WUNRN
The Gobi
is the largest desert
region in Asia. It
covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of
southern Mongolia.
This desert is the fifth largest in the world.
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Direct Link to Film Segment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGAgaGYfrvo
Gobi Women's Song
Film by Sas Carey
Set against the
background of barren expanses, Gobi Women’s Song immerses
the viewer in a different world. It is a world in a transitional moment, one
that has occurred in all cultures, which decides the future lives, environment
and life style of its people. Five 21st century nomadic women share the rhythm
of their harsh daily lives. They hum the song of the soul passed down from
their grandmothers and at the same time deal with the pressing issues of
today’s world.
Through interviews that span four years, the film captures the
rhythms of the harsh daily life of Gobi women and their families. Life here
depends on connection—connection with the environment, community, and family.
The ground Gobi women live on is fragile, incapable of supporting agriculture.
We see that they need to move 4-5 times a year to feed their animals and rest
the pastures. In this way, they maintain a balance between themselves and their
land.
We watch Gobi women make everything they need: felt from fleece
sheared from their sheep, cheese, yoghurt, butter, and dried curds from their
animal’s milk. Their staple, milk tea, comes from well water hand drawn up,
carried by metal pail, heated by burning the dung collected from livestock.
They milk their goats, horses, and camels. We learn that the tea itself, a
brick of leaves and stems, comes from trading cashmere combed from their goats.
Like our grandmothers before us, life asks everything of these women. There is
no down- time. Nomadic life today is only possible because of hard-working
women.
In this desolate and barren land, as beautiful as any on earth, we
find that the dreams of Gobi women are like our own—they want their children to
grow up and have a good life. They wish for good health. The women, true to
their custom of hospitality, open their lives to us. They honor us with invitations
to go to their land, go inside their homes, and their hospital. In this
sensitive documentary, doctors, bone healers, and single women share their
hopes and fears, their joy and laughter, their children, animals and even their
births. As we get to know them, we hold them in our hearts. We relate to them.
Yet, we learn that many factors are changing and we wonder what the future will
bring them.
Director and Producer: Sas Carey; Editor: Dónal Ó'Céilleachair;
Sound Design: Anna Halldórsdottir; Cinematographer: Joseph Spaid; Camera: L.
Mendbayar and J. Nyamadorj
Funded in part by the Mongolian American Cultural Association,
Sustainable Futures Fund with The Vermont Community Foundation, the Vermont
Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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Nomadicare: http://www.nomadicare.org/
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