Itelmen Stories

"Itelmen stories" is a poignant tale of the social and personal significance of a language that is near the end of its existence as an orally transmitted means of communication. The film presents both the speaking of the Itelmen language, as it exists today and the meaning of using it in t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Anthropological Films
Main Author: Liivo Niglas
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Nordic Anthropological Film Association (NAFA) 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.15845/jaf.v6i1.3456
https://doaj.org/article/426fa82fef5f4ce79b0b00106805d6bd
Description
Summary:"Itelmen stories" is a poignant tale of the social and personal significance of a language that is near the end of its existence as an orally transmitted means of communication. The film presents both the speaking of the Itelmen language, as it exists today and the meaning of using it in the past and the present. The action in the film revolves around an ancestrally used practice of hunting sable by net. Set in rural Kamchatka in the Russian Far East, where fewer than 20 speakers of Itelmen remain, the film goes beyond its original aim to recapture a language and a hunting practice that are remembered but no longer in use. Two hunters encounter the wild environs and villages of Kamchatka as a history laden homeland and memories, nostalgia, resignation and hope echo throughout the film.