Documentary 1989, DCP, 16mm, DVD, Beta SP
2024 digitale Restaurierung, 102 / 110 Min.
According the mythology of the Hopi, the deity Maasau requires this Indigenous nation pledge to lead a simple life upon entering the fourth world, which is our world of today. This life is based on agriculture, mainly the cultivation of corn. TECHQUA IKACHI, LAND – MY LIFE is a document of self-determination and the upholding of traditions within the Hopi community, who have been based in Hotevilla, Arizona since the beginning of the 20th century. It shows the life of the community in simple, clear images. They are split in terms of their stance towards white US government policy, primarily the question of whether Hopi children should go to the “white” schools of their “enemies” in Hotevilla or their “friends” in nearby Oraibi, which has been continually inhabited since the 11th century. Over 20 years, James Danaqyumptewa filmed and documented ceremonies and protests at the behest of the village elder. This Super-8 footage forms the basis of the film, which was made with the help of filmmaker Anka Schmid and artist Agnes Barmettler. From this footage, historical photos and Barmettler’s images, the film forms a mosaic of the life of the Hopi. (Fabian Tietke)
| Director | Anka Schmid, Agnes Barmettler und James Danaqyumptewa |
| Script | Anka Schmid, Agnes Barmettler, James Danaqyumptewa |
| Photography | Jürg V. Walther, Anka Schmid |
| Sound | Albert Gasser, Ciro Cappellari, James Danaqyumptewa |
| Editing | Inge Schneider |
| Music | Original Hopi music and Hopi chants |
| Duration | 102 / 110 Min. |
| DVD | VoD bei Vimeo |
| Format | DCP, 16mm, DVD, Beta SP
2024 digitale Restaurierung |
| Shooting format | 16mm |
| Versions | Original Version: Hopi-Original with german subtitles
Versions with english or french subtitles (DVD)
Version with Chinese subtitles |
| Festivals/Screenings | Berlinale Forum 2024
Bejing, May Festival 2011
Sundance Film Festival, 1992, competition
Nyon 1991
Leipzig
Bilbao
Paris, cinema du reel, 1992
Florenz, Festival dei Populi 1991
München, Dokumentarfilmfestival 1992
Los Angeles International Film Festival, 1992
San Francisco International Film Festival 1992
Chicago Film Festival
Solothurner Filmtage 1990
Preise:
Kulturpreis des Kantons Solothurn
Blue Ribbon Filmfestival Chicago |
| Distribution international | Arsenal – Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V. – Potsdamer Straße 2, D–10785 Berlin
Tel. +49 30 26955 150
distribution@arsenal-berlin.de – www.arsenal-berlin.de |
| World Rights | Mano Film / Anka Schmid – Dienerstrasse 7, CH-8004 Zürich
Tel. +41 44 481 45 84, Mob: +41 79 547 79 49
info@ankaschmid.ch – ankaschmid.ch |
| ISAN | 0000-0000-D74F-0000-R-0000-0000-U |
Details, texts, documents
Director's Statement, Berlinale 2024
deutsch, PDF, 440 kB
Inhalt und Entstehungsgeschichte des Films; Einführung Danaqyumptewa
Flugblatt
1989
deutsch, PDF, 130 kB
Erläuterungen zu den Hopi-Zeremonien in Techqua Ikachi
«a communal and peaceful existence»
Anka Schmid and Agnes Barmettler contextualize the Hopi ceremonies
Website Arsenal Berlin: – deutsch – English
Remarks to content and origin of the film; Introduction by Danaqyumptewa
(1989)
English, PDF, 180 kB
Meaning of "A documentary film by the Hopi about the Hopi"
Director's Statement, Hopi Culture in Transformation, July 7–29, 1989
English, PDF, 180 kB
"TECHQUA IKACHI, Land - my Life" is an astonishing record of Hopi history, thought and culture that can bring us to an entirely different point of view, particularly a perspective more native to America than our own. Created by a 74-year old Hopi tribesman, a filmmaker and an artist from Switzerland, this documentary is an invaluable resource for those seeking to include Native American themes in scholastic or dramatic work.
Through present—day interviews, remarkable archival materials and super-8 footage of tribal history taken by Hopi James Danaqyumptewa of the Hotevilla village (Arizona), the documentary tells the dramatic story of the systematic crushing of the Hopi nation by the US. government through such tactics as installing a puppet tribal government, packing the children off to boarding schools and offering parcels of "private property" (a concept alien to the Hopi) to tribesmen willing to abandon the old ways.
“We did not invent their money and its rules and we do not want to live as they do, forced to buy v everything that we need for our lives" says a Hopi elder. Told entirely in the Hopi language with English subtitles and scored with traditional Hopi music and songs, the movie takes us deftly into the Hopi ways, revealing a unique and uniquely intelligent way of life.
With magical glimpses of traditional ceremonies that are disappearing and desert landscapes of' heart stopping beauty and subtlety, it profoundly communicates a history of this land. The documentary screening in competition at the Sundance Film Festival makes one want to learn all there is to learn from this culture before it's too late.
Amy Dawes, "Daily Variety"
