In Borneo, the Land of the Head Hunters

This film of an expedition to Borneo between 1915-17 has claims to be the first motion picture taken in Borneo.

This film of an expedition to Borneo between 1915-17 has claims to be the first motion picture taken in Borneo. Footage Includes diamond fields in Dutch Borneo, scenes of dancing, pig sacrifice, ritual, warriors, hunters, medicine men & women and feasts. The film also shows the expedition’s journey up river, and agricultural work including rice cultivation and fishing with poison.

Carl Lumholtz (1851–1922) was a theologian, naturalist, anthropologist and explorer. His first major expedition was to Australia, and his book ‘Among Cannibals’ records his study of the aborigines of northern Queensland. He later explored Mexico with Swedish botanist C.V. Hartman. In 1905 he was a founding member of the Explorers Club. In 1914 he planned an expedition to Dutch New Guinea, but was diverted to Borneo because of World War I. He undertook field research in Borneo between 1915 and 1917; this was his last expedition before his death from tuberculosis in 1922.