Taking a group of San people from their home in the desert to the bustling city centre of Frankfurt was just a small fragment of the course in the making of Ghostland. The German documentary is about the earth’s oldest existing culture, who have existed sans clothes for 20 000 years – the Ju/’Hoansi of the Namibian Kalahari.
The production team decided to juxtapose the Ju/’Hoansi culture with their own in order to better understand the two.
“We show the reality and values of the Ju/’Hoansi and how these are reflected in their view of foreign ways of living,” says co-director Catenia Lermer. “It is not sufficient to simply examine our own culture if we are to develop universally valid statements on human behaviour. It is only possible to see and understand human behaviour if it is observed in the contrast of many different cultures.”
It was on a chance accompanying trip to support the traditional tribes of Namibia that Ghostland was born. “We had an idea of what the story could be, but we knew that results would depend on the characters and the culture of our protagonists,” says Lermer.
Joined by unit manager, Sven Methling, and director Simon Stadler, who was also cinematographer. Both Methling and Stadler conceptualised Ghostland. It is one thing to want to film an ancient and remote culture, quite another to make such an idea conceivable. It involved long periods spent in the village prior to the filming that made it possible for this European trio to establish an empathetic, respectful and gregarious relationship with the Ju/’Hoansi. “We were integrated into the day-to-day life of the village with and without the camera,” says Lermer, speaking of the bond that still remains after the film’s completion.
Documenting without influencing, the journey began in 2010. Ghostland follows a group of San people from the Kalahari to civilised Namibia and Europe. “A journey to the world of the ghosts with the tables turned. The Ju/’Hoansi are no longer the research specimen but the researcher, not the beggar but the teacher,” explains Lermer. The film explores an ancient existence, and then allows it to view the modern world.
The rich reality and values of the Ju/’Hoansi is reflected in their perception of our world. This context of the film came about after a German foundation invited four members of the Ju/’Hoansi to go to a workshop in Europe. “That was an unexpected chance for our project to get deeper in the view of them,” says Lermer. “It allowed us to look at ourselves through the eyes of the Ju/’Hoansi.”
Released in March 2016 the film premiered at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece, and is having its South African premiere at DIFF. In April this year the filmmakers presented it to the Jo/’Hoansi. “It was a technical challenge, but we managed to show it with a bed sheet, our laptop and a video projector. The school supported us with electricity from their solar panels.” This was the final step in the process of making the feature. “We were excited how our protagonists would react and very happy that they laughed a lot, were impressed and entertained.”
While travelling with the Ju/’Hoansi to Himba Village the filmmakers realised that it was the first time that these tribes had ever met or interacted with each other. “It was an impressive moment to share this first contact,” says Lermer. She explains that the biggest challenge was to get close enough to capture their emotions and sentiments without intervening in their lives.
It was in 1990 that the law changed for the Ju/’Hoansi; these nomads were forbidden from hunting and forced to stay in one place. This meant they were unable to support themselves. While supported sporadically by the government, they were forced to sell devil’s claw at the side of the street or to leave the group to make money.
“The Ju/’Hoansi of Grashoek, our protagonist, got the idea from a Namibian NGO of a self-dependent Living Museum, which is now working passably successfully after a couple of years.” Implementing the same concept, they are able to exhibit their traditions without fear of losing their knowledge the way it happened with the traditional knowledge of many other San groups.
Despite these challenges their life remains fixed between two worlds. “The fact is that the circumstances destroyed their traditional society, which was unprecedented, tolerant, peaceful and formed by equality,” adds Lermer.
Ghostland shows that much can still be learned from Ju/’Hoansi knowledge and behaviour. The film exemplifies that life in the Kalahari, and life as it once was, is only possible by sharing everything. “There are no individual possessions, and no individual destiny, simply the destiny of the group,” she says. The unity is characterised by equality and respect.
Filmed in Namibia, Germany (Frankfurt, Main, Göttingen, Hamburg), Italy (Rimini), and Denmark (Lejre). Using 720/25PN recording technology with Panasonic HVX 201, as Lermer explains that without electricity, this allowed them to limit the data volume on hard disks, which was then colour corrected and scaled up to 1080p.
“We decided not to use clip-on or radio microphones as it did not seem appropriate for us to cable the Bushmen,” says Lermer. The sound was recorded entirely using boom mikes. The film was edited in Final Cut Pro Studio. World Distribution was done by the Austrian agency Autlook Filmsale.
Electricity was a major challenge as every week or so the crew had to travel 120km to charge equipment. Ghostland was made to show a neutral and observational perspective, so to come that close without disturbing the atmosphere they kept a small, flexible team. “That was the advantage,” says Lermer. “But at the same time it made a lot of work for only three people.”
Key crew list:
- Production and equipment: Cameleon Film / Simon Stadler
- Director, camera and idea: Simon Stadler
- Co-director and sound: Catenia Lermer
- Idea and unit manager: Sven Methling
- Editing: Simon Stadler and Andre Broecher
- Colour correction and technical post-production support: Magna Mana Production GmbH / Frankfurt am Main /
- Music composing, sound engineering and mixing: Matthias Raue / Tanit Studio GmbH / Frankfurt am Main
