Festivals: Beeld voor Beeld Amsterdam 2006, Terres en Vue, Ontario Canada
A UNESCO DOCUMENTARY FILM PROJECT
Under the influence of neo liberalism and globalization the Cordilleras Mountains in the North Philippines opened to the large-scale mining industry. Eight big mining multinationals now have this entire vast mountainous region in concession to take away the gold and all other richnesses of the land.
The Igorot, the indigenous inhabitants of this area, are world famous for their irrigated rice terraces, which secured their existence for centuries. The mining industry threatens the rice terraces. The film shows two inhabitants of the Igorot village Pidlisan: the village elder Daluyin and Cadlos, the Lampisa (‘water keeper’), in their search for the consequences of large-scale mining industry in this vast mountainous country.
This film was made by Wiek Lenssen and Igorot participants of the UNESCO initiated project ICT4ID
ICT4ID; Camera’s for indigenous peoples
a UNESCO initiative
In the ICT4ID framework indigenous peoples are producing a documentary film about their own culture, together with an experienced documentary film maker, to get acquainted with all the different aspects of film making.
The Unesco project ICT4ID aims at preserving indigenous peoples’ cultural resources, which are endangered by the globalization process. Involving ten indigenous communities, the project aims at fostering the use of ICT to contribute to revitalizing their identity and at recovering their cultural self worth and dignity. Moreover, the training to be provided by this project to the indigenous communities is seen to open up new opportunities for traditional and innovative income-generating activities.
‘Pidlisan’s Gold’ was one of the ICT4ID projects, in which Wiek Lenssen trained local representatives of the Igorot culture in the fields of camera, sound, editing and directing. The film is the final output of this training.