Concluding Notes
The film though not the direction my film will take really, it is a great example of ethnography on the film and i am sure Jean Rouch would have enjoyed the subject matter very much.
Comparing this to what i read on Bruce Parry's 5 points i can see the relevance in "A Visit To Ali Farka Toure".
· Knowledge-The Self sufficientcy most rural Malians need to undertake to make life easier
· Issues-Poverty, from the after effects of colonisation
· Daily Life-We see how the small town works and some of the aspects of what the daily "grind" is here for these people.
· Location- Arid barren landscape, hostile climate
· Language- A Mix of Songhai and Francais
These points give us a real insight into the Mailinese Life. I am getting the impression that Ethnography on film doesn't want to make other ways of life seem easy and make us appreciate the easy lives we live, watching contently from our Sofas.
I am also seeing patterns with the filming process of these films. Having not seen the program for some time i think it is time to delve into the foremost inspirtaion for my film before comparing any other ethnographical films.
Some background reading on the Songhai (Songhay)
The wealth and power of Songhay can be traced back to the Sorko fishermen who were skilled canoeists, living along the Niger, south east of Gao. By the 9th century they were part of a state known as Songhay. They began to develop trading relations with Muslim traders in Gao, which then became a part of Songhay.
During the 14th century Songhay fell within the orbit of the Empire of Mali, but the rulers of Mali never managed to collect taxes from the people of Gao.
RISE
In the fifteenth century Songhay rose to pre-eminence under Sonni Ali the Great, while Mali fell into a decline. His military forces consisted of a cavalry of expert horsemen, and fleets of canoes. He was a great military leader, with a keen understanding of tactics on land and water. He had the added advantage of being regarded as a leader with magical powers.
Songhay oral history portrays him as a conquering hero. Sonni Ali the Great expanded the territory of Songhay considerably, so that it stretched across the Niger valley, west to Senegal and east to Agades (modern Niger). He remained attached to the traditional rites of his mother's birthplace, Sokoto. He captured Timbuktu from the Tuareg and disrupted the tradition of scholarship. His lack of respect for Islam gets him a bad press from Arab chroniclers who portray him as ruthless and oppressive.
ZENITH
After Sonni Ali's death one of his generals, Mohammed Ture, seized power in 1493. He was a devout Muslim of Soninke origin, who established the Askiya dynasty. Continuing the expansion of Songhay that Sonni Ali had started, he brought Songhay to the height of its power.
In contrast to his predecessor, all his actions were informed by his commitment to Islam. His raids against the Mossi took on a religious dimension. These jihads (Holy Wars) were a success on the military front; but although defeated, the Mossi still refused to convert to Islam.
HIGH PROFILE
Mohammed Ture Askiya promoted Songhay in the Muslim world. He went to Mecca. He visited the Caliph of Egypt, who in turn made him Caliph of the whole of Sudan. Sudan was a loose term for a large area in sub-Saharan Africa usually embracing Mali, Chad, north west Nigeria, and Niger. In government matters, he took the advice of three distinguished jurists, or qadis. Generally the government of the Askiya dynasty was more centralised than that of the Mansas of Mali.
TRADITION AND TRADE
Some aspects of traditional religion were preserved, including the sacred drum, the sacred fire, and the old types of costume and hairstyle. As in Mali, there was a privileged caste of craftsmen, and slave labour played an important role in agriculture. Trade improved under Mohammed Ture Askiya, with gold, kola nuts and slaves being the main export. Textiles, horses, salt and luxury goods were the main imports. In 1510 and 1513, The Spanish Moroccan writer and traveller Leo Africanus visited Gao, the capital of Songhay. He was amazed at the wealth of the ruling class:
"The houses there are very poor, except for those of the king and his courtiers. The merchants are exceedingly rich and large numbers of Negroes continually come here to buy cloth brought from Barbarie (Morocco) and Europe…
Here there is a certain place where slaves are sold, especially on those days when the merchants are assembled. And a young slave of fifteen years of age is sold for six ducats, and children are also sold. The king of this region has a certain private palace where he maintains a great number of concubines and slaves."
Leo Africanus's visit to Timbuktu causes him to remark on the intellectual and professional classes.
"Here there are many doctors, judges, priests and other learned men, that are well maintained at the king's cost. Various manuscripts and written books are brought here out of Barbarie and sold for more money than any other merchandise.
The coin of Timbuktu is of gold without any stamp or superscription, but in matters of small value, they use certain shells brought here from Persia, four hundred of which are worth a ducat and six pieces of their own gold coin, each of which weighs two-thirds of an ounce."
By this week i had a few ideas on my head on what would the content of some of the scences would be and how they would work. We were put into small groups and told to discuss our proposals and give each other feedback. This was very useful as for some of the scneces i had thought of i still didn't have full clarity. With a group discussion i was able to work out what would work best on my ideas and what wouldn't so much. The feedback was excellent and made me feel alot more confident about the project
This week i was mainly sorting out ideas for the lighting. The scence were the tribe member is drinkijng his dirty pint for the initiation i would really like to do in night vision as is often portrayed in Bruce's films and about the challenges i would face doing it. Lighting has always been my weakest point in film making so i am was wary that to gain a good mark i would need to step up my game on the lgiting front.
Class was mainly a recap on the panasonic cameras, much needed after a long summer break. It was great to do this as though i will mainly be using my camera their are one or two scence i will be using the more proffesional ones, for scences such as the initiation were i will be wanting to use state of the art equipment for filming low ligting scences.
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