NFSA Restores: Tukana – Lucy and Tukana

Tukana – Husat I Asua (Who’s to Blame) tells the story of Tukana (Albert Toro), a university dropout who returns to his village in Buka Passage, Bougainville. His parents want him to marry Josephine, a schoolteacher, and settle down. Instead, Tukana takes off for Panguna, where he becomes a driver for Bougainville Copper. 

Tukana starts seeing Lucy (Francesca Semoso), who scoffs at her rival Josephine’s village ways. Lucy has a plan: finish school, land a job, marry Tukana, and fill their home with modern appliances. Semoso brings energy and drive to the role, making Lucy a powerful foil to Tukana’s laidback charm. Her commanding screen presence foreshadows her real-life trajectory: Semoso later became a trailblazing politician and the first woman to preside from the Speaker’s chair in PNG’s National Parliament.

Widely regarded as Papua New Guinea’s most important feature film, Tukana – Husat I Asua (1982) was born from a groundbreaking collaboration between Australian director Chris Owen – a driving force behind the creation of the National Film Institute (NFI) in Goroka – and Albert Toro, the trailblazing writer, director, actor and MP hailed as the father of PNG cinema. 

Now digitally restored by the NFSA in partnership with Spectrum Films, Tukana has been gifted to the NFI to mark 50 years of Papua New Guinea’s independence in 2025. The restoration is part of a four-year co-design project with the NFI, supported by the Australian Government’s International Cultural Diplomacy and Arts Fund – helping preserve and give access to PNG’s rich film heritage.

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