On November 11, 2002, Theys Eluay, the leader of the national Assembly of Papua who had spent all his life fighting for separation from Indonesia, died. His death, full of mystery, is dealt with in this film by Indonesian director Garin Nugroho, who decides to tell a tale of the Papuan people faced with liberation, race and religious war. But Bird Man Tale tells of their struggle not in a direct manner, but covered in symbols and allusions about the Papuans′ passion and identity. This is as strong and as unclear as an Impressionist painting. Teenager Arnold meets a woman at a port and becomes obsessed by the desire to kiss her. Minos tries to resurrect his dead father by whistling. A woman wants to know the meaning behind the line "Do not be afraid" that appears 366 times in the Bible. A man locks himself up in a case for the cassowary, the symbol of the Papuan Islands. The characters in this film all fight to recover their lost identities and egos, which were taken away by political violence. Why was Jesus not born a black? Where is the God that they believe in? God is silent but they discover a power inside themselves. Using intense primary colors, symbolic dialogue and powerful movements of the digital video camera, Bird Man Tale recreates the impressions in a different color. Casting real inhabitants of the Papua Islands and shot in 12 days, this film itself became a symbol filled with flavors of ethnography. (Kang So-won) ·