One woman's fight against sorcery violence.

It’s estimated as many as 200 people die each year and dozens more are left badly injured.

Source: RNZ

MARIMARI Film

MARIMARI is an intimate and moving documentary of anguish and hope in equal measure. Step into the heart of Papua New Guinea, enter a cinematic journey with courageous indigenous human rights defender, Evelyn Kunda.

An unfiltered view into Evelyn's world as she rescues and rehabilitates survivors of sorcery accusation related violence (SARV). A verité style film that provides access to a world in which this new practice of sorcery violence wreaks havoc on the lives of many innocent people in the Pacific.

MARIMARI captures Evelyn’s tireless efforts, revealing a story that's compelling, richly nuanced, and leaves the viewer with a blend of fear, admiration, and a deep understanding of a woman who risks it all for her people.

MARIMARI is a call to action, as the communities of the largest Pacific island deal with rapid social change - brought about through globalization, mining, and economic pressures - the most vulnerable are being tortured and burned alive.

Screenings

MARIMARI had its local premiere in Aotearoa with the Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival in August 2024, screening across multiple cities and regions.

MARIMARI is now screening at the Hawaii International Film Festival - click here to buy tickets

Friday 4 Oct 2024
Monday 7 Oct 2024

Evelyn Kunda

Evelyn Kunda became a human rights defender when she saw what was happening around her in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. People are being forced to leave their villages accused of ‘sanguma’ - witchcraft and sorcery. Many are tortured and even killed in their villages, but those that do escape, find themselves alone and desperate. Evelyn is determined to do all she can to help these survivors.

Evelyn gives everything she can to support, house, and rehabilitate the often traumatised survivors that she takes under her wing. Her work is dangerous, unfunded, and desperately needed.

Impact Project

This documentary seeks to contribute to improving the lives of survivors, and the indigenous human rights defenders who risk their lives to rescue and rehabilitate those survivors. While we would love to end SARV in Papua New Guinea, we are realistic that a film for a Western audience is not going to achieve this.

How you can help:

Donate: to the safehouse from anywhere in the world via our Open Collective fundraising page: https://opencollective.com/evelynssafehouse
Review the Film on Your Social Media: Do you have a moment to share what you thought? A sentence or two from you on your social media (tagging ours) would be incredibly powerful. If you can share a photo of you at a screening, what you thought, tag us and direct people to find out more or buy tickets directly we would be incredibly grateful
- Facebook: @marimarifilm
- Instagram: @marimari.film
- LinkedIn: @PaulWolffram
- General tag: #marimarifilm
Send a Friend to our NZIFF Screenings: https://www.nziff.co.nz/2024/film/marimari/
Evelyn and Paul will be at the North Island screenings and will be doing Filmmaker Q&A’s
Silent Auction Event Help: We’re organising a silent auction for a few fundraising events in September. If you or anyone you know are happy to donate goods, services or time towards this auction, please contact us.
Connect Us: Know somebody who is able to provide sponsorship or contribute funds, or partner with us towards building Evelyn’s Safehouse? Whether they are a local business or an organisation, or just like-minded individuals, please help put us in touch with them! We are particularly interested in connecting with international audiences.
Run a Fundraiser: Help us reach audiences you’re connected to, or donate your time by running a fundraiser for us. We are happy to work with you to hold fundraisers or private screenings to raise funds to go towards Evelyn’s Safehouse. If you’re a charity yourself we’re happy to work on joined fundraising events.

Impact work alongside the feature film:

We have already produced a series of short social media videos aimed at communicating an anti-violence message in the local language for audiences in Papua New Guinea. Find out more about these videos here

Our Impact Goals

We want to get this Open Collective to $80,000 (NZD) by the end of 2025 to help secure land for Evelyn and build a Safehouse for survivors.
We aim to screen the film to audiences in New Zealand, Australia, and Internationally. Film festivals and partnership screenings are how we aim to achieve this goal.
We want to connect our audience with actions they can take, with partners who are carrying out humanitarian work on the ground in Papua New Guinea, and with further information and resources about stopping sorcery violence. We’ll be measuring website traffic, social media mentions and donations to track this.
We want to find an ongoing and trustworthy mechanism for motivated donors to support indigenous leaders in Papua New Guinea to work on the ground to end SARV.

Resources

- Stop Sorcery Violence - PNG Tribal Foundation

- Oxfam - Human Rights Watch

- Save the children

Donate

Contribute here to saving the lives of sorcery accusation survivors. One of our key impact aims is to support Evelyn to continue her work. She needs her own land and a permanent place of residence where she will be able to continue to help rehabilitate, and counsel the victims of violence

You can help by donating to Evelyn Kunda’s Safehouse here.

All donations go directly to supporting Evelyn Kunda’s Safehouse.

Thank you for your support.

Social Media Videos

The MARIMARI team are developing a series of public services, and social media videos that aim to reduce sorcery accusation related violence in Papua New Guinea.

It can be very difficult to change people’s belief systems and the belief in what is widely known in PNG as ‘sanguma’ (sorcery) is difficult to shift. Research shows that it is better to ‘crowd out’ the sanguma explanations of death or misfortune with alternative narratives. In instances where sanguma is being used as a causal explanation following a death, it is much more effective to raise doubt by offering alternative explanations rather than opposing the sorcery explanation directly.

We also know that direct empathetic appeals can also be effective. Asking people to think about how they would react if their sister, mother, or aunty was accused can also help people to reconsider violent action.

We know that most of the perpetrators of sorcery violence are young men. The actions of these young men are often implicitly or even explicitly endorsed by senior member of the community.

Young people in PNG are accessing the internet and social media via their phones. We are in the process of creating a series of short social media and public service videos that address this audience directly. Using a combination of direct appeals, short entertaining videos, and alternative explanations, we aim to contribute to the reduction of violence in communities.

News

Witch Hunts Now: A Human Rights Catastrophe in Photographs

Director Paul Wolffram and Cinematographer Adam Browne’s prize-winning photographs are included in the Witch Hunts Now Photography Exhibition at Lancaster Arts in the United Kingdom.

World Premiere of MARIMARI at the Roxy

It was a cold Wellington afternoon when we got to finally introduce our film and the team behind it to the public. The premiere event sold out quickly, with some bonus seats added closer to the day.

Shining a Light on Sorcery Violence through Photos and Bilum

We recently had a successful launch of the SANAP WANTAIM Photography Exhibition, held from June 21st to August 4th at Pātaka Art + Museum in Porirua, Wellington.

Community hosted fundraiser raises money for the safehouse

The women of Brookvale held a fundraising afternoon tea to raise some money for the safe house.

Pātaka gallery exhibition

A selection of photographs taken over the last 6 years during the production of MARIMARI film have been selected for a new exhibition hosted in Porirua, Wellington, New Zealand.

MARIMARI film in post-production finishing

MARIMARI is now in the final stage of post-production.

Celebrating Paul and Adam's return

Our crew recently got together to celebrate Paul Wolffram and Adam Browne's return from Papua New Guinea.

Paul and Adam depart for PNG

After nearly two years of pre-production delays due to Covid-19 and border restrictions, our mighty film crew of two are finally headed for Papua New Guinea to be reunited with Evelyn for the first time in years.

PledgeMe Success

We recently put together a PledgeMe Campaign to concentrate fundraising efforts for Evelyn and her Safehouse, and have raised a total of $6,280 for Evelyn.

Urgent Action Grant

Everlyn Kunda receives an Urgent Action Grant to support her work in Goroka. The Asia Pacific Urgent Action Grant has awarded Everlyn a grant to help her find a secure location to run her Safehouse on the outskirts of Goroka.

Sanguma: COVID-19

When a woman was accused of using witchcraft to kill a young boy, his father and the village tribesmen gathered to torture her. By the end of the day, she was dead. Experts warns more such killings are likely as the COVID death toll grows.

Everlyn Kunda: Goroka

Despite the tough conditions and restrictions on movement caused by COVID 19, Everlyn Kunda continues her efforts to feed the children who live in the streets of Goroka. Everyday Everlyn and her team of volunteers distribute food and drink to those living on Goroka’s streets.