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Cover image for Bitter roots [digital video] : the ends of a Kalahari myth.
Title:
Bitter roots [digital video] : the ends of a Kalahari myth.
Publication Date:
2014
Publication Information:
[San Francisco, California, USA] : Kanopy Streaming, 2014.
Physical Description:
1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 71 min.) : digital, .flv file, sound
Abstract:
Bitter roots: the ends of a Kalahari myth is set in Nyae-Nyae, a region of Namibia located in southern Africa's Kalahari desert, traditional home of the Ju/'hoansi. It updates the ethnographic film record begun in the 1950s by John Marshall, whose films documented 50 years of change, and who together with Claire Ritchie, established a grass-roots development foundation, which Adrian Strong (the filmmaker) joined in the late 1980s. Shot in 2007, two years after Marshall's death (and including footage from his films), Bitter Roots documents the return of Strong and Ritchie to Nyae-Nyae where they observe the erosion of a community-led development process following the imposition of a new agenda led by the World Wildlife Fund, which prioritizes wildlife conservation and tourism over subsistence farming. Communities voice their dissatisfaction with the new conservancy, which has done little to help people farm and improve their lives. Through archival footage and discussions with community members, this film sensitively examines the problems (lions, elephants, conservationists) currently facing the Ju/'hoansi and challenges the myth that they are culturally unable to farm. The film investigates the perpetuation of this myth by showing how tourists and filmmakers still demand to see how people used to live rather than they way they live now, and how the Ju/'hoansi cope with such expectations, while steadfastly continuing to farm against all the odds. Filmmaker: Adrian Strong.
General Note:
Title from title frames.
Technical Details:
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Geographic Term:
Language:
English
Added Corporate Author:
Electronic Access:
Access immediately on Kanopy
Holds:
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