Scattered along the coastlines and islands of Southern Thailand and Burma live the Moken, an ancient people whose lives are intimately interwoven with the rhythms of the ocean. Sailing a Sinking Sea beautifully profiles the sea-voyaging nomadism of the 3500 year old culture and immerses the viewer in their idyllic life-world.
Through vivid footage, some of it shot with a Super 8mm camera, and guiding exposition by a female elder, this engrossing ethnography bobs leisurely on the surface of the daily life of the Moken and dives into the rich depths of their ceremonies and profound myths. We learn about the importance of boat- hewing prowess for a Moken male to attract a mate, and hear songs about love and courtship; we’re treated to colorful myths and tales about amorous mermaids; we witness frenzied religious rituals that would rival the most animated Pentecostal revival. Our foray into their world is deep and intimate.
For a small and relatively isolated group to allow an outsider such access is quite astonishing.
“I ended up living with the Moken grandmother for a month,” says director Olivia Wyatt, during the Q and A after the screening, describing how she built trust with the Moken. “I didn’t start by shooting. I started by making crafts with her, and just hanging out and listening to her stories. And through her I met more people this way.”
When Wyatt learned about the Moken after the tsunami of 2004, she became fascinated and was driven to preserve their culture on film as their population faced decline.
With modernity percolating into Moken culture (televisions and Bollywood music coexist with austere indigenous elements), their way of life is in danger, particularly with respect to fishing.
“They can only fish certain amount of times throughout the year. And they have to sell their fish to the government for one fourth of the market rate,” says Wyatt about the Moken in Thailand. The Burmese Moken aren’t faring any better. The Burmese government is hiring them to dynamite fish, which is killing a lot of them, according to Wyatt.
Embattled such as they are, Sailing a Sinking Sea does the Moken people a great service by acquainting us with their rich and fascinating culture.
Shown prior to the screening of Sailing a Sinking Sea, the short documentary Territory is a whimsical look at the mischievous macaque, primates that have called the Rock of Gibraltar, the southernmost point of Europe, home for centuries.
The urbanisation of Gibraltar has forced the macaque to adapt to human encroachment. Unfortunately for the macaque, their bipedal cousins have little tolerance for their stubborn refusal to acknowledge artificial human boundaries.
“They don’t care even if the Queen of England is here,” says the local official in charge of monitoring the macaque and keeping them in line with putty peashooters.
Focusing on the relationship between humans and nature and the notion of territory and boundaries, both documentaries offer well-crafted, visually satisfying, and thoughtful experiences.
