Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Indonesian Documentary Highlights Tribes Fighting Developers and Conservationists

VOA Asia 

Students work together at a unique school in a remote rainforest on the Indonesian island of Sumatra
Students work together at a unique school in a remote rainforest on the Indonesian island of Sumatra

A new documentary about a school in a remote rainforest in Indonesia highlights how education is helping indigenous people to stand up for their rights. In addition to learning to read and write, the students also learn how to organize themselves against outsiders. The students are confronting both the developers who want to cut down their tribe’s forests and the conservationists opposed to tribal foraging, hunting and fishing practices.

The documentary Guru Rimba, which means jungle teacher, is a profile of the teacher and students in a unique school located in the rainforests on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

The film starts off showing the new teacher’s difficult journey to reach the remote classroom and it then shifts to focus on the lives of the children living in the school. From there it pivots again to show how the students are leading the efforts of the 3,000 Orang Rimba or jungle people in the Anak Dalam tribe to protect their land.

While the film struggles to maintain a coherent narrative, it features rarely seen footage of the children who attend the jungle school. It also provides a unique insight into how the modern world is threatening the indigenous people's traditional way of life.

           

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