One of the great pleasures of working on LOOK & SEE was collaborating with artist and wood engraver Wesley W. Bates. Wesley's work has long accompanied Wendell Berry's poetry. When he agreed to provide original images for our film we were truly thrilled. Because each image involves such painstaking effort, we asked Wesley to film a block from start to finish. At two hours long, the video is a distillation of three days of his effort. And Wesley provided over ten such engravings along with the film's signature block of Wendell Berry.
After a 20-year long fruitless search in the Cameroonian forest, Frenchman Michel Ballot is on the verge of giving up his lifelong quest to find the mysterious creature known as the Mokélé-Mbembé. Turning to local initiates for help, and torn between ancestral wisdom and scientific evidence, he embarks on a final journey into powers, knowledge and the unseen.
This short documentary pays tribute to the craftsmen everywhere whose work adds color and richness to life. Filmed in the Canadian Arctic, Finland, India, Nigeria, Japan, Mexico, and Poland, it shows the special skills of artisans working at their crafts - stone sculpture, pottery, ceramics, weaving, dyeing, puppet making, embroidery. Each indigenous skill is a reflection of the culture of the country.
Dos Antigos aos Filhos do Amanhã
Mother India is home to many castes, tribes and religions and one common factor that brings this diverse country all together is Jewelry. Come explore the deep history and culture of the jewelry of India dating back more than 5000 years. As we explore the history we also take you into Bangalore, India and talk to local Jewelry Stores and Jewelry Artisans as they share their stories and their family history of their involvement in jewelry going far back into their family ancestry.
Koka
Green Lions tells the story of a team of amateurs who became heroes. Young men, and one veteran, who dared to dream, achieved the impossible and inspired a generation around the globe.
Unraveling the mystery of perfume creation, the House of Dior is opening its doors. Over the course of a year, we followed new perfumer Francis Kurkdjian in one of his greatest challenges: reinventing the iconic "J'adore". A unique sensory journey, from conception to launch, into a secret world of passionate artisans.
Aristide Gagnon... le huitième jour
Set in Kumba in South West Cameroon Sisters in Law follows Adultery, Rape and Abuse cases led by a Female Judge.
Man's need to create beauty, to interpret the world around him in image and color, has found expression in many forms, from the days of primitive culture to the present. This film surveys the work of Canadian craftsmen in many fields, showing how the changing Canadian scene has been their constant inspiration and how business enterprise today is increasingly using the skills of the artisan to enhance the decor of building interiors.
Manos que hablan
Since the arrival of the Internet in the African republic of Cameroon, Internet Cafes have mushroomed. In a country where nearly half the population lives under the poverty threshold, many young women, who dream of escaping a life of misery by marrying a rich, white foreigner, surf the Internet for European marriage prospects at cybercafes such as Love.com, Affection.org, Flirt.net and Meeting.com.
A portrait exploring the enduring craft of wood canvas canoe building, and the quiet philosophy it inspires. "The Shape of Cedar" is both a celebration of craftsmanship, and and a guide to a more intentional way of moving through the world.
Intimate story of a Baka family living a traditional life in the rainforests of Cameroun.
Felix Moumié was a rebel leader in Cameroon. He was poisoned by thallium in October, 1960 in Geneva. After nearly fifty years, no one has been charged with his death, though many suspect the French and Swiss governments played a part in his death.
Phil Agland revisits the Baka Pygmy family he filmed 25 years ago in his BAFTA award winning documentary 'Baka: People of the Rainforest'. An extraordinary journey into the heart of the rainforest in Cameroon, where the past of the Baka revisits them through watching the old film projected in the forest - raising questions about their old life in the forest and what is happening to them now.
The film-essay Nur Al Yanub/Mediodia introduces the letter sent by a fictional character who explores cultural connections between South Spain and Morocco through patterns of different kinds. It departs from the notion of "mediodía", coined by Rodolfo Gil-Benumeya. In his book "Nor Orient, neither Occident. The Universe seen from Albaycín" he proposes a epistemology of the midday, which comes from the South and the Levant, connecting the different shores of the Mediterranean Sea, and beyond, towards the South. The film questions some of the ideas of Benumeya, proposing a friction with other thinkers, while presenting the continuity of different material productions and their relation with the rhythm of the landscape the character travels though.
Alfred Bama, an animal keeper from Cameroon, has an extraordinary connection with gorillas. "Nyango," one of the gorillas he looks after, is the world's only Cross River gorilla in captivity. Until just a few years ago, this species was thought to be extinct. Now, Bama embarks on the greatest challenge of his life: locating Nyango's family in the wild to protect them before it's too late.
There is a village just outside Calcutta, India, where every family has a hand loom. As you pass the houses, the air is pierced by the “clack–clack–clack” of flying shuttles. In the family courtyards, threads are starched, warps are prepared, and bolts of finished cloth are evaluated with discerning eyes. In an age when cloth manufacture is dominated by computer-driven industrial mills, what are the virtues of hand weaving? What is the magic of the hand-loomed cloth? Another feature-length documentary film on craft. Here you will find works of great beauty and skill, ingenious variations, and delicate figures. Shot in rural locations in Africa, Laos, Indonesia, India, and Pakistan, this documentary will explore the world of looms, weaves, and artisans.