Liebe Visuals, wir freuen uns, Euch mitzuteilen, dass Professor Heidemann den indischen Dokumentarfilmregisseur Rahul Roy dazu gewinnen konnte kommenden Dienstag, den 8.5.07, einen Workshop an unserem Institut in der Oettingenstr. 67 zu halten.

Um 18 Uhr wird im Raum 1.05 der Film Majma (Performance) in Anwesenheit des Regisseurs gezeigt. Anschließend werden wir gemeinsam mit Rahul Roy über die Thematik des Films diskutieren. Hier eine kurze Synopsis: Majma (Performance), 2001, 54 minutes: Aslam sells medicines for sexual problems on the pavements of Meena Bazaar in near Jama Masjid in Delhi… Khalifa Barkat presides over an akhara in the adjacent park and puts a group of young men through the moral and physical grind of wrestling… Through the park and the market pass hundreds of men every day… Majma explores the instability and insecurity of working class lives and its impact on male sexuality and gender relations.

Um 20 Uhr wird im gleichen Raum sein Film The City Beautiful, 2003, 78 minutes: Sunder Nagri (Beautiful City) is a small working class colony on the margins of India’s capital city, Delhi. Most families residing here come from a community of weavers. The last ten years have seen a gradual disintegration of the handloom tradition of this community under the globalisation regime. The families have to cope with change as well as reinvent themselves to eke out a living. The City Beautiful is the story of two families struggling to make sense of a world, which keeps pushing them to the margins. Radha and Bal Krishan are at a critical point in their relationship. Bal Krishan is underemployed and constantly cheated. They are in disagreement about Radha going out to work. However, through all their ups and downs they retain the ability to laugh. Shakuntla and Hira Lal hardly communicate. They live under one roof with their children but are locked in their own sense of personal tragedies gezeigt. Auch hier gibt es die Möglichkeit, im Anschluss an den Film mit Herrn Roy über seinen Film und dessen Thema zu diskutieren.

Biography: Rahul Roy completed his masters in film and TV production from the Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi in 1987 and since then has been working as an independent documentary film maker. For the last few years he has been working on the theme of masculinities. He is a recepient of the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in India. read moreHis last films have been widely screened internationally including at the IDFA, International Documentary Festival in Munich, Yamagata International Documentary Festival, Hawaii International Film Festival, Hot Springs International Documentary Festival(USA), Cracow International Film Festival, RAI International Ethnographic Film Festival, Leipzig international documentary Festival and several others. He has won several prices for his films.

Wir freuen uns auf zahlreiches Erscheinen Eurerseits

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Intute: Anthropology provides free access to high quality resources on the Internet. Each resource has been evaluated and categorised by subject specialists based at UK universities. We aim to match resources to the anthropology curriculum and the needs of researchers. Our target audience is students, staff and researchers in higher and further education.

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Anna Noweck sucht in ihrer Funktion als Koordinatorin des Missio Aids-Trucks in Bayern einen Praktikanten/Praktikantin.

Zeitraum: letzte Juni-Woche (Testphase), erste beiden Dezember-Wochen 2007, Februar und Juni/Juli 2008.

Tätigkeit: Begleitung des Aids-Trucks auf der Tour in Bayern inkl. Speyer, Betreuung von Schulklassen und anderen Gruppen bei deren Besuch im Truck.

Bezahlung: 200 Euro/Monat; Missio übernimmt Reisekosten, Spesen und Unterbringung

Ihr sammelt "Erfahrung in der weltkichlichen und entwicklungsbezogenen Arbeit mit einem sozial- und moralethischen Thema in der pädagogischen Betreuung von Jugendlichen in der Arbeit des Hilfswerks Missio".

Kontakt: Anna Noweck <anna (at) noweck.net>

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Am kommenden Donnerstag beginnt das Programm des 22. DOK.Festes in München. Für das ausführliche Programm könnt ihr auf die Homepage unter www.dokfest-muenchen.de nachlesen. Es liegt auch in der Teeküche aus. Hier einige Empfehlungen:

Für Ethnologen sicher der interessanteste Film ist SchoolScapes - der neue Film von David MacDougall. Er knüpft mit dem Film an seine DoonSchool-Serie an, begibt sich aber diesmal in den Süden von Indien (Andra Pradesh), um dort die von Krishnamurti gegründete Rishi Valley School zu filmen. Im Wettbewerb. Freitag, 4.5., 15.30 Uhr und 7.5. um 21.30 Uhr beide im Filmmuseum.

Am Freitag (17.00 Uhr) und Samstag (10.00-20.30 Uhr) findet in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Dok.fest der Fernsehworkshop Entwicklungspolitik im Völkerkundemuseum statt. Programm unter www.fernsehworkshop.de

Eine kleine Auswahl weiterer empfehlenswerte Filme:

• Prinzessinnenbad – zu dem Film gibt es am Di, 8. Mai ab 10.00 Uhr in der HFF ein Werkstattgespräch
• Der rote Teppich
• Chrigu
• Women See a Lot of Things
• Les Ballets de ci de la
• Manufacturing Dissent: Uncovering Michael Moore – dieser Film deckt auf, was sich hinter den „Fakten“ von Michael Moore verbirgt; sehr interessant bzgl. "Authentizität" und "Gefahren des Dokumentarfilms"

Viel Spaß

Die Film AG

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Für ZPler und auch andere Wissensdurstige:

Cultural Anthropology Online Tutorial

Mehr Links zu Einführungen und Tutorials zum Thema findet ihr hier.

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Am morgigen 27.4. trifft sich die Redaktion der studentischen Münchener Zeitschrift ethnologik wieder zu einem Redaktionstreffen. weiterlesen

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Hier mal wieder die Ankündigung für den Ethnologischen Salon im Völkerkundemuseum München: weiterlesen

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Liebe Internet-Kenner unter euch. Ich bin auf der Suche nach seriösen wissenschaftlichen Personen- sowie Ethnienindizes im Internet. Sodass beispielsweise bei den Tiv neben einer geographischen Verortung und demographischen Daten auch theoriegeschichtlich relevante Informationen erscheinen. Wer hat dort wann, mit welchen Hintergrund und welchen Ergebnissen geforscht. Oder dass unter Malinowski mehr als seine Lebensdaten und dem Namen seiner Lieblingsspeise erscheinen.

Ich freue mich über jeden Hinweis. Danke, Toni

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(direkt link zu youtube)

Lorenz von Antropologi.info macht uns auf diesen Film aufmerksam, mehr Infos gibts bei ihm.

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Blogs in Anthropology

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Liebe Visuals,

am Dienstag den 17.April zeigen wir LAND MINES - A LOVE STORY von Dennis O'Rourke im Raum 1.05 in der Oettingenstrasse 67.

Ich kam Anfang 2001 nach Kabul. Ich kannte niemanden in dieser chaotischen Stadt, war alleine und ein wenig verängstigt. Ich hatte all meine Kameras und Ausstattung mit dabei und war dort, um einen bestimmten Film zu machen, mit einem bestimmten Titel. Tags darauf, als man mich durch den Hauptbasar fuhr und meine Gedanken hin- und herjagten, erblickte ich einen Plastikfuß, der unter den blauen Falten einer Burqua hervorschaute - eine Frau saß am Gehsteig und bettelte. Entgegen aller Vorschriften und Vernunft, beschloss ich, dass ich sie kennenlernen wollte. Und so kam es zu diesem Film. (Dennis O'Rourke)

RezensionIn Land Mines - A Love Story sieht man, wie Menschen nach diesem sinnlosen Krieg leben, man sieht Menschen, die jetzt als Krüppel betteln gehen müssen, um über die Runden zu kommen. Und dennoch entsteht da Liebe. Ein ergreifender, wunderschöner Film, der andererseits aber auch gnadenlos zeigt, wie so ein Krieg den «einfachen Menschen» nichts als Leiden zufügt. Aus solchen Filmen kann man Rückschlüsse auf alle anderen Kriege ziehen, die derzeit stattfinden. (Claas Danielsen)

Filmographie DENNIS O'ROURKE Geboren 1945 in Brisbane, Australien. Verbringt mehrere Jahre auf Reisen und arbeitet in verschiedenen Jobs. Später wird er Fotograf und Kameramann der Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Dreht 1976 seinen ersten Dokumentarfilm Yumi Yet - Independence for Papua and New Guinea. Seine vielbeachteten dokumentarischen Arbeiten werden seither auf zahlreichen internationalen Filmfestivals präsentiert. Filme (Auswahl): The Shark Callers of Kontu (1982), The Good Woman of Bangkok (1991), Cunnamulla (2000).

LAND MINES ist Dennis O'Rourkes neuester Film.

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By Antonio Graceffo

Very few people outside of the Badjao community speak their tribal language. But somehow, you just know when someone is screaming, “Shark! Shark!” I scrambled up the boats armor, nearly tipping it over, making me feel like a ten-ton elephant out of water. Jaji, the boat owner, and head of the family calmly stowed his spear gun, as he eased himself onto the deck. The entire family had a good laugh at the guy from Brooklyn, who had never swam with sharks before. Jaji later said that he estimated the shark to be two meters long. “We will fish somewhere else.” He said, and set the boat in motion.

The Badjao settlement in Puerto Princesa, is a ramshackle village of wooden huts, built on stilts, over the water. The streets are bridges, made of wooden planks with uncertain footing. In places the boards are rotted through. In others, they are completely missing. The most misleading are the ones where, if you step on the middle you are fine, but if you step on the ends, you will go for a swim. Under no circumstances would you want to fall into the murky waters below. The tide pool under the village serves as a source of fish, a toilet, a washroom, shower, and a recreational swimming pool for children. At low-tide, the sand is a reeking thick black sludge, littered with plastic snack wrappers and pop bottles. Read more... Traditionally the Badjao were a nomadic seafaring people, originating from the Samal Tribe, on the island of Mindenao, in the Philippines. They spend most or even all of their time on their boats, thus they are often referred to as Sea Gypsies. Sea Gypsy, however, is a very lose description, given to many unrelated ethnic groups. The Badjao are, for example, not related to the Mogen People, the Sea Gypsies of Surin Island, Thailand.

Down a particularly precarious alley in the maze of bamboo houses, we made a stop at the Badjao Daycare Center, where a dedicated teacher, named Nasuraya, teaches 45 wonderful Badjao children. The children were all bright-eyed and excited to see strangers in their classroom. Nasuraya encouraged them to greet us in Philippine language, which, according to Marifi, my guide and translator, they all spoke perfectly.

Nauraya explained that many Badjao children missed school during periods when their parents put out to sea. “Sometimes they just move away.” She said. “They are nomadic. This is normal for them.” Nauraya was, herself Badjao, but she was a born-again Christian, who had graduated university in Mindenao. She came to live in the settlement seven years earlier and was clearly dedicated to helping the Badjao children learn as much as they could during the periods they were in school. “I only speak Philippine language to them.” She stressed. “And I am strict. When I tell them to write, they know they need to write.”

According to Nauraya, the children faced a number of health problems. “Diarrhea is probably the most common illness. It comes from the dirty water.” The other major problem was dietary. “They don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables.”

From my own observation, they seemed to exist on a diet of only fish and rice.

The Badjao children appeared to be smaller than Philippine children. Many people in the community had an unhealthy look. Bad skin and bad teeth seemed to be common in the community.

The Badjao are nominally Muslim, the majority religion in Mindenao. In talking to them, however, it was clear that they had little or no knowledge of the religion. When I asked if they were Sunni and Shiite, I met was met with blank stares. Nauraya did confirm that the Badjao refrained from eating pork, and that boys were circumcised at about the age of thirteen. “It depends on the family, when it is done. But they don’t have a big festival where the boys are circumcised all at once. It is done individually.”

“Some Badjao families have 10-12 children.” Said Nauraya.

The families earn their living, almost exclusively, from fishing, diving for pearls, and harvesting sea products.

“The children can dive very well.” Nauraya told me. “When tourist boats come, they throw coins in the water and the children dive for them.”

Albatya, the daughter of the former tribal chieftain, took over as head of the community when her father died, several years earlier. Vague about the year, she explained “We came here during the Marcos regime, to work as pearl divers for a rich family. But we don’t work for them anymore. ”

According to Albataya, the community do not observe the Saturday rest. “After we return from the sea, we usually rest two or three days. But it has nothing to do with the religion.” For the most part, neither men nor women kept their heads covered. They also didn’t pray five times per day. “Most pray once a day and twice on Friday, when we go to the mosque. But now, a lot of the young ones don’t even go on Fridays.” For those who attended mosque, men and women prayed in separate sections of the room, with a curtain separating them. The mosque was simply one more bamboo house on stilts, with a loud speaker to call people to prayer.

The government has announced its intention to move the community to a more hygienic location. Albataya said, “We love Palawan. We don’t mind being relocated, but please tell them we need to live near the sea.” She went on to explain. “We don’t know how to live on land. We don’t know how to farm, and we don’t know the culture.”

Albataya told us that she, like much of the community, couldn’t read or write. When asked how she read the Koran she said, “We don’t have one.” When asked if they observed Ramadan, she answered. “We live different than other Muslims. Our culture is different. We don’t have much contact with other Muslims. We even have our own mosque. The only time we have contact with others is when they invite us to special programs, but that doesn’t happen too often because they know we are different. A lot of families just worship in their home, with their elders running the worship service.”

At the entrance to the Badjao community I met a young man named Hanza, the son of the Imam. He was considered a messenger of god, teaching the Badjao People. According to Hanza, more than 95% of Muslims in the Philippines were Sunni. “The Badjao don’t know the basic pillars of Islam.” He said. “They don’t know about Mecca or making the Hajj. And of course, they would never be able to because of financial constraints.” At a nearby madrasa 85 students, both boys and girls, were studying. Not one of them was Badjao. “We have some special programs, from time to time, when the madrasa students come over to teach the Badjao.” Hanza lamented on how difficult the Arabic language was to learn. “The Department of Education has a program to add basic Arabic studies to the school curriculum, so the Muslim children will be able to learn faster. But it is very basic. Takes years to be able to speak.”

Hanza confirmed that they were also teaching Muslim martial arts such as Silat and Kuntaw. When I asked if I could participate, he became extremely suspicious. “Why do you want to know about that? Are you from the Army?”

I explained again that I was a journalist and very interested in martial arts and ethnic minorities, but he didn’t buy it.

Albataya and Jaji had agreed to take me diving with them if I would cover the 500 Pesos cost of petrol. The next morning, when I walked out of my hotel, there were Jaji and Albatay, waiting for me. They had walked, barefooted, all the way from their settlement, carrying an empty petrol canister. I was on my way with security officer Oliver, Jaji, Albatay, and five children, ranging in age from 3 year-old Jasper to 13 year-old Sadam.

Along the way, we stopped at a gas station where I handed Jaji the 500 Pesos I’d promised. Showing who was boss, he immediately handed the money to Albataya, who bought snacks for all of the children. The Kids were going crazy, eating these store-bought treats which were obviously a rare windfall for them. I pulled out my camera and suddenly, the whole village wanted their photo taken. In particular, they asked me to photograph their babies.

Watching the children run along the gunwales and jumping from boat to boat, while eating their candy, I was amazed at their incredible agility, and balance. More than anything, I was amazed at how fearless they were. But why not? This was their world. And I was just a visitor.

As we pulled away from the village, I saw how ingenious the Badjao were, and how adept they were at reusing garbage and turning it into something useful. There was a large fishing raft, made of bamboo, supported by pontoons of fishing nets stuffed with Styrofoam containers and plastic bags. Our boat was itself a Gilligan’s Island technological marvel. The Badjao typically used long, slender boats, which were then modified. They turned them into outriggers by attaching bamboo armor on both sides. Boards were laid across the armor to be used as sleeping spaces. An old tarp strung across the rigging was the sun shield. The cross piece of the anchor was also homemade, made of wood.

The boys had a pair of homemade, wooden swim fins. Jaji was wearing a pair of wooden goggles, held on with a piece of string. His spear gun was also homemade. The shaft, approximately a meter and a half long, was carved from wood. The deadly weapon utilized a large rubber band for propulsion. The trigger was made of a bent piece of wire-like metal. The fishing line was held fast with a one-way plastic tie.

Jaji made a joke that I took up most of the room in the boat. Oliver laughed, but then I asked him “How can you be my security guard if I am bigger than you?” But as Oliver pointed out, there is almost no crime in Puerto Princesa.

As the oldest male, 13 year old Osama was expected to help steer the boat. He spent much of the journey sitting on the bow, tending an oar, which he controlled by wrapping his leg around it. He also followed after Jaji, learning to dive and fish. It was strange for me to be in the open sea with no life preserver, no buoyancy compensator, no tank, not even mask, snorkel, and fins.

The children were constantly in and out of the water swimming fearlessly. Even little Jasper, at three years old, was swimming and learning to dive.

“I am amazed.” I told Oliver. “This is the life of the Badjao.” He pointed out. “Still, I would like to take these kids to the sports complex and get them on the Puerto Princesa swim team.”

Jaji was also impressive. Osama and I swam behind him, but were soon lost. He dove impossibly deep. We tried to follow him down, but the pressure on my ears was immense. I am a good swimmer, but I have never dived to depth without scuba gear. Jaji swam to the bottom and remained there. He simply walked on the bottom, holding his speargun as if he were hunting in the forest. Then, THWACK! He shot a fish in mid swim. He surfaced and tossed the fish in the general direction of the boat. The five year old boy, as agile as a monkey, sprang out on the armor and dangled, swinging from branch to branch. He retrieved the fish with one hand and swung back with the other proudly laying it at Albatya’s feet.

Jaji told us that in half a day of spear fishing they can get 20 kg of fish. They sell it for 700 pesos and pay 300 for gas. That leaves them 400 Pesos for the whole family. And again families often have as many as twelve children. The fathers don’t fish every day. So the families are extremely poor.

Albataya said none of the children could read. They went to school for a while but had to stop because the family couldn’t afford the 600 Pesos a year tuition. She said they also Find pearls, but a whole necklace sells for 150 Pesos, and obviously, it requires a lot of pearls to make a single necklace.

By the end of our short excursion Jaji had shot two good sized fish and a type of huge blowfish with poisonous spines. According to Oliver, the family can remove the skin and eat the fish. It was the prize of the day.

When asked why I wasn’t married I said that back on my island, Brooklyn, an Italian man couldn’t get a wife till he had found one thousand pearls. Luckily on our voyage we didn’t find even one.

Still single and certain I didn’t want become a fisherman, I signaled that it was time to go home. Along the way, I looked in the happy faces of Jaji and his family. They were extremely poor and their lives were so simple, but maybe because of that simplicity they had a freedom and peace that most of us will never know. We spend thousands of dollars for a fishing vacation in a tropical paradise. Jaji and his family live like that every day.

Antonio Graceffo is an adventure writer living in Asia. He is the author of four books, available on amazon.com His work appears in numerous magazines around the world. Contact: Antonio@speakingadventure.com see Antonio’s website www.speakingadventure.com

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