A film by Lavinia Currier Based on the memoir by Louis ... - FDb.cz

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SHORT SYNOPSIS 25 years ago, ethnomusicologist Louis Sarno traveled from New Jersey to the forests of Central Africa to record the music of the Bayaka Pygmies. Falling in love with a Bayaka girl and her forest lifestyle, he decided to stay. “OKA!” tells the adventure of his life in Africa with his adopted family. The Bayaka pygmies maintain a tenuous balance between their traditional forest existence and their increasing dependence on the Bantu villagers. Through the eyes of Larry, the tall, ungainly white man from New Jersey, who in spite of his failing liver accompanies the Bayaka on a journey into the heart of the forest, “OKA!” offers a unique glimpse into the music, humor, and spirit of the Bayaka people. “OKA!” is directed <strong>by</strong> <strong>Lavinia</strong> <strong>Currier</strong> and <strong>film</strong>ed in Sango, Akka, French, and English. It is based on Louis Sarno’s memoir, Last Thoughts Before Vanishing from the Face of the Earth, and stars Kris Marshall, with Isaach de Bankolé and Will Yun Lee, and a magnificent local Bayaka ensemble cast. SYNOPSIS Ethnomusicologist Larry Whitman (KRIS MARSHALL) is from New Jersey, but his heart is with the Bayaka people of Yandombe, in the Central African Republic (CAR). Back in the United States on a fundraising trip for his village, his doctor (PETER RIEGERT) warns him that his failing liver will not withstand the dangers of life in the African forest. Undaunted, Larry is drawn back to his adopted people. This is his last chance to record the sound of the mysterious molimo, an instrument associated in the past with the elephant hunt, now thought to be extinct. But Larry knows that there is something more than music waiting for him. Even <strong>by</strong> African standards, the Central African forest and the Bayaka who inhabit it are considered remote and exotic. But times have changed since Larry’s previous visit. The powerful local Bantu Mayor Bassoun (ISAACH DE BANKOLE) has welcomed a timber corporation to exploit the African rainforest for timber and exotic game. Bassoun calls the Bayaka his “little brothers,” but he’s also moved them from the interior of the rainforest to a small village on the outskirts, forbidding them to enter their sacred traditional land. This hasn’t stopped tribal shaman Sataka (MAPUMBA) and his wife Ekadi (ESSANJE) from hunting and gathering – in fact, it was Sataka’s prayer that “called” Larry from America to return to the Bayaka. As Larry is welcomed <strong>by</strong> the Bayaka, who are eager to receive gifts from the outside world, he sees that they are increasingly marginalized and dependent on their Bantu bosses. Meanwhile, Bassoun welcomes Chinese businessman Mr. Yi (WILL YUN LEE), who is interested in tapping into the vast resources in the Bayaka’s protected wilderness. Doing so will require that Bassoun prove the Bayaka are poachers: if he can gather evidence of them shooting elephants (forbidden <strong>by</strong> law), then perhaps the Bayaka could be disempowered even further, leaving the forest wide open for cutting.
Although he is plagued <strong>by</strong> fever – as well as attracted to Sataka’s flirtatious teenage granddaughter Makombe (MBOMBI) – Larry is driven to enter the rainforest alone, in search of Sataka. The tribe eventually abandons their village and follows him deep into the heart of the lush, wondrous, and dangerous landscape. An outraged Bassoun orders his men to follow him and bring the tribe back to the fringes of civilization. As the various forces converge, Larry learns the secret of the mysterious molimo, which duplicates the mating call of an elephant in order to lure the mighty animal into an ambush. Torn between his desire to protect the Bayaka from killing an elephant (making a critical error that will jeopardize their safety) and honoring their tradition, Larry confronts the mysterious inner and outer forces of nature that ultimately define his soul and help him be healed and find a home forever. DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT I wanted to make a <strong>film</strong> which celebrated a people who are perfectly adapted to their natural environment, and who, despite the extreme remoteness and dangers of their forest home in Central Africa, always find opportunities to express their humor, joyfulness and musical genius. Bayaka Pygmy culture is anarchistic and non-materialist, almost opposite to ours, and yet the experience of hunter-gatherers still resonates with us, having been human’s way of life for most of our history. I first met Louis Sarno 12 years ago, on whose life with the Bayaka the story is based. His self- effacing humor and his experience with the Bayaka for 27 years made him the perfect anti-hero to take an audience into the forest and experience the magic world of the Bayaka.
Page 1: DADA Films & Required Viewing prese
Page 5 and 6: is based on the local area’s prev
Page 7 and 8: outside world - “someone to emerg
Page 9 and 10: to forest people, that take 64 puls
Page 11 and 12: Subsistence agriculture and forestr
Page 13 and 14: The African Forest Elephant of the
Page 15 and 16: KRIS MARSHALL (Larry) ABOUT THE CAS
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Page 19 and 20: LOUIS SARNO - CO-WRITER Louis Sarno
Page 21 and 22: ecorded in 20 different countries.
Page 23: ROLAND FILMS AND JAMES BRUCE PRODUC

A film by Lavinia Currier Based on the memoir by Louis ... - FDb.cz

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