Fest

• In the past 15 years 64 radio receiving dishes have appeared on the landscape.
• The film also examines Karoo star-lore as it is shared and spread by an interwoven tapestry of oral traditions.
• Conventional ideas about the nature of science are challenged and the dominant structures of knowledge creation are questioned as a result.
• In an age progressively dominated by digital and automated knowledge it was important that the film hold space for this notion.

Inflected with star-lore

• In a ǀXam conception of the universe there is no alienating distance between inner and outer, person, stars and space.
• That’s because their cultural understanding of reciprocities encourages ecological and cosmic connection.
• When I look up into the sky and look at how my star is positioned, and look up at the star’s direction, I know which way to walk.

Animism and animation

• !Aitsa investigates a modern pre-disposition that considers animistic knowledge and reasoning as inherently flawed.
• Animism is the notion that any living thing has a distinct spiritual essence.
• It’s a mistake to dismiss ǀXam cultural expression as a mythology that is intrinsically animistic and therefore quaint.

Soundscapes

• Sound plays a crucial role in the film, and was another opportunity to showcase an element of |Xam San culture.
• There we recorded a variety of rock sounds – deep bass-vibrations through to light metallic tinkles.

What next?

• !Aitsa had its world premiere at CPH:DOX in Denmark in 2023, with sold out screenings and rave reviews.
• The film won the Grand Prize at Estonia’s Pärnu International Film Festival and was voted Best of the Fest at the Encounters Film Festival in Cape Town.
• We also hope to take the film to Australia so that the Wajarri Yamaji Aboriginal people can see, listen and connect with their counterparts in the Karoo.