About
Synopsis
The Pygmies of Africa were long seen as an untouched “forest people”; at one with their environment and far removed from the tainting influences of civilisation. Their history is inseparable from this myth, established and reinforced by tourists and anthropologists visiting the region over the last 80 years.
Pygmy is an hour-long documentary that charts the history of this perception and how it has shaped the attitudes and policies of governments and aid agencies towards one particular group, the Basua, in recent years.
It documents several visits by Dr Stan Frankland to Western Uganda, and provides personal reflections from his nineteen years of experience working with the Basua, a unique group who have faced years of war and displacement and are widely considered the most marginalised and disinherited of all Pygmy groups.
The Basua, of which only around 70 remain, are often portrayed as the antithesis of the Pygmy myth: helpless vagabonds, dependent on aid and symbolic of the corrupting power of outside influence. Their story, however, challenges these notions and reveals a strong and determined community engaging with and responding to their circumstances.
Pygmy attempts to capture their story, while challenging the viewer’s perceptions of development, the uncomfortable reality of poverty tourism, and the often misguided roles adopted by aid organisations in determining the Basua’s future on their behalf.
The Team
Amos Kahana
Amos Kahana grew up in Kenya and was involved in the Uganda tourism sector for five years. Having worked in the music industry as promoter and band manager for The Urges, Amos went full on to pursue film and has directed commercials and music videos in Italy and Ireland. He is the winner of the Sergio Tori award for photography (2006) and is currently living in Italy, where he is completing a documentary on the integration of immigrant students into Italian schools.
Aubrey Robinson
Aubrey Robinson studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and the University of Cape Town. He helped co-found Mamelani Projects, a South African community health organisation, before moving to Ireland to launch an Irish web and new media company.
