The full 30 minute version of Sarawak Gone – The Bidayuh and the Dam. The Bidayuh, one of more than 40 sub-ethnic groups in Sarawak, face threats to their livelihood, traditional lands and culture with the development of the controversial Bengoh Dam.

Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo and is home to more than 40 unique sub-ethnic groups, or Dayaks. These include the Penan, Iban, Bidayuh, Kenyah and Kelabit. These are the last forest communities of Sarawak and the Bidayuh of Bengoh, are one of the many communities facing eviction, making way for the controversial Bengoh Dam.

Sarawak Gone explores the communities affected, the controversial environment impact assessment drawn up prior to the construction of the dam, how such developments have affected other indigenous communities and their right to customary land.

License

This micro-doc has been licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Australia license.

You may download, distribute and re-use this work as long as you:

• understand the terms of the license;
• acknowledge the Producer, Toy Satellite and Andrew Garton;
• link back to this page:
  toysatellite.org/sarawak-gone/sg-30mins/
• link to or publish the link to the license:
  creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/au/

From 2 – 4 July AGITPROP film festival goes live for the first time in Manila, Philippines. Sarawak Gone will debut there.

The Sape is one of the more well known traditional instruments of Sarawak, but few remain who can perform the music of former generations and in the style that represents that heritage.

• Read the synopsis.
• Download the micro-doc [WMV, 640x480, 128.9 MB].
• Download the script: TS_SG_The-Headman (FINAL) [PDF 12 KB].

License

This micro-doc has been licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Australia license.

You may download, distribute and re-use this work as long as you:

• understand the terms of the license;
• acknowledge the Producer, Toy Satellite and Andrew Garton;
• link back to this page:
  toysatellite.org/sarawak-gone/the-sape-master/
• link to or publish the link to the license:
  creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/au/

As I write The Headman is gradually populating personal walls on Facebook, various blogs and websites in a bid to keep the issues it raises not only in public view, but that we remember the legacy left by Kelesau Naan who disappeared this week, three years ago.

Kelesau was known to have described the Penan as “mushrooms of the forest”. This statement resonates with a deep and profound knowledge of the connectedness of all things. As mushrooms grow from spore beneath the surface of the soil, so too do humans grow, feed and thrive from the forest floor to the canopies that protect them.

I learnt a great deal during my brief stay in Long Kerong. The Penan take nothing for-granted. Their needs are simple by our standards, but their way of life is immeasurably rich. For those that have seen life beyond the forest, they say this world robs them of their independence and way of life. That’s not to say they’re entirely against development. It wouldn’t take much to improve their standard of living. Solar power for lighting and refrigeration, improved and frequent access to health services and teachers that aren’t afraid to venture into and live amongst these people in the forests. But remove the Penan from the forest, both the people and tong tana, the closest term the Penan have for forest, will suffer.

Ethnocide

What we are witnessing with the removal of indigenous peoples from their customary lands is ethnocide. The anthropologist David Maybury-Lewis describes this as “the destruction of a people’s way of life” and notes that it’s considered acceptable and “appropriate” policy by the Malaysian government.

It takes only a single generation for entire communities to be denuded of their traditional knowledge, customs and way of life. I’ve seen it. In 20 years of work in Sarawak, supporting the efforts of my colleagues there, travelling to far flung communities and seeing the despair in the faces of elderly Dayaks, the loss to them and us is immeasurable.

Since 1999, when I started shooting there, over 20% of the remaining 25% of native rainforests I’d flown over,  driven through or traced on maps has been torn  out, leaving the forest to the scourge of palm oil where nothing but rats and snake survive. The rattan, forest foods and medicines, impossible to comprehend volume of species, both flora and fauna, and as ethnobotanist Wade Davis laments, a unique vision of life is being lost forever.

The prognosis may be dire, but I can only hope and persist in my work and support that of my colleagues, that it may not be as tragic as it seems today.

• Read the synopsis.
• Download the micro-doc [WMV, 640x480, 243.00 MB].
• Download the script: TS_SG_The-Headman (FINAL) [PDF 12 KB].

License

This micro-doc has been licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Australia license.

You may download, distribute and re-use this work as long as you:

• understand the terms of the license;
• acknowledge the Producer, Toy Satellite and Andrew Garton;
• link back to this page:
  toysatellite.org/sarawak-gone/the-headman/
• link to or publish the link to the license:
  creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/au/

The Headman is inspired by Kelesau Naan, the former Headman of Long Kerong, allegedly murdered whilst hunting with his wife in October 2007. His remains were found two months later, spread across a river-bed where it was known he had been headed on the day he went missing.

This series traces the life of Kelesau Naan through his son, Nick Kelesau, and the village and forests he had long fought to protect leading to the tragic circumstances of his disappearance.

I’m planning to have at least the first key episode completed by October 23, three years to the day Kelesau is said to have lost his life.

With production advisor, David Nerlich’s assistance, I divided the micro-doc into four scenes taking quotes from key statements, “What the Government Said Wasn’t True”, “At The Beginning We Were Told The Electricity Is Free”, The Extinguishment of Customary Rights”, and “In Our Struggle We Need To Be United”.

Gradually a narrative emerged and even though this episode would make more sense to Bhasa Malay speaking people, I’ve had very good response from English speaking viewers prior to it being completed. That said, one of the key points I had not stressed in this series is the fact that the Bengoh Dam is not an isolated case. Even though this final episode takes us to the Bakun Dam Resettlement Scheme, a proposed corridor of no less than 12 addition dams to meet alleged power needs. This will, no doubt, have significant impacts on the remaining Dayaks who live in Sarawak’s forests.