29.-30.1.2010
INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF MOVIES
WITH ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEMES

SALAAM ALEYKUM COPENHAGEN

Slovakia/Slovenia/Denmark, 2008, 19 min
Sašo Niskač
29.01.2010 22:20

Salaam Aleykum Copenhagen is a short documentary about Haluk, Allan and Iman – two young boys and a girl with Turkish, Kurdish, Lebanese and Danish backgrounds living in Copenhagen. How do they confront their lives with the atmosphere of Copenhagen, their home? The film is a portrait of their attitudes towards the questions of immigration and integration, their daily problems and challenges, family values, their view on Danish society and Copenhagen itself. While presenting their worlds they are opening the doors towards understanding of Copenhagen itself. They are part of Copenhagen and Copenhagen is part of them.

“...It is hard and then people say: you are well integrated, and I think: what is “well integrated”? Is it when Danes feel I am well integrated or the immigrants feel I am well integrated? Or is it when I myself feel that now I can tackle the two cultures?”...”I have learned to drink my girlfriend’s homeopathic drops, medicine, and she drinks my Kurdish tea each day, and that is for example integration. But I am tired of the word ‘integration’.”

Awards: Special Jury Mention, Platforma Video8 Fil Festival, November 2008, Athens, Greece; selected for The Best of Kino OTOK Film Festival - Video na Plazi, october 2009, Izola, Slovenia

Language of dialogues: Danish
Language of subtitles: English

DRUGS AND PRAYERS - INDIAN PSYCHIATRY IN THE REALM OF SAINTS

Germany/India, 2009, 57 min
Helene Basu
30.01.2010 18:25

The Sufi shrine of Mira Datar in India is large pilgrimage centre specialising in healing possession madness/mental illness. Recently, it has also become a site of experimenting with new forms of community care in the mental health sector. The NGO „Altruist“ facilitates communication between the mental health department, shrine dignitaries, psychiatrists and patients suffering from diverse kinds of mental troubles who seek help from the saint. Under the heading of „Dava and Dua“  Altruists promotes psychiatric services at the shrine parallel to the cures of possession illnesses offered by ritual specialists. The film documents interactions between different actors at the shrine (patients-psychiatrists, psychiatrists-ritual specialists, patients-ritual specialists), listens to the stories of afflicted persons and presents diverse views on the presumed causes of mental illness as well on the benefit or non-benefit of medicine and/or ritual practices as perceived by patients and their relatives.

Language of dialogues: Hindi and Gujarati
Language of subtitles: English

IF VAGINA HAD A TEETH: THE SHONA RAINMAKING CEREMONY IN WESTERN MOZAMBIQUE

Estonia/Norway, 2009, 57 min
Liivo Niglas, Frode Storaas
29.01.2010 19:55

„Ritual reversals“ or „ritual of rebellion“ are concepts used for mock rituals performend in Southern and Eastern Africa. During fertility rituals, like rain making ceremonies, women in their songs and dances demonstrate obscene behaviour while they behave like men. These are secret performance open strictly  for eldery men and women. Still, we were invited to record the rain making ceremony in the land of Chief Chassuka, Manika Province in Mozambique in order to document the ritual for the younger  generations. These rituals are a fading tradition probably due to the special character of the songs and dances.

Language of dialogues: Shona language, English
Language of subtitles: English