Garrison filmmakers focus on dying languages (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Garrison filmmakers focus on dying languages

By BARBARA LIVINGSTON NACKMAN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: October 21, 2007)
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071021/NEWS02/710210352/1018

Three young filmmakers, including one from Cold Spring and another from
Yorktown, have just completed a documentary on the world's "dying"
languages. Nearly 3,500 of the world's 7,000 spoken tongues are rapidly
disappearing.

Intrigued by learning that some world languages are threatened with never
being heard again, the three accompanied two academic linguists around the
world as they investigated languages on the verge of extinction.

They traveled to rugged terrain in Siberia, India and Bolivia to find
answers and consider what forces - racism, local violence, economic
upheaval - were root causes. They also went to the Southwestern United
States, where at least 200 languages spoken by American Indians living on
reservations are endangered.

"We really felt like the Indiana Joneses of linguistic study and moviemaking
combined," said Jeremy Newberger, 33, of Yorktown, Ironbound Films' chief
executive officer.

He, along with colleagues Daniel A. Miller, 35, of Cold Spring and Seth
Kramer, 36, of Red Hook, N.Y., worked on "The Linguists" for nearly four
years, as it became a passion as well as a professional pursuit.

"Language is so connected to culture in ways I had never thought about,"
said Miller, noting that it offers a bond between generations and often a
secret way to talk.

"The Linguists" will be released this month, and they hope it will be
featured at major film gatherings, including the Sundance, Tribeca and New
York festivals.

"It was a difficult task to make a movie about language that is exciting and
that people would want to see," Kramer said. "We try to find issues we think
are important, and to raise consciousness. This really fit the bill and,
also, the issue is completely and utterly fascinating."

Most of the dying languages are only spoken, with no written versions.

For the project, the three had to wear the same clothes for two-week
stretches, camp in tents if they were lucky, and work while sick. But they
said they were overwhelmed with what they learned about the differences
between - and similarities among - people.

Making "The Linguists," they said, opened their eyes and provided rich,
colorful material.

Johnny Hill Jr., 53, of Parker, Ariz., tells them that his native Chemehuevi
tribal tongue will exist as long as he does, but not much more. He dreams in
it, and English is his second language.

Raised by his grandmother, who died at 102 when he was 21, Hill completed
his sophomore year of high school before beginning work as a farmer. He is
now a heavy-equipment operator for the federal government.

He doesn't have any children and said there isn't anyone who wants to learn
the language, and he is not sure he is capable of teaching it.

His wife is from a Nevada tribe and speaks a different Indian language.

"I know I have something special," said Hill, who lives near the Colorado
River with the Mohave tribe. "I could just about cry knowing that, soon,
the language of my people won't be heard anymore. But a man like me, there
isn't much I can do."

Cut to the National Science Foundation, which commissioned the film. It
features the work of linguists K. David Harrison, assistant professor of
linguistics at Swarthmore College and research director at Living Tongues
Institute for Endangered Languages; and Gregory Anderson, a specialist in
Siberian languages and founding director of Living Tongues in Salem, Ore.

Harrison said he hoped the film "will help to raise public awareness of the
problem, inspire people to study linguistics and perhaps to take up the
kind of work we do."

"It also will provide a place for small and marginalized cultures, some
seldom before seen or heard outside of their local villages, to reach a
worldwide audience, expressing their ideas, attitudes and thoughts about
cultural survival," he said.

"Small languages that have never been written, represent a link to our
ancient, spoken past, containing stories, wisdom and technologies that
helped humans survive and thrive over millennia."

More information

Ironbound Films works out of a Garrison-based studio along the Hudson River
(where, incidentally, "Hello, Dolly!" was filmed).
It also produces business videos, podcasts and Internet-based programs. In
2006, it produced "America Rebuilds II: Return to Ground Zero," a post-9/11
film released to critical acclaim.

Check out these sites for more information:
www.thelinguists.com
www.ironboundfilms.com
www.livingtongues.org


GARRISON