A PUBLICATION OF THE ASIAN EDUCATIONAL MEDIA SERVICE Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies ✦ University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign A E M S

Vol. 2, No. 2 News and Reviews Fall 1999

Our look at The Japanese Version —A Look Back started >> by Louis Alvarez with a tour of a love hotel and t has been over eight years since my co-produc- pleasantly surprised by the ended with an ex- Ier Andrew Kolker and myself completed our interest in using The Japanese tended look at the one-hour video documentary called The Japanese Version as a teach- fantasies on display Version, an amusing and provocative look at how ing tool. We pre- in “Ultra Quiz,” the Japanese interpret Western popular culture. pared a mailing NTV’s long-running Our original intention had and began pro- travel-to-America been to gain a national moting the docu- quiz show. Here was a essay broadcast on PBS and then mentary at brash, kitschy, loud Japan that frequently resorted test the waters to see if there academic confer- to crude stereotypes of Americans while remaining was any interest in distributing the program to ences, aided by fascinated with what went on beyond its borders. schools and universities. As we put our plan into our redoubtable We intended it as an affectionate yet clear-eyed action, we were surprised at every turn. It turned advisors David Plath and Ted Bestor. We also portrait of the culture we had come to love in the out to be virtually impossible to secure a national undertook a series of screenings sponsored by six months we lived and worked in Tokyo, and we “same time everywhere” PBS broadcast for a single Japan-America societies in various American cities, hoped that it would help humanize a country that hour unconnected to a longer series, so we ended which raised the profile of the documentary and seemed to be alternatively deified and demonized up selling The Japanese Version to the Discovery enabled us to see how audiences were perceiving it. by Americans. Channel, which aired it at a shorter length with The Japanese Version had always been intended Our audiences at public screenings of The commercial breaks—hardly what a filmmaker as an antidote to what we felt was the prevailing Japanese Version were uniformly enthusiastic, but

dreams of. cherry-blossom--garden- geisha-in-kimono in the Q&A that followed a certain pattern would OF THE CENTER FOR NEW AMERICAN MEDIA COURTESY In the academic world, however, we were view of Japan among the lay American public. continued on page 2

Contents Welcome ...... 2 How to Contact AEMS ...... 2 “The Japanese Version–A Look Back” by Louis Alvarez ...... 1 Reviews of films and videos: Eternal Seed ...... 3 The Women Outside and Camp Arirang ...... 4 Sprouts of Capitalism in China ...... 5 Japan 2000 ...... 6 Bangkok: Rim Nam, Rim Khlong . . . . . 7 Trav’s Travels China ...... 7 Ancestors in the Americas, Parts I and II ...... 8 Spirits Rising ...... 9 Homes Apart ...... 10

COURTESY OF THE CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS OF THE CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL COURTESY in : The Way of Three 19th-century Chinese American women from , Wyoming, and Alaska, known only as the Ancestors...... 11 “China Mary.” From the documentary series Ancestors in America. For review, see page 8. Guide to Distributors ...... 12 Asian Educational Media Service The Asian Educational Media Service (AEMS) is a pro- Welcome gram of the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. From the Center Director AEMS offers information about where to find audio- visual media resources for teaching and learning about wo years have elapsed since AEMS moved to the University of Illinois Asia, and advice about which ones may best suit your T at Urbana-Champaign. During this period, much has transpired. New needs. In addition to AEMS News and Reviews, media, new people, and new events have helped our program continue to grow published twice a year, services include a free call-in/ and thrive. Our latest news is that Ms. Sarah I. Barbour has been appointed as write-in service and a Web site. To add your name to the new Program Coordinator. With an MA in Film, Television and Radio our mailing list, request additional copies of the Studies from Northwestern University and extensive teaching and working newsletter to use in workshops or to share with your experience in Japan, Sarah brings to AEMS not only a knowledge of the region colleagues, or ask for help in locating resources, please but also a superb professional background. We are fortunate to have secured the services of Sarah who, contact us. we are certain, will continue the outstanding achievements of Ms. Rebecca Payne. AEMS is made possible by generous support from In other news, Makiko’s New World, a documentary video by the AEMS-affiliated Media Production The Freeman Foundation and The Japan Foundation Group (MPG) has continued to attract favorable notice since its premiere last spring. This fall it was Center for Global Partnership. screened at the Hopes and Dreams Festival in New Jersey and at the Japan Association in Singapore. For more information, contact: We are delighted that it is reaching a wide audience and hope to have it screened at more festivals soon. AEMS, Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies The diverse and varied essays and reports included in this issue of AEMS News and Reviews is testi- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 230 International Studies Building, MC-483 mony to a wide range of both topical and geographic interests. From Eternal Seed (on Indian agricul- 910 South Fifth Street ture), to Religion in Indonesia: The Way of the Ancestors (on Toraja religion and culture) to Sprouts of Champaign, IL 61820 Capitalism in China (an account of one man’s rise to wealth in new China), these reviews Telephone: 1-888-828-AEMS (1-888-828-2367) represent an endeavor on our part to be comprehensive in our coverage of Asia and to introduce and or 217-265-0642 report on the leading videos and films available. Fax: 217-265-0641 E-mail: [email protected] AEMS’ new Web site continues to be well received; the number of visitors has increased significantly, Web: http://www.aems.uiuc.edu reaching nearly 10,000 in the past few months. We appreciate the positive response of the users and welcome your comments and suggestions on still better improving the homepage. We also continue to Advisory Board solicit more reviews in order to improve the educational usefulness of the posted materials. Our goal is to Caroline Bailey, Program Associate, Asian Educational provide you the best possible service in each of our areas—Web site, newsletter, and video production. Media Service Thank you for your support. Burnill Clark, President and C.E.O., KCTS Television —George T. Yu Richard Gordon, Executive Producer, Long Bow Group, Inc. Peter Grilli, Executive Director, Donald Keene Center for Japanese Culture, Columbia University The Japanese Version The second common objection to the show Karl G. Heider, Professor of Anthropology, University was that The Japanese Version invited Americans to continued from page 1 of South Carolina make fun of the Japanese, and that we were, in Laurel Kendall, Curator, Asian Ethnographic Collections, always assert itself. Usually the first objection essence, laughing at a culture that was unable to American Museum of Natural History; Adjunct raised was that of skewed selectivity: that we had defend itself. Interestingly, this objection came Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University deliberately chosen unflattering aspects of Japanese almost exclusively from native Americans who had Marianna McJimsey, Executive Director of ASIANetwork, Inc.; Lecturer in History/Social culture (such as faux-Christian wedding cere- never actually been to Japan, but whose presence Studies Education, The Colorado College monies) that were out of the mainstream. If the at the film screening suggested a sympathetic Sharon Wheaton, C.E.O., E.T. Interactive Multimedia person objecting was Japanese, they sometimes interest in its culture. Obviously, The Japanese Diana Marston Wood, Associate Director, Asian Studies said, “I am Japanese, yet I have never been to a Version clashed with the romantic vision of Japan Program, University of Pittsburgh love hotel,” implicitly challenging our statement in that many Westerners have, mixed perhaps with a the film that love hotels were ubiquitous in big whiff of political correctness. Editorial Board (Faculty and staff of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.) cities and quite popular. All during the editing of The Japanese Version We would point out that the film was clearly we had made great pains not to take cheap shots— Nancy Abelmann, Associate Professor of Anthropology and East Asian Languages and Cultures labeled as our own personal view of Japan, even to it’s not our style. We have genuine affection both Clark E. Cunningham, Professor Emeritus of the point of being narrated by my partner Andy, for Japanese culture and for its occasional lapses in Anthropology and that it was intended to complement the con- taste. We told our audiences about this, and point- Roberta H. Gumport, Assistant Director and ventional American view of Japanese culture. But ed out that in fact Japan was fully a First World, Outreach Coordinator of the Center for East Asian we also noted that in our experience much of grown-up nation that needed neither apologies nor and Pacific Studies Japanese society had a strong lower-middle-class protection from well-meaning Westerners; not only Jacquetta Hill, Professor of Anthropology and of taste which manifested itself in the kitschy that, but Japan was fully capable of condescending Educational Psychology decorations of wedding palaces and love hotels. to Americans on its own, thank you very much! Blair Kling, Professor of History We sympathized with the questioners—who It would be around this time in the post- George T. Yu, Professor of Political Science and Director wouldn’t prefer to see their culture represented by viewing discussion that the counter arguments of the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies Kyoto temples rather than humiliating TV game would start. I remember a woman in Seattle rais- Staff shows?—but felt that we had been true to our ing her hand to say that she had lived in Japan for Program Director: David W. Plath own experiences, as well as to the Japan of the seven years and The Japanese Version was the first Program Coordinator/Editor: Sarah I. Barbour late 1980s. film that had exactly captured the way she felt as

DESIGN: EVELYN C. SHAPIRO PRODUCTION: BONNIE BURGUND 2 From the Program Coordinator n October, I replaced Rebecca Payne as Program Coordinator of the Asian Educational Media Service. IHaving done a remarkable job over the last two years of coordinating all aspects of the service, Rebecca has now decided to pursue a graduate degree in Library Sciences. All of us at AEMS wish her well in her studies. My own background is varied. After earning an MA in Film, Radio, and Television Studies, I worked at the Museum of Television & Radio for three years then changed courses completely, going to Japan to teach on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. I never dreamed I would find a job that so neatly encompassed my interests in Asia and in film. I am delighted to be working here at AEMS and I look forward to the challenge of continuing and expanding the work that Rebecca began. AEMS will continue to provide useful information about Asia-related media sources through its Web site, publications, telephone helpline, and participation in conferences. We will be regularly updating our database and adding to our Resource Library collection. I hope that the edu- cators and scholars who utilize our ser-

vices will help us out by contributing OF WOMEN MAKE MOVIES COURTESY reviews, letting us know about new resources, and offering constructive Eternal Seed criticism. I welcome your comments >> Produced by Meera Dewan. Distributed by and suggestions. You can contact me by Women Make Movies. 1996. 43 minutes. telephone (toll-free: 1-888-828-2367), by fax (217-265-0641), e-mail or by old-fashioned ground E feminist perspective that is best known in mail (please use the address listed on the work of Vandana Shiva. The filmmakers cham- page 2). pion local farming tradition and condemn capital- Please don’t hesitate to get in touch. intensive, high-tech agriculture. Indigenous Indian —Sarah I. Barbour agriculture is presented as respectful of the environ- ment, local culture, and women; modern agri- business is depicted as a threat to all these things. an American in Japan. Other Japan hands, with Ten years after we returned from Japan, and While this video is a forceful presentation of a far more knowledge than us, weighed in in the eight years after finishing it, we’re still very proud point of view, it cannot be recommended as a doc- film’s favor, and soon we didn’t have to say much of The Japanese Version. We’d love to have an umentary about the women farmers who appear in at all—the audience members said it so much opportunity to go back to Tokyo and see how it. Nor is it the best articulation of the important more eloquently. things have changed. We suspect that while the critiques of modernization that are being made The back-and-forth was the greatest compli- surface of things may be different—a more widely from feminist, environmentalist, and social justice ment a filmmaker could receive from an audience, traveled younger generation, more tasteful love perspectives. and suggested that The Japanese Version would hotels—underneath, the cultural tensions between The video shows women farmers who have have some success in the college curriculum, looking outward and maintaining a purely organized to protest the loss of livelihood they which it did. Today it is in the collections of sever- “Japanese” culture that dominate The Japanese attribute to capitalist modernization of agriculture. al hundred universities, and an Internet search Version are still there, as they have been for hun- But we hear very little from the women them- indicates it is still an active part of the curriculum. dreds of years. ✦ selves—instead we hear voice-overs reciting poetry, or see silent depictions of staged agricultural ritu- We don’t know how The Japanese Version has >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> als. Terms like “goddess,” “wisdom,” “earth-knowl- been used over the years, of course. While we Louis Alvarez and his co-producer/director edge,” “crusader,” “queen,” and “magic” feature always hope that our films are shown uncut and Andrew Kolker, are two-time winners of both the prominently. For the complexities and tensions of uninterrupted, we realize that the limitations of Peabody Award and the duPont-Columbia Jour- local culture, the filmmakers have substituted their the class hour and compressed curricula mean that nalism Award. Over the past twenty years they own sentimental imagination of nature-worship- sometimes only short pieces are shown to illustrate have produced critically praised documentaries for ping farmers. We get little sense of women’s lives as a lecturer’s point. That’s fine with us—we even their production companies, Kingfish Productions family members or as members of a larger commu- cut a half-hour version for high school use (and and The Center for New American Media. Their nity, in part because of the film’s depiction of an eliminated the love hotel section, which would most recently completed project is MOMS (1999). idealized rural community without men. The film have undoubtedly shocked the tender psyches of The Japanese Version was produced by Louis provides no historical context or examination of American high schoolers). The Japanese Version is Alvarez and Andrew Kolker for the Center for the concrete politics of agriculture in . The in fact structured in modules which lend them- New American Media (1991). Available from discussion of modernization is also thin, largely selves to excerpting. We also like to imagine the Transit Media. Price is $99 for purchase, $65 for limited to couplets mocking factory farms. protests that must ensue when a lecturer cuts the rental. The High School Edition is 40 minutes, tape off and turns the lights back on! the Standard Edition is 55 minutes. continued on page 4

3 The Eternal Seed continued from page 3

For films which convey a sense of resistance to modernization and present the power of non- modernist agency, I would recommend the works of Anand Patwardhan, or Jharana Jhaveri and Anurag Singh’s Kaise Jeebo Re. For a presentation of the power of collective action and depiction of agency on the part of poor rural women, I would recommend When Women Unite. Sudesha, which documents the agency of one woman participant of the Chipko movement, similarly provides a very rich depiction of women’s agency from a critical perspective on modernization, ecology, and social justice. On modernization in agriculture, Seeds of Plenty, Seeds of Sorrow (by Manjira Datta for Media Workshop/BBC) provides a much richer discussion of issues of biodiversity and the social ✦ COURTESY OF THIRD WORLD NEWSREEL COURTESY consequences of adding capital to agriculture. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The Women Outside and Camp Arirang S. Charusheela is Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Her >> The Women Outside was produced by J.T. Takagi and Hye Jung Park. 1995. 60 minutes. Camp Arirang was produced by Diana S. Lee and Grace Yoon-Kung Lee. 1995. 28 minutes. research examines the role of different types of Both are distributed by Third World Newsreel. 30 minutes. grassroots and NGO strategies for feminist social change among informal sector women workers amp Arirang and The Women Outside are both lows one such Korean woman’s journey to the in urban South Asia. Cpath breakers, for they offer the first visual United States as she aspires to become a “normal” Eternal Seed is available from Women Make narratives and analysis accessible to an English- wife and mother to her American soldier-husband Movies. Price is $295 for purchase, $90 for rental. speaking audience of a long-held taboo reality and soon-to-be-born child. The camera zooms in Seeds of Plenty, Seeds of Sorrow is available from involving the United States and South Korea: the on her attempts to prepare American dishes to suit Bullfrog Films. Price is $150 for purchase, $75 for prostitution of Korean women in the “service” her husband’s tastes as well as other ways to adapt rental. Sudesha is available from Women Make of U.S. military personnel. They both feature the to American life. Yet, in moments of reflection, Movies. Price is $250 for purchase, $60 for rental. faces and voices—although Camp Arirang she sheds tears for the things she has lost, especial- When Women Unite is available from TVE (price employs both voice-over and subtitles—of women ly her first child whom she was forced to give up. unknown). Kaise Jeebo Re can be borrowed from who have historically been silenced and made The Women Outside offers a longer and more the South Asia Center, University of Pennsylvania. invisible by a Korean society which has con- detailed journey into the different aspects of these Please contact Robert Nichols, Outreach Coordi- demned their “double immorality”—selling sex Korean women’s lives, but it does not offer the nator, at 215-898-7475. and mingling with foreign men. The women’s sto- substantive historical context of war, military ries—filled with pain, anger, love for their chil- occupation, and permanent basing of U.S. troops eds. (New York: New Press, 1993); Sex Among dren, and their will to survive—offer powerful in Korea which are necessary for understanding Allies: Military Prostitution in U.S.-Korea Relations, and poignant interpretations of the personal costs that these women’s lives are intimately related to Katharine H. S. Moon (New York: Columbia of war, sexism, militarization, and racism. Facing the larger political and economic structures they University Press, 1997); Silver Stallion: A Novel language difficulties in communicating with do not control. Camp Arirang does emphasize the of Korea, Junghyo Ahn (New York: Soho Press, American “G.I.s,” a woman in Camp Arirang historical and political framework in which the 1990); Dangerous Women: Gender and Korean expresses her frustration and anger at being treated private buying and selling of sex and the creation Nationalism, Elaine H. Kim and Chungmoo Choi, like a dummy by the men because she cannot of offspring takes place. eds. (New York: Routledge, 1998). ✦ command English well. And in one of the final I would recommend both films for college and >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> vignettes in this film, Amerasian children of white university-level courses in Asian Studies, Women’s Katharine H. S. Moon is Assistant Professor of and black fathers are asked by their daycare staffer, Studies, International Relations, and social science Political Science at Wellesley College and focuses a former prostitute and madame, Kim Yon Ja, to curricula that address Asian history, war and mili- her teaching and research on issues related to choose whether they want to live in Korea or go to tary life, and sexuality. Olongapo Rose, a 1988 BBC women and gender in international relations and America. The children raise their right hands, documentary available in videocassette, would social movements in Asia. She is currently writing yelling out what they have been told by adults is a serve as a good comparison for introducing issues about migrant workers in Japan and South Korea. better choice: “America!” This scene drives home related to the U.S. military and women in the Both videos are available from Third World the point that such children are unwelcome in the Philippines. I would recommend the following Newsreel. Price for The Women Outside is $225 for homogeneous Korean society and yet cannot claim published material to serve as textual guides for purchase and $85 for rental. Price for Camp America because most do not even know who and the viewing and discussion of the films: Let the Arirang is $225 for purchase and $65 for rental. where their fathers are. Good Times Roll: Prostitution and the U.S. Military Olongapo Rose is currently unavailable for dis- The Women Outside, unlike Camp Arirang, fol- in Asia, Saundra Sturdevant and Brenda Stolzfus, tribution in the USA.

4 Sprouts of Capitalism in China >> Directed and narrated by Wen-jie Qin. Distributed by Documentary Educational Resources. 1997. 30 minutes.

his is a gem of a film. While it deals with This films deals T a well-worn topic concerning China, “the fairly subtly with some impact of free enterprise on average Chinese,” the extremely important treatment within this film is truly special. First contemporary Chinese of all, there is a family connection between the issues. First is the con- filmmaker, Wen-Jie Qin, and her uncle, Daquan nection between gov- Yang, the film’s focus. Familial affection allows ernment and business. Qin to convey important personal dynamics and We learn that Yang’s ask questions which, from others, would surely wife works for the town be intrusive. government. Does her With the family connection established, Qin is position insure that able to focus on this case study of one man against Yang receives special the evolving backdrop of Chinese history and cul- treatment for his busi- ture. The class struggle of the 1950s is made vivid ness projects? Qin com- through the news that Yang’s mother gave him ments that the away (at 2 years old) because the family had lost connection may bring everything and was being persecuted. The Great “many advantages to the Leap Forward of the late 1950s and early 1960s is family.” At the end explained through Yang’s personal account of star- when asked to what he vation conditions. Yang’s illiteracy is treated in tan- attributes his success, dem with the news that his stepfather would not Yang says, “Having allow him to attend school since a natal son was been born in the year of consistently favored over Yang, the adopted son. the ox, hard work, of Another key factor contributing to the special course.” Filmmaker Qin quality of this documentary is Qin’s extraordinary delves into the treat- filmmaking skill. She juxtaposes her treatment of ment of children the Great Leap Forward (photos and Yang’s own through a visual focus words) against the entire Yang family eating their on the eight-year-old noon meal. Yang, his wife, and eight-year-old son son. This young boy are enthusiastically stuffing away dish after dish seems to represent a while the narrator describes near-starvation. In prototype for the “little another segment Qin films Yang’s wife during a emperor,” a popular COURTESY OF DOCUMENTARY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES EDUCATIONAL OF DOCUMENTARY COURTESY lengthy motorcycle ride throughout the city. She is term for China’s spoiled riding behind her aunt and filming as they go. At single child. He is chubby, appears to demand a film will not provide basic information about the only one point do you see Qin; that is when her great deal of attention from his parents, and ways that free enterprise has become accepted pol- figure appears as part of a moving shadow of attends an expensive private school (the STARS icy in China, but provides memorable footage of motorcycle and riders. For me, this constitutes a School) where he boards from Monday through one man’s rise from grinding poverty to astonish- subtle reminder of the filmmaker’s presence; she has Saturday. The pictures of the school grounds sug- ing wealth. While the scenes were filmed in 1995, effectively become an integral part of the family. gest a fantasy theme park, and Qin wryly poses the they are just as appropriate today. Finally, the While the previously mentioned aspects of question, “Will future Chinese leaders come from thirty-minute film length is perfect for high school the film contribute to its fine quality, one should such places?” level and up, and the issues raised would work certainly expect solid factual material explaining This film is appropriate for high school stu- well in any high school world history or world the impact of the “sprouts of capitalism.” dents as well as for college and adult audiences. Its cultures course. I consider it a “must” for students However, Qin provides no conceptual definitions treatment of Yang’s meteoric economic rise along attempting to understand China today. It would or broad theoretical discussion. Instead she chron- with its effective consideration of the work equally well within college history, anthro- icles Yang’s climb to prosperity through the fol- influence/corruption connection between govern- pology, or economics courses. ✦ lowing steps: rural peasant to urban construction ment and business and the results of its one child >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> worker; creation of a construction materials facto- policy, provide evidence for thoughtful student Diana Marston Wood is currently the Associate ry using $4 million dollars worth of machinery analysis. Qin is less judgmental than many film- Director of the Asian Studies Program at the bought from and stones quarried in makers. She draws few conclusions but does allow University of Pittsburgh. Her particular interests Southwest China; planned shift from popsicle pro- Yang’s story to suggest many worries about the val- are Modern Chinese history as well as curricular duction to an ice cream business; purchase and ues from which China’s capitalistic sprouts are and pedagogical issues, K–16. development of an entire business complex to growing. She concludes her film by posing a ques- Sprouts of Capitalism in China is available from incorporate the ice cream factory, the Yang family tion: “Since the old rules are gone, there is more Documentary Educational Resources. Price is home, housing for the ice cream workers, and prosperity but more insecurity also. Will the rich $195 for purchase and $50 for rental. rental space. only get richer, or will the poor also prosper?” This

5 Japan 2000 >> Produced by BBC Television. Distributed by Films for Humanities and Social Sciences. Four videocassettes, approximately 20 minutes each, accompanied by a CD-ROM. 1998.

apan 2000 is comprised of four filmed in the early to mid 1990s, of urban Japan. In addition, although a number of Jprograms that take an interdis- took a turn for the (even) worse in dichotomies can be teased out of the programs ciplinary look at problems facing 1997 with the collapse of a number (for example, traditional versus modern, urban Japan at the end of the twentieth of major financial institutions. versus rural, old versus young, etc.), the relation- century from the perspectives of The third program, The Future ships between each pair of opposing categories is human and physical geography, of the Countryside, examines problems appropriately depicted as being complex. More- economics, and technology. The facing farming families, including over, although an overall theme of the series, as videos have apparently been dis- competition from foreign produce, suggested by the first program, is to explain the tilled for classroom use from a high capital outlays, the need for an economic success of modern Japan, some dissent- longer BBC series. outside income, the vicissitudes of ing voices are included, questions are raised The first program in the weather, and the abandonment of the about alternative roads, and the technological series, Against All the Odds, farming lifestyle by young people. solutions Japan has taken are not depicted as being examines two contemporary Hydroponics technology is introduced unproblematic. responses to Japan’s mountain- as a potentially more efficient farming The CD-ROM that accompanies Japan 2000 ous terrain and paucity of method. The program also briefly contains footage from the videos themselves along resources. The first segment discusses Japan’s high examines challenges facing Japan’s for- with maps and additional film snippets on speci- speed rail system before introducing an ambitious estry industry. fic topics such as the 1995 Kansai Earthquake, bypass bridge project that would link Japan’s Changing Lifestyles, the final program, intro- which are not covered in the videos. The CD-ROM Kansai region to Kyûshû via Shikoku. The video duces a couple living on Rokkô Island, an artifi- includes sample questions for students to investi- next examines a complex of nuclear power stations cial island in Kobe constructed in response to the gate as they peruse the material within, and it also located in picturesque Wakasa Bay and designed demand for urban housing. The wife has been enables students to “splice” together film footage to meet the energy forced to reenter the to create their own thematic programs. Although demands of the Kyoto, workforce, abandoning middle school students might find such activities Osaka, Kobe megalopolis. Few may be aware the traditional role of interesting, my own secondary students would While local residents housewife. The program not be impressed. This CD-ROM does not make have benefited from that 60% of Japan’s also interviews a full use of available technology, and I found it to increased government Japanese high school stu- be much less engaging than the video programs investment in the area, manufactured goods dent who questions the themselves. ✦ one fisherman voices centrality of work in the >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> muted reservations about come from small lives of her parents. Jeffrey Johnson teaches non-Western history and the potential hazards. The four programs Japanese language to secondary students at Park Program 2, The Hi- manufacturing firms, are informative, reason- Tudor School, an independent K–12 institution Tech Road, is exceptionally ably up to date in terms in Indianapolis. A resident of Japan’s Kansai region useful, tracing the pro- which must constantly of the issues discussed, for six years, Johnson has taught at the collegiate duction of electronic con- and thought provoking. and secondary levels in the U.S. and Japan. sumer goods from the adapt to the changing Discussions with politi- Japan 2000 is available from Films for waterfront, where petrole- cians and professors have Humanities and Sciences. Price is $129 each for um is imported and demands of the been eschewed in favor purchase ($465 for series) and $75 each for rental. of interviews with aver- processed into plastic, to Price for the CD-ROM is $149. small workshops, which global economy. age Japanese citizens. comprise the vast majority At twenty minutes each, of Japanese companies, to the programs can be Notice of Broadcast: In February medium size factories for assembly and further used with block and traditional scheduling, leav- 2000, PBS will air Regret to Inform, a production work, and finally on to the factories of ing time for discussions, lectures, or other activi- documentary by Barbara Sonneborn Japan’s major electronics corporations. While sec- ties. They can be viewed separately and in some and Janet Cole which won the 1999 ondary students and undergraduates are familiar cases can even be divided into shorter segments Sundance Film Festival’s Director’s with large corporations like Sony and Panasonic, without loss of coherence. Japan 2000 would be Award. Regret to Inform portrays the few may be aware that, although such high profile most suitable for secondary and lower division devastation of the Vietnam War as seen companies sit atop the production chain, 60% of college students. Instructors should be warned to through the eyes of women, both Japan’s manufactured goods come from small preview the programs before using them in class, American and Vietnamese, who lost manufacturing firms, which must constantly adapt as the introductory blurbs on the video cases can their husbands in the conflict. Please to the changing demands of the global economy. be misleading. contact your local PBS station for exact Teachers who use this program may want to pro- All of the programs focus on the Kansai area. time and date. vide students with an economic update. Japan’s This is a welcome change from the dominant economy, mired in recession when this series was Tokyo-centric view which conflates Tokyo with all

6 the narrative is generally informative. ments on how far away North America is. It Bangkok: Rim Nam, The role that plays in daily life is good to hear some ordinary Thais speaking permeates the tableau; young monks are seen car- in their native tongue rather than obscuring Rim Khlong rying building materials for the temple grounds the beauty of the Thai spoken language with >> Produced by Window Seat Films, Inc. Distributed and making the rounds to receive food offerings an English voice-over. Considerable thought by The Media Guild. 1993. 18 minutes. from the laity in the early morning. An elderly and creativity went into the making of this monk, glowing and serene in his saffron-colored vignette. his video is part of the Pen Pal Series designed robe, is seen paddling in his diminutive canoe col- The intended audience is elementary- and T to provide an insider’s view of life in their lecting food offerings as well. The quality and junior-high school students. However, a general country. In this case, it is from the viewpoint of a professionalism of the film is outstanding. Among audience of older listeners would take great plea- young Thai boy in other points sure in this attractive slice of Thai life in one of Canada and his nine- Despite the smiling faces and presented for the world’s most fascinating cities. The video year-old cousin, increased cul- is an appreciation of everyday life that is seldom whose nickname is well-groomed children, tural awareness captured—and with a total lack of pretension Oat, in Bangkok. The is the impor- and unneeded ponderousness. brief presentation is the narration does not hesitate tance of water Included is a useful guide to the contents, refreshing in that it in the lives of objectives, description, and six discussion questions is an appealing to mention the prevalence Thais and the to engage young people viewing the video. ✦ youngster telling the problems of >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> story of his cousin’s of poverty and prostitution... water and air John Hartmann is Professor of Thai languages and daily life along “The pollution. linguistics in the Department of Foreign Edge of the River, Despite Languages at Northern Illinois University. He does The Edge of the Canals,” to translate the title. The the prevalence of smiling faces and well-groomed research on historical-comparative Tai, focusing in life of the Thai cousin and family along the city’s children, the narration does not hesitate to men- particular on Tai Dam (Black Tai of Vietnam) and waterways is, in many ways, enviable, and seem- tion the prevalence of poverty and prostitution— Tai Lue (Tai of Sipsongpanna region of Yunnan, ingly carefree. For the most part it is a buoyant including sexual exploitation of children—in China). He received a three-year grant (1999- and breezy visual presentation, with catchy “orien- Thailand and the inability of most Thais to afford 2001) from the Luce Foundation to do fieldwork tal”-sounding background music. The “voice” of a high school education. A significant portion of on “The Origins and Spread of Tai Irrigated Rice the boy is read by someone who is a bit older than the story takes place inside Oat’s school. A history Engineering Culture in Southern China.” the boy in the video, and he is unfortunately not teacher is shown telling her—in Thai—the Bangkok: Rim Nam, Rim Khlong is available familiar with the correct pronunciation of some of importance of Thai history; likewise a geography from The Media Guild. Price is $210. the key Thai words used in the script. That aside, teacher points out places on the globe and com-

Trav’s Travels China • the Yangze River (fishing, swimming, the Potala and the complicated relationship no discussion of the Three Gorges Dam) Tibet has with China–as a result of China’s >> Distributed by IVN Entertainment. 1998. occupation of Tibet, the Tibetan way of life • Beijing (the Forbidden City, kite flying, a 23 minutes. is changing). touch of communist ideology and the one- very basic, accurate, child policy, and the hobby of song birds Trav’s Travels China is made very appealing A engaging 20-minute and crickets) through excellent photography, both overviews video with some anima- • Shanghai (a port city, an elementary and close-ups, of China. The narrator’s pronun- tion features. The video school, and bicycles as a main means of ciation of Chinese place names is acceptable to is geared to elementary transportation) decent, and the video content is accurate. The school audiences and • Suzhou (excellent brief footage of silk from video provides some thematic continuity in the would best be suited to cocoons to cloth and Chinese medicine and areas of food, animals, lifestyle, land, ancient third and fourth grade pharmacies) relics, and minority nationalities, as it presents students. The print matter • Xian (Qin dynasty terracotta warriors) highlights of representative places in regions of on the box states “all pro- China. Elementary school students will enjoy • Yellow River (fact of floods on society) grams in this series exemplify this interesting introduction to China tailored for the five themes of geography • Sichuan (tea cultivation, the great Buddha their level. ✦ at Leshan, home of the pandas, cradle of as set by the Geography farming, and different types of Chinese >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Standards” and this is true. food) Marleen Kassel is Project Director of Discover The video makes a useful teaching device. If one China in Our Schools, a professional development looks beyond the main character, Trav, the video • Kunming (the stone forest and the Torch Festival of the Bai Chinese minority program for K–12 teachers, at the China Institute makes a good travelogue of distinctive natural and nationality) in New York City. She received her Ph.D. from historical Chinese features in each region. Columbia University’s East Asian Languages and The video begins by situating China in • Dali (three Indian Buddhist-style pagodas) Cultures Department. its international setting (continents) and regional • The Great Wall Trav’s Travels China is available from IVN setting (Pacific Rim). From there we view the • Tibet, Nepal, the Himalayan Mountains Entertainment. Price is $29.99. following: and Mt. Everest (yaks, barley, Buddhism,

7 the infamous coolie trade. Ding includes fascinat- ing footage of coolies digging guano on the islands off the coast of Peru, remarking that many died in less than a year. The film also points out that some of the Chinese escaped from the brutalities of the guano islands or the sugar cane plantations of the Caribbean to come to the United States, bringing with them a “Chino-Latino” culture. Throughout the film, Asian immigrants are portrayed as active agents, attempting to shape their own destinies. Although they faced many hardships and obstacles, they are seen to exercise their rights and wills in seeking to claim their place in America. This first installment ends with a moving reenactment of a young Chinese woman braiding her husband’s queue as he prepares to leave for America, the Gold Mountain. The anxi- ety of separation is palpable as he thinks to him-

THE CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS THE CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL self, “I need not fear slavery, I will not be whipped or herded like so many pigs,” and she wonders Ancestors in the Americas Series, Parts I and II when and if he will return, and if he dies, who will tend his grave or carry on the family name. >> Produced and directed by Loni Ding. Distributed by the Center for Educational Telecommunications This scene serves as a segue to Chinese in the (CET), 1997. 60 minutes each. Frontier West, the second installment in the series, oolies, Sailors & Settlers: Voyage to the New Chinese to the gold fields of California, but which focuses on the Chinese in the history of the CWorld, the first film in the Ancestors in the instead, should be viewed as a larger process, one development of the American West, especially in Americas series by Loni Ding, one the foremost involving Chinese, Indians, and Filipinos (and California. Acknowledging that there is a marked filmmakers documenting the Asian American later Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asians) ven- lack of a Chinese presence in much of the recorded experience, sets the stage for a global understand- turing to parts of the Americas well before the history of the region, the narrator ponders, “What ing of the Asian diaspora. Focusing mainly on the Gold Rush in California. The film notes that the is history when the recorder does not record and Chinese, and to a lesser extent South Asians and Philippines was a region where East met West. the camera does not see? Find our history and tell Filipinos, this film documents how the immigra- Colonized by the Spanish in the 16th century, it.” Thus Loni Ding sets out to restore Chinese to tion of Asians to the Americas was linked to the Chinese emigrants had long settled there as well. the history of the American West. transnational movement of capital, goods, and Once the Spanish established a trade network Through pictures and interviews with histori- people during the eighteenth and nineteenth cen- between the Philippines and Mexico, Filipino and ans, the American West is seen as multiracial and tury. The film makes it very clear that Asian work- Chinese sailors began appearing in Mexico. multicultural, with many people and their atten- ers were brought to labor Filipinos, in fact, settled in dant cultures coming into contact with each other, in the New World as the Throughout the film, Louisiana as early as the many for the first time. The Chinese were vital African slave trade was in 1760s. The trade between the players in the history of California, and through- demise. Needed for labor Asian immigrants are British colonies in North out the film they are depicted as strong, intelli- that Europeans and vari- America and China and gent, and determined to build lives in America. ous South Americans portrayed as active India brought Chinese sailors They were among the early miners during the were unwilling to per- to New York, Philadelphia, Gold Rush, and later went on to become pioneers form, Chinese, South agents, attempting and Boston years before the in the agricultural and fishing industries. By 1870, Asians, and Filipinos were America Revolution and the three-quarters of the laborers in California’s agri- taken, often against their to shape their tea thrown overboard in cultural fields were Chinese; and it was the will or unaware of the the Boston Tea Party was Chinese who first fished for abalone, sea urchins, conditions they would own destinies. certainly of Asian origin. and other sea life, helping to establish one of the encounter, to the United Thus, Asia has long been a West’s most lucrative industries. In addition, States, Cuba, Peru, and part of American history. Chinese were instrumental in manning the fish Africa. They were brought to work the sugar cane (Lest we forget, the New World was “discovered” canneries on the West Coast and they were also fields of Cuba and Hawaii, the guano pits of Peru, by Europeans looking for Asia.) Some Chinese engaged in light industry, manufacturing cigars, and later, the various developing industries in the sailors jumped ship in these American harbors shoes, and other items. American West. and some eventually married working-class Irish However, the Chinese arrival in the United Skillfully combining reenactments, archival women, forming some of America’s first Asian- States coincided with the national debate over slav- footage, stills, oral histories, and interviews with Caucasian families. ery. Perceived as a racial Other, akin to enslaved leading Asian American historians, this film fol- Others, however, were not as lucky. Tricked by Africans, Chinese were seen as competition to free lows a line of historical inquiry that has gained unscrupulous labor agents and local crimps, White labor and racially inferior. Therefore, they prominence in recent years: The Asian presence in Chinese and Indian laborers were taken to Africa, continued on next page America should not begin with the immigration of Cuba, and other parts of Latin America as part of

8 Ancestors in the Americas continued from previous page suffered extreme discrimination and oppression at the hands of White Americans and European immigrants. The targets of physical violence, Chinese were at a distinct disadvantage because they were not allowed to testify for or against a White man in a court of law, nor were they eligi- ble for American citizenship. Chinese women, sus- pected of being likely to become prostitutes, were discouraged from immigrating through the Page Law of 1875. This created a situation where most Chinese men were without the means to raise a family, since Chinese were not allowed to marry Whites in most Western states. Thus there devel- oped a “bachelor society” of single Chinese men (many with wives and families in China) separated from their families for years, sometimes forever. Despite these restrictions, Chinese immigrants and their offspring sought ways to resist this oppression. Often accused of being docile and unassimilable, Chinese proved they understood the American judicial system very well. According OF NAATA COURTESY to one scholar interviewed in the film, it would be hard to find a discriminatory law aimed at the Spirits Rising Chinese that they did not challenge. From the >> Directed by Ramona S. Diaz. Distributed by NAATA. 1995. 56 minutes. 1850s on, the Chinese sought justice in the courts, bringing over 170 cases to the United States pirits Rising is a dramatic film about women about Philippines history and culture. They will Supreme Court. Although they often lost, when Sin the Philippines. In a stunning introduction, learn about dictatorship, corruption, and the fan- they won, they established precedents in American President Corazon Aquino tastic strength of civil rights law, rights that would benefit all dispassionately talks about Spirits Rising is about ordinary people who Americans. the death of her husband demanded justice Herein lies one of the important messages of as he returned to the People’s Power as much against the oppressive this film series. The Asian presence in America has Philippines from exile. The Marcos regime. been long, complex, and vital to the development film then interweaves the as it is about Viewers will see of modern American society. These films are history of the Filipina with women as leaders of insightful, informative, and at times, very moving. contemporary interviews Philippines women. the People’s Power They are to be recommended to anyone interested with influential women. The movement. Spirits in Asian American history and how that history result is a splendid film, of The film deserves a Rising brilliantly por- fits into the larger global history of migration and great interest to men and trays one of the most settlement. ✦ women who want to under- huge audience. remarkable events stand the Philippines and the of modern history. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> role of women in the modern world. Imelda Marcos, former First Lady, gives a surreal K. Scott Wong is an Associate Professor of History The film is appropriate for high school and account of the downfall of Marcos (“I gave at Williams College where he teaches courses on college classrooms that are focused on the Ferdinand a woman’s heart, so he was defeated”). Asian American history, comparative immigration Philippines, “Third World Societies,” or women in Spirits Rising is about People’s Power as history, history of the American West, American the world. The speakers are clear, concise, straight- much as it is about Philippines women. The film Studies, and theories of race and ethnicity. His forward and insightful. The speakers state that tra- deserves a huge audience. This film was directed, articles have appeared in a variety of academic ditionally politics in the Philippines has been the produced, and edited by Philippines women. ✦ journals and anthologies, and he is the co-editor of domain of men. The feminist movement did not Claiming America: Constructing Chinese American >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> catch on until contemporary times. The symbol of Identities during the Exclusion Era. He is currently Clark Neher is Professor of Political Science and the Filipina was “Maria Clara,” the epitome of all writing a book on the impact of the Second World Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies feminine virtues. The rise of women participants War on Chinese Americans. at Northern Illinois University. He has written in organizations and in political parties was an Coolies, Sailors, & Settlers: Voyage to the New extensively on the politics of Southeast Asia. His astonishing event that eventuated in the election World and Chinese in the Frontier West are available most recent book, with Ross Marlay, is Patriots of Corazon Aquino as the nation’s president and from the Center for Educational Telecommuni- and Tyrants: Ten Asian Leaders. made the notion of Maria Clara passe. cations (CET). Price is $265 for each. Spirits Rising is available from NAATA. Price Slightly less than an hour long, the film is cap- is $265 for purchase and $75 for rental. tivating from beginning to end. Viewers will learn

9 There is only one enlightening interview in the background section, a discussion about North Korea with two Korean-American girls, Jessica and Jennifer Liem, ages 8 and 10, who visited North Korea and speak as eloquently about the need for peace as any military figure. With the exception of a touching maternity ward scene in North Korea, and some interesting footage of North Korean schoolchildren denounc- ing South Korea, the background scenes are far less educational than those involving Mr. Pak and his family. Mr. Pak’s wife looks away from the camera and says that she is afraid her husband will never come back; Mr. Pak is more concerned that South Korea will never let him in the country again. He loves South Korea, and has family there, but also tells us that North Korea is his country, too. When Mr. Pak finally meets his sister at the airport in P’yongyang, neither can control their tears. Onlookers share in their exhilaration, in the vision of what, for everyone present, is a symbol of national reunification. Viewers of the video will remember the sight of the reunion much better than Choy’s conventional narration, and for that the filmmakers should be applauded. The conflict COURTESY OF THIRD WORLD NEWSREEL COURTESY between North and South Korea is far too often taught as a political and military problem without Homes Apart enough attention to the tragedy of divided fami- >> Produced and narrated by Christine Choy. Directed by J.T. Takagi. Distributed by Third World lies. If we want our students to understand nation- Newsreel. 1991. 56 minutes. al divisions not only from the perspective of political leaders but of the ordinary citizens his video, produced by a Korean-American undergraduates, will enjoy the footage from North they claim to represent, films like Homes Apart T filmmaker, Christine Choy, and a Japanese- Korea, and anyone who sees the film will go away should be shown more often. American director, J.T. Takagi, may contain nearly with an empathetic understanding of the losses When discussing the scenes of economic life every cliche image or state- Koreans continue to suffer. in North and South Korea, teachers will have to ment about the relationship The filmmakers follow make their students aware that the film was shot between South and North ...anyone who sees Moo-Jae Pak, a successful in the late eighties and produced in 1991, well Korea, and yet it is a moving Korean-American man liv- before North Korea’s famine and South Korea’s account of the ongoing the film will go away ing in Columbus, Ohio, economic crisis, and before the death of Kim Il tragedy of families separated in the late 1980s, as he Sung in the North and the rise of democratization since Korean national divi- with an empathetic contemplates his trip to in the South. But if Korean economics and sion. A South Korean anti- North Korea. After trying politics are fast moving targets, national and government protestor screams understanding of the for years to visit his sister, family division remains the same. That part of to the camera, “Yankee Go from whom he has been the film seems, sadly, to be timeless. As the pro- Home,” a U.S. military officer losses Koreans separated for thirty-seven ducer acknowledges, the film is, like Korea itself, tells the camera crew, “We are years, North Korea has incomplete. ✦ just here to protect South continue to suffer... finally given him permis- >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Korea from North Korean sion to enter the country. Roy Richard Grinker is Associate Professor of aggression,” and a middle- The filmmakers dub in Anthropology and International Affairs at George aged Korean-American man, separated from his country music and show Mr. Pak gardening out- Washington University. His books include Korea sister for more than thirty-seven years, sits in a side his house. The film then shifts focus to the and Its Futures: Unification and the Unfinished cafe in Beijing and reflects that “North Korea is broader historical and political background War (1998), and the forthcoming Pygmalion: The just a few hours drive from here, and yet it is so that separated families like Mr. Pak’s. A consider- Life of Colin M. Turnbull, both published by St. far away.” Scenes from South Korea show bustling able amount of time is spent describing the Martin’s Press. traffic, and the scenes from the North show a mass military context, with footage of soldiers in Homes Apart is available from Third World rally at Kim Il Sung stadium. There is little in this South Korea and in the North, and interviews Newsreel. Price is $225 for purchase and $75 film that has not been seen or heard before, but with American servicemen stationed in South for rental. middle or high school students, as well as some Korea and a retired American Rear Admiral.

10 Religion in Indonesia: The Way of the Ancestors >> Produced by Peter Montagnon. Directed by Malcolm Feuerstein. Part of The Long Search film series. Distributed by Ambrose Video Publishing, Inc. 1978. 52 minutes.

his film offers a compelling glimpse of reli- From haunting shots of Toraja effigies of the We also learn that to minaa were planning to Tgious life in the Sa’dan Toraja highlands of dead (tau-tau) and an overview of the landscape record their ritual practices and beliefs in a book. South Sulawesi (Indonesia) in the late 1970s. surrounding the Regency capital of Makale, the The film introduces us to a much younger Despite the rampant economic, political, and cul- camera takes us to the Makale market. From there to minaa, as well. We find this to minaa, tural changes that have swept Indonesia over the we are whisked to the celebrated funeral of the last Tato’na’dena, in the midst of preparing for the past two decades, this cinematically beautiful film wife of the last King (puang) of Sangallo. This is funeral ritual of his father who had been a leg- has enduring classroom value. Assuming care is no everyday Toraja funeral, but rather a momen- endary to minaa. Tato’na’dena candidly relates his taken to contextualize the film, Religion in tous local event that is still recalled two decades sadness about the loss of his father and his fears Indonesia: The Way of the Ancestors provides later. We are introduced to the Toraja practice of about stepping into his father’s role as a premier to thought provoking images sacrificing water minaa in a world where aluk to dolo is on the of a religion in transition buffalo as a gesture decline. As he movingly confides, “When my and ultimately dispels A compelling glimpse of respect for the father was alive there were still lots of people alive some myths about so- deceased (as well as to help him, now I am like a chick whose mother called “primal .” of religious life in the for staking claims to has been caught by an eagle, the rope I held onto The opening scene, of inheritance rights), has broken, the ground has collapsed. Where can I a young Toraja girl gazing Sa’dan Toraja highlands we witness the fun- look?” (Little did Tato’na’dena realize then that out the window of a tradi- eral processions, and anthropologists, foreign film crews, and govern- tional Toraja house as of South Sulawesi we see the concomi- ment officials from the Office of Tourism would melancholic bamboo flute tant funeral activi- take the place of the aluk to dolo adherents his music quivers in the air, (Indonesia) ties of ma badong father had relied upon for assistance. He is now sets the tone for the series dancing, palm wine the Head of Aluk to Dolo religion in the Regency’s narrator’s confessions of his in the late 1970s. drinking, and water Office of Religion. In addition to his traditional expectations for this in- buffalo fights. responsibilities, Tato’na’dena now lectures stallment of The Long Search: “If the human race As the film’s narrator notes, the funeral we wit- reporters, anthropologists, and occasional tourists had a childhood and it was anything like a human ness is momentous for another unexpected reason: on the way of the ancestors and officiates at gov- childhood it would have been spent very near its it is the first Toraja ceremony to be advertised ernment functions: he is no longer that “lost mother and its mother would have been mother abroad as a tourist attraction. As we watch a group chick” to which he likens himself in this film.) earth, whose lap we all lay in…this was to be the of sarong-clad foreign tourists solemnly walking in The film concludes with the observation that search back to simplicity, back to childhood, back procession into the funeral arena, Eric Crystal what seems to worry outside observers is the very to something primal.” As the film progresses, speculates that these foreign tourists come seeking thing many Toraja would see as progress. As the however, we discover that a number of his precon- a genuine religious experience and expresses his narrator notes, “but who are we to be telling any- ceptions surrounding indigenous religions are interest in talking with them as anthropological one that their strength is their booklessness, their challenged by this expedition to the Toraja high- subjects. For anthropologists of tourism, this film strength is their churchlessness, their strength is lands. Early on in the film we are introduced to has an added significance, then, as it captures in their lack of a bureaucracy, when they can see for Eric Crystal, one of the first American anthropolo- celluloid Toraja tourism in an embryonic stage. themselves that prospers with a book, gists to conduct extensive research on Sa’dan Some observers of the Toraja world have even Christianity prospers with a church, and govern- Toraja religion and politics, who plays the role of speculated that this film played an inadvertent role ment prospers with a block of offices.” Although it guide and translator in this film. His deep respect in promoting Tana Toraja Regency as a touristic was filmed almost two decades ago, Religion in for Toraja culture and his appreciation of the com- destination. Indonesia: The Way of the Ancestors continues to be plexity of aluk to dolo (“the way of the ancestors”) Disappointment is a theme that emerges in a useful resource for high school and college cours- religion have clearly left their mark on this film. the film, as well. The narrator observes that es on religion, Southeast Asian Studies, and As the narrator concludes, “‘Primal’ isn’t very easy Christianity has made its mark in Tana Toraja anthropology. ✦ to nail down...it doesn’t mean simple: Toraja cere- Regency and laments that he has come too late. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> monies are very complicated. It doesn’t mean stage At the time of the filming 60% of the residents of Kathleen M. Adams is Associate Professor of one in a two stage operation. In other words, it is Tana Toraja Regency were Christian (today this Anthropology at Loyola University Chicago and not a beginner’s class. The nearest meaning for figure is close to 90%). However, he notes that the an Adjunct Curator at the Field Museum of “primal” I can find is ‘not available for export.’” adherents of aluk to dolo are fighting back. In 1969 Natural History. She is co-editor (with Sara Eric Crystal’s enthusiastic observations and trans- their religion was recognized by the Indonesian Dickey) of Home and Hegemony: Domestic Work lations during the course of the film do much to government as an official religion, on a par with and Identity Politics in South and Southeast Asia enliven the film. Moreover, his long-standing Islam and Christianity. We are taken to meet to (in press, University of Michigan Press) and is relationships with the two aluk to dolo ceremonial minaa Badu, the elderly aluk to dolo ceremonial completing a book on Toraja art and identity in specialists (to minaa) featured in the film may specialist who was Eric Crystal’s teacher. We learn the age of tourism. also account for the candor with which they re- of how his dreams led him to become a to minaa Religion in Indonesia: The Way of the Ancestors late their experiences. and we are given a glimpse of his day-to-day life. is available from Ambrose Video Publishing, Inc. Price is $99.95.

11 Asian Educational Media Service Non-Profit Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies Organization University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign U.S. Postage 230 International Studies Building, MC-483 PAID 910 South Fifth Street Permit No. 75 Champaign, IL 61820 Champaign, IL http://www.aems.uiuc.edu

Guide to Distributors >> A list of distributors mentioned in this issue of AEMS News and Reviews

Ambrose Video Publishing, Inc., 28 West Films for the Humanities and Sciences, Third World Newsreel, 545 8th Avenue, 10th 44 Street, Suite 2100, New York, NY 10036. P.O. Box 2053, Princeton, NJ 08543-2053. Tel: Floor, New York, NY 10018. Tel: 212-947-9277. Tel: 800-526-4663. Fax: 212-768-9282. E-mail: 800-257-5126 or 609-275-1400. Fax: 609-275- Fax: 212-594-6417. E-mail: [email protected]. Web [email protected]. Web site: http://www. 3767. E-mail: [email protected]. Web site: site: http://www.twn/org. ambrosevideo.com. http://www.films.com. Transit Media, 22-D Hollywood Avenue, Bullfrog Films, P.O. Box 149, Oley, PA 19547. IVN Entertainment, Inc., 1390 Willow Pass Hohokus, NJ 07423. Tel: 800-343-5540. Fax: Tel: 800-543-3764. Fax: 610-370-1978. E-mail: Road, Suite 900, Concord, CA 94520. Tel: 800- 201-652-1973. [email protected]. Web site: http://www.bullfrog- 767-4486. Fax: 925-688-0848. Web site: http:// TVE, Prince Albert Road, London NW1 4RZ, films.com. www.ivn.com. United Kingdom. Tel: 44 171 586-5526. Fax: Center for Educational Telecommuni- The Media Guild, 11722 Sorrento Valley Road, 44-171-586-4866. E-mail: [email protected]. cations, 1940 Hearst Avenue, Berkley, CA Suite E, San Diego, CA 92121. Tel: 800-886- Web site: http://www.tve.org. 94709. Tel: 510-848-1656. Fax: 510-841-1263. 9191 or 619-755-9191. Fax: 619-755-4931. Women Make Movies, Inc., Distribution Web site: http://www.cetel.org. Web site: http://www.mediaguild.com. Department, 462 Broadway, Suite 500R, New Documentary Educational Resources, NAATA Distribution (National Asian American York, NY 10013. Tel: 212-925-0606. Fax: 212- 101 Morse Street, Watertown, MA 02172. Telecommunications Association), 346 Ninth 925-2052. E-mail: [email protected]. Web site: Tel: 800-569-6621. Fax: 617-926-9519. E-mail: Street, Second Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103. http://www.wmm.comm. [email protected]. Web site: http://der.org/docued. Tel: 415-552-9550. Fax: 415-863-7428. E-mail: [email protected]. Web site: http://www. naatanet.org.