Is There a Shaman in the Tribe? (52')
IS THERE A SHAMAN IN THE TRIBE? (52')
INFORMATION
FR / 2014 / 52’ / SD / French, English
Copsi Video / France 5 / Directed by Pierre & Angelina Baccanfuso
Worldwide rights available
TAGS
Globalization
SYNOPSIS
In one of the last remote areas of the Philippines, on Palawan island: Medsinu - an old shaman, healer and judge of customary law – takes care of his own, often invoking the spirit of his father, former shaman. Tirelessly, he combs the forest, from hamlet to hamlet, at the bedside. Overtaken by the disease Medsinu dies.A foreign mining company is considering settling on Palawan land of which the earth abounds with nickel. An open cast mine means large scale deforestation and a large use of chemical products, river pollution, a global and definitive destruction of the forest‘s natural resources. Without a shaman and having lost their bearings, facing modern intrusion from an outside world, the Palawan people feel like orphans. Will they survive without their shaman?