CREATION AND CHANTING OF LIK YAAT
Japan, 2011, 30 min
Ito Satoru
26.01.2013 20:20
This film focuses how people share a collective sense of history through the auditory experience. dehong Tai people embrace Theravada Budhism. In ordes to live better in this world and the next, they perform dignified rituals and acquire "merit". For the rituals they spend years and save money, then they do a good deed like contribution of Budhist statues and building the bridges. chief donators commission an intellectual to write historical scriptures to hand down the good deed to posterity. It is called "Lik Yaat" in Tai and written with beautiful words and rhyme. After the cultural revolution, only a few intellectuals can create and chant "Lik Yaat" now. There is a woman, Wan Xiand-ya, who strives for the tradition of "Lik Yaat". She should be their first and last female intellectual who can write "Lik Yaat" in Tai history.
Ito Satotu studied Cultural Anthropology and Ethnomusicology in The Graduate University for Advanced Studies. now he id a Ph.D candidate and Visiting Researcher of National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka. He had done his 3 year fieldwork at tai village in Dehong prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. This film his first Anthropological film.
Director: Ito Satoru
Language of dialogues: Thai language in Dehong area, Yunnan Province, China
Language of subtitles: English, Czech
Launching of film,awards:
The Best Film, debut Competition, 6th Moscow International International Festival of Visual Anthropology (8-12 October 2012, Moscow, Russia)
12th RAI International Festival of Etnographic Film (23-26 june 2011, London, England)
9th WorldFilm - Tartu festival of visual culure (19-25 March 2012, Tartu Estonia)
When inhabitants of rainforest walk under its canopy, they see resources for life. The ways of collecting, processing and utilization of these resources are based upon traditional indigenous knowledge which is for „western“ science examined by ethnobotany. The discipline generally focuses on cultural, social and economical relationships between plants and indigenous peoples. Movie camera is during field research used very rarely.Among the other goals of scientific expedition Wayvana Peru 2011 we have strived to answer the question: „Are methods of visual anthropology for preservation of traditional indigenous knowledge applicable? If so, what are pros and cons of this approach?“ The movie is part of „visual ethnobotany“ series and depicts „the story of resource“ piassaba palm (Aphandra natalia).
