Pierre Gaisseau (remembered for "The Sky Above, the Mud Below" which won him an Academy Award) parachuted with his camera into a previously unexplored region of New Guinea jungle. The aim of Gaisseau's drop was to study what would happen when primitive tribesmen were subjected to instant 'civilisation.' Taking with them many artefacts of Western culture, Gaisseau and his 18-year-old son Nicholas started filming the action from the moment they left the plane.