Documentary on Sumba screened in Paris

By Kunang Helmi-Picard

PARIS (JP): Come March in Paris, the twin festivals Cinema du Reel, showing sociological documentaries, and Bilan du Film Ethnographique, showing ethnographic films, draw international crowds of filmmakers, television producers and cineasts.

This year's Cinema du Reel focused on films from Central Asia, with a large retrospective of documentaries from this little- known region, besides its range of other films in competition.

At Bilan du Film Ethnogaphique, a film about the Laboya people in Sumba was shown during the Musee de l'Homme whose film section is directed by legendary Jean Rouch. The film Ashes of Life, the Annual Rituals of Laboya, Sumba, Part 1 was filmed in 1996, but the 118-minute film was only shown this spring. Unfortunately, this is not a film which creates intense excitement, although it contains much valuable information.

Dr. Danielle Geinaert, from the department of ethnology at Nanterre in France, documented the Sumba rituals while undertaking research by Eric De Maaker and Dirk Nijland from Leiden Ethnographic Film Laboratory in the Netherlands.

Geinaert has spent many years of her scientific life observing the Laboya and is also known for her research on Indonesian textiles. This film is a detailed description of the Padu rituals, one of two ceremonies marking the annual agricultural cycle of the Laboya, farmers who live on the southern coast of Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, in eastern Indonesia.

The other, more famous ritual is that of Nyale when all Laboya descend to the sea as the magical luminescent worms swarm in the thousands.

Padu rituals take place at the end of the hot season in October, where the Rato priests get rid of all bitterness and hotness caused by human misbehavior.

The Laboya, who cultivate rice, corn and manioc, hold their ancestors, marapu, in deep veneration. Another two parts of this documentary are to follow, perhaps the Indonesian public will be able to view the complete set in the very near future.

A more dynamic series of films about music here at Musee de l'Homme held the public in suspense and set them tapping their feet to catchy rhythms such as champeta music from Columbia, which is based on African rhythms played by the descendants of the slaves, and Puerto Rican jazz played by William Cepeda.

Meanwhile, at Cinema du Reel, which was held from March 8 to March 18 at the Pompidou Center, spectators were awed with retrospective Central Asian films.

Festival director Suzette Glenadel, spent her summer collecting her choice of 27 documentaries. A decade after the USSR was dismantled, filmmakers from these new countries are struggling with drastically reduced budgets and ageing equipment. However, the choice of films is riveting and full of dazzling visual poetry. The presence of many of the filmmakers made for lively and passionate debates or discussions after the films.

Among the longer films, Kairat, by Darejan Omirbaev from Kazakhstan, The Adopted Son, by Aktan Abdykalykov from Kyrgzstan, Polygone, by Oraz Rymjanov and Vladimir Roerikh from Kazakhstan, The Daughter-in-law, by Khodjakouli Narliev from Turkmenistan, and The Sky of our Childhood, by Tolomouvh Okeev from Kirgizstan, stood out for their sophisticated filmmaking and poignant stories.

A children's film, The Bitter Berry, from Uzbekistan, depicts the summer friendship between two small girls, Narguiz and Lali, and at the same time shows the importance of family ties in a small mountain village.

As these countries are mainly populated by Muslims, it is interesting to observe similarities and differences between others of the same faith. The richness and brilliant color of their handwoven textiles also strike the eye. Horse riders crisscross the vast expanses and the audience catches a glimpse of how nomadic tribes must have come down from Mongolia to their new resting places.

Shorter films such as Duo, by Gulya Mirzoeva from Tajikstan, Assan-Oussen, about small twin boys who bicker until stopped by an old farmer, by Aktan Abdykalykov from Kirghizistan, and The Sparrow, again a Kirghiz film, about a mysterious, beautiful young girl who appears and disappears in an endless landscape before the eyes of a young man crossing a railroad, all display the sense of a well-told story in cinematographic style.

Any technical shortcomings are overcome by the passion and the lyricism of the filmmakers. Ecological themes, like the drying up of the Aral sea, wrench at one's heartstrings as those deprived of the huge inland sea sing or recite poems about their sorrow.

Director Suzette Glenadel regrets the lack of Indonesian documentary films submitted to the festival and awaits inquiries at cinereel@bpi.fr. The Bibliothhque Publique also buys documentary films for their library and some may be viewed periodically at French Cultural Centers all over the world.

Those who wish to consult the Cinema du Reel site may do so at http:/www.bpi.fr. Others who may want to inquire about future participation in Bilan du Film Ethnographique can do so at cfe@mnhn.fr directing their inquiries to Frangoise Foucault.