Keep the dance alive

A film by

Rina Sherman

Video, 75'/50', 2007/8

A film about the music dance and spirit possession practices of the Ojtiherero language-speaking groups of north-western Namibia and south-western Angola. They are the Ovahimba, Ovadhimba, Ovahakaona, Ovakuvale, Ovatjimba... They are different but share a common culture and belief systems. The film explores the various ways in which music and dance transcend their everyday lives from infancy to death.

Review in Video Librarian

Review by Bernard Remy of the cinémathèque de la danse

Divine Caroline Interviews Rina Sherman, Director of Keep the Dance Alive

Festivals and Screenings

Avant première : Novembre 2006 Institut d'Ethnologie, Neuchatel.
UK première : Juin 2007 - RAI 10th International Ethnographic Film Festival
US première: Novembre 2007 - Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival, New York
French première: La SCAM, 12 December, 2007
Présentation en juin 2008, la Cinematheque de la danse à la Cinematheque francaise
Juin 2008 : XXII Parnu International Documentary and Anthropology Film Festival
Août 2008 : 2008 EASA Film, Video and New Media Festival (Ljubljana, Slovenia
October 2008 : The IV Moscow International Visual Anthropology Festival «Mediating Camera»
Novembre 2008 : Amiens International Film festival
Mars 2009 : 2nd Women's Film Festival in Chennai, India
July 2009 : 16th World Congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES), Kunming, China.
September 2009 : Dockanema Film Festival, Mozambique
Octobre 2009 : Pompidou Centre: Vidéodanse 2009
Avril 2009 : STV Télévision suédoise

From the filmmaker of When Visitors Come