tribe

1

The Orator (Samoa) – Follow the old ‘Samoan Way’

The Orator Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

When you think of Samoa, you probably think of pacific island paradise. The Orator not only showcases the island’s beautiful scenery but also Samoan culture. It’s your chance to try and follow the ‘Samoan Way’. Check it out on Amazon here (free for Prime members).

Image result for the orator film

Why Watch The Orator?
  • Get to know Samoa, from it’s beautiful landscape to the Samoan language and the ‘Samoan way’
  • Meet a courageous little person
  • And a crazy smoking, paint spraying rugby coach
  • To see some great button up shirts
The Breakdown

The Orator starts with rain and the views and sounds of the natural landscape. It’s beautiful, lush green, and full of life. Then human voices start singing and the camera cuts to a picture of two grave stones in the middle of the forest.

They’re the graves of Saili’s parents. He visits them almost every day and tries to clear the graves of yam plants local farmers have planted around the site. But because of his size (he’s a dwarf/little person) he gets bullied around by the village. And the farmers planting yams around his parents graves threaten to cut of his head if he keeps vandalizing their crops.

Who’s Saili? It’s not entirely clear. All we know is that he’s a taro farmer and that he has a job as the night-time security guard of a local shop. He lives with his wife and her daughter although their relationship seems pretty cordial and friendly rather than romantic. His wife is an outcast just like him, after she was exiled from her home village for reasons we can only assume (probably for having her daughter out of wedlock?).

Why is there so little exposition?

Director Tamasese doesn’t waste time with exposition in The Orator. Instead he immerses us straight into the movie, straight into the Samoan landscape, language, and culture. As a result, we have to figure out what is going on, as well as who the characters are and how they’re related to each other.

His aim is to make you feel like an outsider, just like the two main characters. They have lived most of their lives outside of the ‘Samoan Way’ and have to rediscover it whilst we are trying to figure it out. As a result, we identify more with their journey and struggle.

Conclusion and What to Watch Next

The Orator is a window into another world. With beautiful cinematography and a slow contemplative rhythm, you’ll slowly be introduced to the ‘Samoan Way’.

There are quite a few great films of indigenous people and customs from across Australasia. I strongly recommend checking out:

  • Tanna – a Shakespearian love story adapted to the Vanuatan rainforest
  • Rabbit Proof Fence – to cheer on three children from the ‘stolen generation’ trying to walk home after they are separated from their parents
  • Another Country – to meet an indigenous community in Australia

Or for another contemplative drama with a strong flavour of local life, check out Timbuktu, where you’ll see how the three tribes/ethnic groups of Timbuktu get along.

2

Damiana Kryygi – History Cannot Be Changed But It Can Be Rectified

Damiana Kryygi Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

“We have to know our past to build a better future”

These are the wise words of one of the Ache people from Southern Paraguay when reflecting on the tumultuous past his people have faced. Damiana, a young girl kidnapped by settlers just over one hundred years ago is a symbol for the decline of the Ache people. Her return will fill a missing piece in Ache history – a piece that allows the Ache to build a better future.

Why Watch Damiana Kryygi?
  • Learn about the Ache tribe of Southern Paraguay
  • See that History can be made right!
  • If you want to see a documentary about the fall of indigenous tribes of South America under imperial rule (a good pairing for the fantastic Embrace of the Serpent)
  • See some of the extent of deforestation in South America
The Breakdown

Damiana Kryygi starts with two men on the outskirts of a jungle digging a hole in the earth. They take turns to jump into the hole over 2m deep and wide enough for them to fit in. They burrow deeper with a long stick and chuck out the red/brown dirt over their heads. These are two Ache people from Southern Paraguay. Their reasons for digging will become clear.

Damiana was a young Ache girl who was kidnapped during a settler raid on the Ache people at the turn of the 20th century. She was kidnapped and became a subject of study for the settlers. Her once human life was turned into the life of a captive animal. She died of Tuberculosis as a teenager and her ruins were never returned.

Over a century separates the death of Damiana and the present day Ache people. The period has seen huge changes to the landscape and Ache people. Now the landscape is barren, a desert of green grass has taken over from a wild forest. The Ache people have lost a huge part of their memory with the destruction of the forest. They have been forced from their lives as hunter gatherers. It all started with the dictatorship at the turn of the 20th century which abused and massacred the Ache population.

Image result for damiana kryygi
Conclusion

The horrific trials that young Damiana went through as a child won’t be things you’ll enjoy reliving. But the resilience of the Ache people is enough to fill anyone with respect. Watch to witness how one indigenous tribe in South America is piecing together it’s painful recent history.

 

3

The Silence of the Forest – An African ‘Black’ Savior Movie

The Silence of the Forest Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

The Silence of the Forest is a modern take of the white savior trope in Africa. However, instead of featuring a white European, there’s a Central African black man, Gonaba, who returns home from Paris to help modernize his country. The problem is, just like the Africans didn’t need the Europeans, the Pygmy people that he tries to civilize, don’t need him.

From: Central African Republic, Africa
Watch: Kanopy, IMDb
Next: Dances with Wolves, Cry Freedom, N!ai

The Breakdown

Gonaba returns home dressed in a suit, signifying his connection to the western word. He’s called a white man by the boat’s captain, because compared to the rest of the locals on the boat, he’s overdressed. Whilst he obviously isn’t white, it’s the first sign that he’s lost his connection to the people of the Central African Republic and will never be able to truly see life from the African perspective again.

A few years later, Gonaba is one of the country’s leading ministers. Problem is, he still feels like he hasn’t achieved what he set out to do; help the country he returned to. The country is still keeping the population distracted from poverty with Independence Day parades and bike races and not trying to implement positive change. His disillusion with the direction of his country is marked by his dull khaki dress. His attempts to westernize the country have failed, so why should he wear a suit like the rest of the ministers, a symbol of Western success.

So, to restart his mission, Gonaba chooses to fight for the rights of the Pygmy people. They’re looked down upon by everyone else, who treat them like animals. The President even tells Gonaba that they’re just a ‘tourist attraction for the country to exploit’. Gonaba, having studied Jean Jacques Roussea in France wants them to be seen as equal. However, instead of changing the minds of the people he knows, he goes on a white savior mission into the jungle to educate and civilize them.

Like Dances With Wolves, Pocahantas, and Avatar, Gonaba heads into the wilderness and becomes a honorary member of the indigenous Pygmy society. Trouble is, like previous white savior films, he never sees the indigenous people as equal to himself. He never accepts them and their culture for what it is, seeking instead to civilize them up to his standards of modern society. He still views their way of life as backward and something he can change to create modern pygmy men and women that can integrate into African and Global society. Ironically, the way he treats them is just a repeat of the good-intentioned European colonists’ treatment of African people a few decades before.

Unfortunately, The Silence of the Forest is as heavy handed as it’s American predecessors. It’s interesting to see the white savior narrative used in a purely African film, but because it hits all the same tropes as previous films, it doesn’t feel new or unique. It also fetishes the lives of the indigenous pygmy people. Their lives are portrayed as idyllic and at one with nature, as you would have seen in Dances with Wolves and Avatar. They’re never portrayed from their own perspective. Instead of immersing ourselves in their way of life, The Silence of the Forest gives us a voyeuristic glimpse of a world through the eyes of a do-good African. It creates a world that feels separate from our society, a world that we dangerously can’t imagine existing or disappearing from the modern world we live in.