The Stories of Our Ancestors is a collaborative project to contribute to indigenous media practice and to promote the Northeast region of India. This evening we will share two films and invite a discussion about the project to introduce indigenous elder storytellers from the Wancho village, and collaboration with younger people to retell the stories in animated film.
Myths of the Wanchos (26 minutes duration)
This is the Wancho story of how the first Chief of the village emerged from a gourd. In a remote corner of Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India, the leading characters are two Wancho school teachers who stand between the elder generation of knowledge keepers and the responsibility for transmitting traditional culture to younger people who are seduced by a rapidly changing way of life. (Premiered at Nila International Folklore Film Festival of India 2021)
The Wancho Animation Workshop and the Story of the Gourd (52 minutes duration) A group of young storytellers and artists in India are on a journey of discovery, as they decide how to adapt the traditional mythical Wancho Story of the Gourd for an animated film.