Tania Nugent: Papua New Guinea is a land of storytelling. From traditions to tales from today, these are commonly passed on by word of mouth. I've come here to Goroka in the Eastern Highlands Province to meet the crew from the Yumi Piksa project at the University of Goroka: a dynamic group who are learning a new form of storytelling - the craft of film making.

In collaboration with the University of Technology Sydney, ten local university students were given just six weeks to make three short films.

Nafaro Ere-Epa, student film maker: My group did "Nokondi's Morning Call" and I was the one who led them, I directed the film. We have this modern influence, much of our traditional knowledge and culture is fading. From my point of view I want to store this through film.

Tania Nugent: Did you know much about film making before Yumi Piksa?

Nafaro Ere-Epa: Nothing, I never involved in any activity to do with filming whatsoever, nothing, nil.

Klinit Barrie, student film maker: Mi ko-direktim "Mama Bilong Down Under" wantaim Arthur.
Long taim mi tupela come long down under, em ol family mipela save long, mipela save kaikai wantem, stap wantem, raun wamtaim, pilai wantem so em mo isi long mipela cam stap long komunit olsem bikos mipela pat long dispel komuniti na mipela mekim dispel stori.

(I co-directed Mama Bilong Down under with Arthur. When came to Down Under, they are our family. We know them, we eat with them, we go around with them, we play with them. So it's easier for us to come and stay in the community because we are part of the community and we made this story.)

Dilen Doiki, student film maker: I am the director of the "Levekuka Clay". My trainer Verena Thomas told us to do a documentary about local knowledge in PNG. So I come up to my grandfather and I ask him about I can do a short documentary about artefacts and all these things. Like for me as a son, to work with my father is so easy, because we speak the same language and I know the culture here.

Tania Nugent: It's this connection to the culture, the community and the subjects of the stories that have made the Yumi Piksa films resonate, not just with local audiences. The films have been selected for screenings at international festivals in Tahiti, Germany and Denmark.

Klinit Barrie: Taim ol narapela lain ol lukim na ol enjoim na sampela ol gat olsem ol react long dispel piksa mipela I wokim em mi wanbel stret. Na em olslem em I stori bilong mi yet tu so attach long dispel stori.

(When other people see it and enjoy it and some they react to this film we made I very happy. It's like my story to so I'm attached to this story.)

Nafaro Ere-Epa: I see that not many people like spending time on reading books, but if you want to show films, it just captures all the attention you see. That's why I want to use a different method of storing the knowledge before we lose all of it.

Arthur Hane-Nou, student film maker: I think film making can change the views that people have about us Papua New Guineans, because us Papua New Guineans, the stories that we have we are true and we are powerful, and that's what we want to do with Yumi Piksa, we want to capture our pictures for Papua New Guineans 'cos that's us.

Dilen Doiki: I'm proud to be a part of the Yumi Piksa group myself as a Papua New Guinean to do documentaries about Papua New Guineans, so yeah, we can tell other people from outside coming in doing doco that we Papua New Guineans we can do documentaries.