DVDs available for review - 55 minutes
http://www.springbokfilms.com/
http://www.vanishingcultures.tv/


"VANISHING CULTURES: BUSHMEN OF THE KALAHARI” TO HAVE LOS ANGELES PREMIERE AT
LA FEMME FILM FESTIVAL ON OCTOBER 6
 
Michael York Narrates The Film about their Struggle To Remain in Their Homeland

(Los Angeles, CA) - "Vanishing Cultures: Bushmen of the Kalahari", the new documentary from Springbok Films and first-time producer/director Paula Ely, will be screened at the LA Femme Film Festival in Beverly Hills on Friday, October 6, 2006 at 2:00pm at the Wilshire Screening Room, 8670 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA  90211.  DVDs are also for sale to the public on the website www.vanishingcultures.tv .  This will be the film’s fifth festival appearance, and it was awarded “Best Documentary” by the Gulf Coast Film & Video Festival in September.
 
The 55-minute film narrated by Oscar-winning actor Michael York, illuminates the fascinating traditional culture of the San people (also known as Bushmen) and explains the challenges that these "original people" now face.
 
Seven hundred San were evicted from their last remaining homeland in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve of Botswana (CKGR) by the government because of economic interests in cattle, diamonds and tourism.  They now live in a settlement camp called New Xade in Botswana.  These resourceful people sued to regain their right to return to their home and live as free citizens in the manner they choose.  This is a landmark case that will hear final arguments in August and is the longest running legal case in Botswana's history and by its poorest inhabitants.  There are only 100,000 Bushmen living throughout Southern Africa  
 
Representatives of the San recently traveled to the United States and Europe to raise awareness and public support as well as funds to continue their court battle. Supporters of their efforts include Gloria Steinem, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Amnesty International, The Indigenous Land Rights Fund, Human Rights Watch and Survival International.
 
Springbok Films was approached to create a documentary in March 2003 by Barbara Savage, President of the Tribal Trust Foundation, an organization committed to the preservation of indigenous cultural traditions. The all-female crew, which consisted of Ms. Savage, her daughter Samantha, Ms. Ely, and cinematographer Lisa Ely, traveled to two San communities in remote regions of the Kalahari Desert in April.  They were introduced to the people by Uncharted Africa, a tour operator working with the San to develop a cultural tourism program.  The film crew brought goats as a sign of their sincerity and was then allowed to live alongside the San for three weeks.  They were graciously granted access to the daily activities, the interpersonal relationships and the sacred healing rituals that have been practiced for centuries.
 
"I knew virtually nothing about the San and even had to look up Botswana on the map," recalls Paula Ely.  "Spending time with these amazingly open, kind, and joyful people was a profound experience.  I hope our film can share some of the lessons that this tradition has to offer all of us, as well as raise awareness that this unique and magnificent culture is in imminent danger of extinction within our lifetime."
 
The San are believed to be the earliest inhabitants of Southern Africa, and have perfected a way of living in harmony with nature for centuries. This tribal culture is also well known for their unique clicking languages, their egalitarian social structure and their method of healing through trance dancing.
 
Executive Producers of “Vanishing Cultures” are Jeffrey Hayes Kazmark and Barbara Savage.  Springbok Films was formed by Paula Ely and Jeff Kazmark in 2003.  "Vanishing Cultures: Bushmen of the Kalahari" was financed independently and is the company's first documentary.
 
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