Gods behind Mountains

Matheo, from the Yali people of the West Papuan highlands, was eighteen when his village pooled its money to send him to school far from home. There he learned about politics, economics and English, things his people knew little about. After five years, he returns to his village for the first time.

Gods behind Mountains follows Matheo’s journey and uses it to tell the history of West Papua, from colonial rule to Indonesian annexation, and the Papuan movement for freedom that has continued for more than fifty years. Leader Benny Wenda sums it up: “We want to be free, do the hunting and the gardening, and look after ourselves.”