8th Film Festival 30 Oct-1 Nov 2014
The Film and Video Festival of Indigenous Peoples 30–31 October, 6-10pm Rudolph Steiner House, 35 Park Rd, London NW1 6XT 1 November, 2-9pm SOAS School of Oriental & African Studies (Room LG67, Lwr Grd, Main Bldg), Thornhaugh St off Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG nativespiritfilms@gmail.com
Programme may be subject to changes – check for daily updates To reserve tickets with Eventbrite for 30 & 31 October at RUDOLPH STEINER HOUSE – select date/s you wish to attend (ie buy 2 tickets for both nights). Entry by Donation at Door optional.
1 November, 2-9PM at SOAS – BY DONATION AT DOOR (£5-10 suggested)
THURSDAY 30 OCTOBER (Rudolph Steiner House) 6.00pm OPENING WITH PHAXSI COCA: Mystic Music from The Andes
Jeanette Rojas is a well-known Bolivian musician based in London. Phaxsi Coca, are two very important female elements of the Andean world vision (Cosmovision) : Phaxsi in Aymara language means Mother Moon, and the Coca, is the sacred Coca leaf. She plays traditional instruments from the Andes: flutes, quenas and pan pipes as main instruments also charango and bombo. The importance of these instruments is inseparable from their spirituality, which is about the Pachamama (Mother Earth). The spiritual practices people make offerings and pray to the Pachamama. “Ofrendas� (offerings) include coca leaves and the role of music is extremely important to make that moment and that transition more tangible. These instruments and music express homage to nature, an homage inspired by the philosophy of the quechua and aymara cultures where duality (meaning that female and male are complementary principles), respect, reciprocity and the quest for harmony are fundamental elements.
6.30pm CHAWAYTIRI: CARAVAN OF MEMORY
“Our message is this: Let us be careful to not to lose the ways and customs of our ancestors so that nothing useful disappears” A Quechua speaking community of weavers and herders in the Andean Highlands guide a collaboration with the National Museum of the American Indian to document their Llama culture under the harooible ‘Hvvienda’ system for future generations. The culture declined but with the comneros of the Chawaytiri, they regained title to their land and reset their traditional government system. In the past thirty years Andean traditional culture of Ayni and Minica parsonal and community reciprocity and important ceremonials, appreciation for the Pacha Mama and the mountain top apus formed the basis of a community revitalization process to meet the modern world. Dir. Jose Barreiro PhD (Taino) / 2013 / Quechua, Peru / 44′
7.30pm BREAK – Rudolph Steiner Cafe 8.00pm SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL THERE YOU GO
Around the world ‘development’ is robbing tribal people of their land, self-sufficiency and pride, leaving them with nothing. This short, satirical animation, written by Oren Ginzburg, narrated by actor and comedian David Mitchell, tells the story of how tribal peoples are being destroyed in the name of ‘development’.
AWA: Earth’s most threatened tribe: the campaign triumphs Brazil’s government bows to the global campaign and expels all illegal loggers from the Awá’s territory.
Guest Speaker NIXIWAKA YAWANAWA
Nixiwaka Yawanawá is living in London and working with Survival International to raise awareness of the rights of Amazon Indians and the problems caused by endemic illegal loggers and miners. He says “I want people to understand and respect the way we choose to live”. His tribe, the Yawanawá, numbers over 600 in the state of Acre, western Brazilian Amazon.
8.30pm ALUNA THE MOVIE View Trailer
Aluna is made by and with the KOGI, a genuine lost civilization hidden on an isolated triangular pyramid mountain in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, nearly five miles high, on the Colombian-Caribbean coast. The Kogi say that without thought, nothing could exist. This is a problem, because we are not just plundering the world, we are dumbing it down, destroying both the physical structure and the thought underpinning existence. The Kogi believe that they live in order to care for the world and keep its natural order functioning, but they recognized some years ago that this task was being made impossible by our mining and deforestation. In 1990 they emerged to work with Alan Ereira, making a 90-minute film for BBC1 in which they dramatically warned of our need to change course. Then they withdrew again… But now the Kogi have summoned Alan Ereira back to say that we did not actually listen to what they said. We are incapable of being changed by being spoken to. They now understand that we learn through our eyes, not our ears. In the face of the approaching
apocalypse, they have asked Ereira to make a film with them which will take the audience on a perilous journey into the mysteries of their sacred places to change our understanding of reality. Dir. Alan Ereira / 2012 / Kogi, Colombia / 86′
Q&A Alan Ereira Click here to learn about Tairona Trust
FRIDAY 31 OCTOBER (Rudolph Steiner House) 6.00pm CROCODILE DREAMING
The story of two estranged half-brothers, Burrimmilla and Charlie, who must struggle against their own jealousy and distrust for each other. A violent death upsets the spiritual world, and Burrimmilla is called upon to fulfill an ancient tribal obligation. He must find the sacred stone which holds the power of his mother’s dreaming and return it to its secret belonging place. A modern day supernatural myth, played by iconic Indigenous actors David Gulpilil and Tom E.Lewis. Dir. Darlene Johnson / 2007 / Australia / 25′
6.30pm BUNDJALUNG: A SURFING PARADISE
Filmed during 2 years along the two hundred kilometers of coastline in the Bundjalung Country, this documentary portrays epic surf sessions as well as the untold Aboriginal story. Dir. Carlos Portella / 2014 / Australia / 20′
7.00pm NGATI RANANA – live performance
Ngāti Rānana London Māori Club aims to provide New Zealanders residing in the United Kingdom and others interested in Māori culture an environment to teach, learn and participate in Māori culture. The three guiding principles of Ngāti Rānana are whanaungatanga (togetherness), manaakitanga (looking after one another/hospitality) and kōtahitanga (unity).
7.30pm BREAK – Rudolph Steiner Cafe
7.55pm TRADITIONAL HEALING A young woman dances in a devastated forest… then a miracle occurs. Short animation from Wapikoni. Dir. Raymond Caplin / 2014 / Micmac, Canada / 2’20
8.00pm FOREST OF THE DANCING SPIRITS View Trailer
“In the beginning, women lived apart, unaware of the existence of men. Until one day, when the first woman, Toli, who was brave and adventurous traveled deep into the forest. Toli discovered solitary creatures with big muscles who knew how to climb trees and harvest wild honey. When Toli tasted their honey, she thought they should all live together….” That is how one of the creation stories of the Aka people from the tropical rainforest of the Congo Basin goes. Akaya, Kengole, Dibota and their friends and family are hunters-gatherers (and also great story-tellers) who guide us through their world. They explain their origins, myths, and the very spiritual meaning of life. The film follows their unique community life as it unfolds over many years. We experience the practice of their spirituality in the most difficult situations. Their religion is playful and highly creative in dealing with deeply serious matters of life and death, and may be the oldest human religion practiced on earth today. Director Linda Vastrik worked on the film for seven years. Living with the Aka for extended periods of time, she gains their friendship and we are introduced to their mythological gods, the dancing spirits. This film is a rare and stunning insight into a unique society. Dir. Linda Vastrik / 2012 / Aka, Congo Basin / 104′
Skype Q&A Linda Vastrik
SATURDAY 1 NOVEMBER (SOAS Room LG67, Lower Ground, Main Bldg) 2.00pm RANGSA NI TONUN: SACRED BATAK WEAVING
A film about the ancient Batak (North Sumatra, Indonesia) weaving tradition based on a shamanic text written in 1872. Part myth, part legend, and deploying poetic language, the text describes the work of Si Boru Hasagian, the first weaver from whom all Batak weavers are believed to descend, thus connecting weaving with the spirit world. Dir. Sandra Niessen / 2014 / Batak, Indonesia / 25′
2.30pm AINU: PATHWAYS TO MEMORY View Trailer
A documentary about the indigenous Ainu of Japan, people whose origins and language are still a mystery. The growing interest for cultural preservation clashes with a reality of marginalization which has reduced it to mere museum pieces. But the awakening of the Ainu people and questions of identity faces the mercantilist logic of a global world. Unavoidably, doubt comes to mind, what does being Ainu mean today? Dir. Marcos P. Centeno Martín / 2014 / Ainu, Japan / 82′
4.00pm KING’S SEAL
King William IV granted the first ever continued rights to land for Aboriginal people in South Australia’s founding document ‘The Letters Patent, Feb 1836. Rights to occupy and enjoy their land for always, enshrined in law by the King’s seal. 5.5 years in the making, this film exposes breaches of the King’s Letters Patent and documents Aboriginal people fighting for recognition and enforcement of their rights to land. Dir. Quenten Agius (Aboriginal), Kim Mavromatis / 2014 / Australia / 53′
5.00pm NDIMA: MAPPING OUR FUTURE
Maps of the Congo Basin often make it appear empty of human settlement, giving rise to the erroneous belief that these lands are an unoccupied ‘wilderness’ available for others to use. A technique called ‘participatory mapping’, a tool which combines the traditional knowledge of forest dwellers with sophisticated modern technology, is a means of showing the presence of otherwise ‘invisible’ forest people. The Rainforest Foundation UK has been helping local African organisations for the past 10 years to carry out mapping with forest communities giving people such as the Bayaka Pygmies a means to gain greater control of their lives and to protect their environment Dir. Luis Leitao / 2013 / Bayaka, Central African Republic / 28′
5.30pm DEFENSORA
Defensora is a documentary about a Mayan Q’eqchi’ resistance against mining in Guatemala. The story is set along the shores of Lake Izabal in the community of El Estor where a nickel mining company has operated for over 50 years. Tensions run high against a backdrop of pro and anti-mining camps, violence and forced evictions. The film takes audiences into the lives of defenders in the resistance who struggle to reclaim their ancestral lands and seek justice in Canadian courts for alleged human rights violations. Dir. Rachel Schmidt / 2013 / Mayan Q’eqchi’, Guatemala / 44′
Q&A Kevin O’Dell, Guatemala Solidarity Network
WAPIKONI SHORTS A selection of shorts from Indigenous film-makers.
7.15pm EL REGALO DE LA PACHAMAMA (THE GIFT OF PACHAMAMA) View Trailer
On Bolivia’s inland salt sea (the Salar de Uyuni), 13-year-old Kunturi and his family cut bricks of salt by hand, which they use to barter for goods. With Pachamama (Mother Earth) constantly watching over her indigenous Bolivian children (and Father Sun silently, beautifully beginning and ending each day), an idyllic trek along the Salt Trail reminds us all that there’s a much simpler — if far more physically demanding — way to contentedly live life to the fullest. This film is made in honor of the children of the Andes. Dir. Toshifumi Matsushita / 2008 / Quechua, Aymara. Bolivia / 102′