Katjira's Two Funerals

Master griot Katjira’s death, which is the beginning of this film, sets off a series of discussions within his tribe about the future of the tribe and particularly about who katjira’s successor should be. A decade after Katjira’s death no successor has been found. Will the himba die out because there is no story teller alive to tell the story of the himba’s creation, thereby keeping the tribe alive? Or will Katjira somehow speak from beyond the grave, from the place of absolute reality, in order to re-iterate the continuity of the tribe. More than ten years in the making, Craig Matthew’s documentary is a powerful and unique example of how a contemporary medium like film can be utilised as an extension of the oral tradition.

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