Atenamu Bavasa, Kasam Uvinda, Shirley Lindenbaum, Taiyabu Tavi, Agusa Utigi, Carleton Gajdusek, Stanley Prusiner, John Collinge,

Jerome Whitfield, Anderson Puwa, Kabina Yaraki, Wandagi & Maren Pako David & Noen Pako, Stephen Kagua, Pibi Auyana, Sena Anuwa, Tuli Anuwa

Toname Ikabala, Jeffery Yota, Luwi Ikabala, Launako Wate, Koiye Tasa, Tom Yoks, Rex Wandaji, Jack Kosinto, David Aino, Tiu Pekiyeva

Cindy Bygott, Jemma Craggs, The Alpers Family, Deborah Lehmann,

Ditte Strebel, Trevor Hope, Susanne Solvyns (CJD Support Network Australia), Margaret Leitch (CJD Support Network UK), Deb Chapman, Peter Siba,

Lawrence Unga, Ken and Lisa Boone, Roy Scragg, Lucy Hamilton Reid, Willie & Norries Pomat, Richard Cree & Tracy Paul, Dorrie Runman, Frank Cooper, Edward McKintosh,

Warwick Anderson, Claire Morris, Janet Gibb, Anthea Lehmann, Skip Jackson, Leo Murray, Paul Richards (Panasonic), Mike Wood (Mountain Designs, Perth),

Brett Smith (Miller Support Systems), Rob Dewar (Location Equipment), Claire Jager, Harry Bardwell, Liz Sward

With special thanks to:

Bill and Jill Bygott, Wendy Alpers, Cheryl Miller Shirley Knight, Glenn Miller, and Nic Waugh

This film was made with the co-operation and assistance of:

MRC Prion Unit, London UK Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research

Curtin University – Melanesian Film Archive Third last card: Produced in Association with SBS (SBS logo) Second last card: Produced and Developed with the Assistance of ScreenWest and LotteryWest (WA Government, ScreenWest and LotteryWest logo) Last Card: Financed with the Assistance of ScreenAustralia (Australian Government and Screen Australia logo) Closer copyright logo single card: 2009 Screen Australia, ScreenWest Inc and Siamese Pty Ltd


FILMMAKER BIOS

Robert Bygott | Director

Graduating from Murdoch University in 1998, Rob holds a Bachelor of Arts - majoring in

media studies. His early film works were of an experimental nature and were received well

including Ascape and Blink. His films have won local awards and have screened nationally at

St. Kilda Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival.

His interest in experimental storytelling lead him to directing and producing music videos for

national profile artists including Eskimo Joe, Jebediah, Diesel, John Butler and The Waifs.

He has lectured and tutored in Screen Production at Murdoch University, as well as giving

guest lectures at the FTI and Curtin University. In recent years, he has mentored a number of

Western Australian indigenous film productions for the Deadly Yarns series, as well as other

indigenous documentary and shorts projects supported by ScreenWest.

An accomplished Cinematographer, his commercial work includes the digital feature, Teesh

and Trude, My Uncle Bluey and documentary favourite at 2007 Message Stick festival -

Footprints in the Sand.

Peter DuCane | Producer

Although an Australian from birth, Peter was born in the diamond town of Kimberley, South

Africa. His parents left South Africa when he was three, moving to Sierra Leone in West Africa

where his childhood was immersed in the sights, sounds and animals of the African jungle. He

was educated at boarding schools in England and eventually lived in London and graduated

with an MA in Chinese and American History from Cambridge University.

In 1973, after a period as a Film Distributor, Peter made his first documentary film in war-torn

Cambodia. The success of this film led to a career of travel and filming in Asia, Europe and

Africa before arriving in Perth, Western Australia in 1982 where he established Wildfilm

Australia in 1983. Since then Peter has been one of the most prolific documentary

Producer/Director/Writers’ in Australia, working on over 20 major productions and series


garnering over 30 international awards for excellence and 6 AFI nominations including 3 as

Producer. Highlights include The Roo Gully Diaries, China from Within, Fearless – Stories from

Asian Women, Shipwreck Detectives, Playing the Game, Big Brother of Christmas Island,

Wildlife of the Malaysian Rainforest, The Last of the Nomads, The Human Race, Numbats,

Secret Fleets, From the Brink of Eternity, Before It’s Too Late, Shark Bay.

In 2001 Peter was honoured with the inaugural Screen Producers Association of Australia

Award for ‘Independent Producer of the Year, Documentary’ at the Annual SPAA Conference.

He is the current Chair of the West Australian Documentary Director’s Association and also a

past Chair of both the Film and Television Institute of WA in Fremantle and the WA Chapter of

the Screen Producer’s Association of Australia (for which he was also a Federal Councillor).

Francesca Hope | Producer

Francesca is Co-owner and Producer for production house Siamese. Based in Mount Lawley,

Siamese is a creative house widely recognized for it’s innovative work in postproduction,

particularly in the areas of visual effects, motion graphics and 3D animation.

Francesca produced the highly acclaimed short film Jack, winner of an AFI award and 2 West

Australian Screen Industry Awards, and she is now producing a short animated drama

animation entitled ‘The Wooden Boy’, funded under the Hyperlink initiative.

Francesca is also involved in the local music industry and manages popular band “The Bank

Holidays” - winners of Best Independent Pop Act at the West Australian Music Industry Awards.

Merlin Cornish | Editor

For the last 10 years Merlin has worked in post production as an award winning editor, visual

effects and motion title designer. Some of the projects over this time have included the features

Teesh & Trude and Last Train to Freo; the shorts Victim, Stump and Jack (both which received

AFI nominations in editing); the animation series John Callahan’s Quads and Dogstar (which he

also post supervised) and motion title designs for Mago Films, Prospero, ABC TV, SBS and

Taylor Media. Besides post, Merlin has directed music videos for John Butler, The Waifs,

Johnny Diesel and Jeff Lang and has segment produced television for the ABC TV (How the

Quest Was Won). Merlin is currently directing the short animated drama ‘ The Wooden Boy’

and working on Dogstar Series 2.


CONTACTS

PRODUCTION

Siamese| Production Company

Level 1, Alexander Buildings, 649 Beaufort Street

Mount Lawley WESTERN AUSTRALIA 6050

T. 61 8 9228 9648

[email protected]

www.siamese.com.au

INTERNATIONAL SALES

SBS Corporation| Content Sales

14 Herbert Street,

Artarmon NSW AUSTRALIA 2064

T. 61 2 9430 3240

M. 61 (0) 400 458 955

Contact: Kristin Burgham

[email protected]

www.sbs.com.au

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The Science and the Sorcery - kuru-doco.com · Kuru: The Science and the Sorcery Electronic Press Kit The decision is made to perform an autopsy on a kuru victim and inoculate the