The Water of Words: A Cultural Ecology of an Eastern Indonesian Island - PREVIEW

Purchase: http://www.der.org/films/water-of-words.html

This film explores the poetry and ecology of the lontar (borassus) palm on the eastern Indonesian island of Roti. Anthropologist James J. Fox collaborated with the filmmakers to produce an account of the utilization of lontar, a tree that provides the mainstay of the Rotinese diet. Techniques of tapping and cooking the palm juice and its transformation into syrup, beer, and gin ("the water of words") are shown. The film integrates striking visual imagery with the clan leader's description, the paired poetic speech of ritual specialists, and myths that recount the origin of the lontar from the sea.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• water of words
• lontar
• borassus
• Roti
• James Fox
• Timothy Asch
• Patsy Asch
• DER
• documentary
• film
• ethnography
• anthropology