The Enemy God - The Movie

Belize Benefit Screening

Tom Khazoyan — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 22:27:53 +0000

Folks in Belize are rightly proud of the work they did on our film, The Enemy God. We’re pleased that they’ve selected the film as part of this special benefit festival. This is from a note we received this week from the festival Director:

“THE RADISSON FORT GEORGE HOTEL, THE BELIZE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL and the NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CULTURE AND HISTORY are collaborating to present a selection of films made in Belize – during the month of September, 2010 – which as you know is a month of national pride for us. All entrance proceeds from this screening will go to the Stella Marris School of Special Education in Belize City.

Your film THE ENEMY GOD has been pre-selected to be a part of this special screening.”

The work our K’ekchi’ Maya actors and our many other Belizean crew members did on the film is a testimony to their creativity and dedication. As indigenous people, constantly looked down-upon by others, our friends told us that the film proves that the K’ekchi’ are capable of great things. Now, once again, the people of Belize will have a chance to see the fruit of our labors together.

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Chicago Screening This Coming Week

Tom Khazoyan — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 21:42:52 +0000

If you are in the Chicago area, be sure to set aside this coming Tuesday night for a special screening of The Enemy God.

Co-Producer, Matt Castagna, will be on-hand to introduce the film and do a Q&A session after the screening at Moody Bible Institute. The screenings begins with Matt’s introduction at 6:30PM.

Click our “EVENTS” page for more details.

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Upcoming Film Screenings – March and April

Tom Khazoyan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:54:57 +0000

After a little lull in screenings, we’re happy to announce that we’re working a new series for the spring. These are all special screenings that are hosted by folks who have seen the film and have said, “We want to help spread the word!” We will post details and reminders of these as they get closer, but here are a few upcoming events where you can see Yai Wanonabälewä: The Enemy God with a group and also participate in some Q&A with filmmakers in each location.

Check out our EVENTS page for updated information.

March 27, 2010 – Beemsville, Ontario, Canada
Time:
6:30-9:30 PM
Location:
Calvary Gospel Church
4129 Hixon Street
Beemsville, ON

Christopher Bessette, the Writer and Director of the film will be at this screening to answer questions. This is a rare opportunity! There is a Facebook event for this screening where you can RSVP and contact the hosts. Click Here.

April 16, 2010 – Los Angeles/Orange County, California – location TBD

April 17, 2010 – Orange, California

Time:
7:00-9:00 PM
Location:
North Orange Christian Church
1001 E. Lincoln Ave
Orange, CA 92869

Tom Khazoyan, Producer/Editor of the film, will be at this screening to answer questions about the film.

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“Avatar is real” say tribal people

Tom Khazoyan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:00:48 +0000

Yanomamö Elder

While James Cameron’s film has been breaking box-office records and generating a lot of hype, it has been interesting to hear reports of how indigenous audiences have received the film. We’ve heard Native American friends say that it made them feel good that the ‘Indians finally won’ and have heard reports of screenings in South America for indigenous groups meeting with resounding approval. Here’s a recent article that repeats some of these reports.

One thing that encourages us about this article is that it comes from a Catholic news agency. It reflects our belief that respect for the rainforest and its people is compatible with Christian teachings.

From Independent Catholic News

We don’t believe our Yanomamö friends have seen the film yet – no bootleg copies have made it upriver to Coshilowäteli. However, we think they will resonate with Avatar’s message of respect for the natural world. You can see the (slightly lower budget but more realistic) story of their interactions with the spirit and natural world in their own film, Yai Wanonabälewä: The Enemy God.

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Sundance Update – reviews of “Secrets of the Tribe”

Tom Khazoyan — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:42:15 +0000

Here are two interesting reviews of the film, “Secrets of the Tribe”, which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The story of how anthropologists engaged the Yanomamö over many decades makes for pretty good drama in a documentary. There are scandals (real and imagined) of every sort and the anthropology community continues to debate about the good and bad of the research and contact that has been made.

If you talk with the Yanomamö today, they are eager to add their voice to the mix. They have resented being treated like animals in a zoo and want their voice to be heard and their own feelings about their encounters with outside cultures to be respected. I believe that anthropologists like Dr. Napoleon Chagnon have done much to help us understand indigenous cultures like the Yanomamö. And, I believe that anthropology as a discipline has grown more sensitive to mistakes of the past. However, the average Yanomamö in the rainforest today still feels extremely isolated and without a voice in the debates.

Here are two links to reviews of José Padilha’s new documentary. We hope that its high profile at Sundance will encourage audiences to learn more and to listen carefully.

The Hollywood Reporter Film Review – Secrets of the Tribe

HitFix review of “Secrets of the Tribe”

Of course, our Yanomamö friends really want audiences to hear their story, as told in our film. You can order a DVD HERE.

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Book Gives Inside Look at Yanomamö – DVD and Book Bundles Available

Tom Khazoyan — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:24:50 +0000

A perfect companion to The Enemy God, Mark Ritchie’s book, Spirit of the Rainforest, tells the story of the Yanomamö through the eyes of Jungleman, a powerful Yanomamö shaman. Pick this book up, you won’t put it down!

Here’s what noted anthropologist, Dr. Neil Whitehead had to say about the book:

Spirit of the Rainforest book

“… there is an uncomfortable irony here for us all; that those who are studied might offer their own self-understanding in place of our ethnographies … a most interesting document … for the vivid window it opens on aspects of Yanomamö shamanism.” Dr. Neil Whitehead, American Anthropologist journal

We have Spirit of the Rainforest available alongside the DVD of The Enemy God. If you purchase them together, you can save an additional 27% beyond our normal discount price.

Click HERE to go directly to our web store. Then, select the bundle when you add it to your cart.

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Yanomami Film at Sundance

Tom Khazoyan — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:48:16 +0000

We recently learned about the world premiere screening of a feature-length documentary called Secrets of the Tribe, directed by José Padilha, set to screen at the Sundance Film Festival this month. (link here: Secrets Of The Tribe at Sundance)

The film takes another look at some of the controversies surrounding anthropological research among the Yanomami. From the description, Padilha makes an effort to dig deeper into the issues by bringing the various parties to the table. This includes not just anthropologists, but also the Yanomami themselves. We are looking forward to seeing it when it’s in wider release. Even more, we hope to be able to get a copy to our Yanomamö partners in Venezuela so they can hear the points-of-view as well.

Here’s a description from the Sundance site:

The field of anthropology goes under the magnifying glass in this fiery investigation of the seminal research on Yanomami Indians. In the 1960s and ’70s, a steady stream of anthropologists filed into the Amazon Basin to observe this “virgin” society untouched by modern life. Thirty years later, the events surrounding this infiltration have become a scandalous tale of academic ethics and infighting.

The origins of violence and war and the accuracy of data gathering are hotly debated among the scholarly clan. Soon these disputes take on Heart of Darkness overtones as they descend into shadowy allegations of sexual and medical violation.

Director José Padilha brilliantly employs two provocative strategies to raise unsettling questions about the boundaries of cultural encounters. He allows professors accused of heinous activities to defend themselves, and the Yanomami to represent their side of the story. As this riveting excavation deconstructs anthropology’s colonial legacy, it challenges our society’s myths of objectivity and the very notion of “the other.”

“The field of anthropology goes under the magnifying glass in this fiery investigation of the seminal research on Yanomami Indians. In the 1960s and ’70s, a steady stream of anthropologists filed into the Amazon Basin to observe this “virgin” society untouched by modern life. Thirty years later, the events surrounding this infiltration have become a scandalous tale of academic ethics and infighting.

I’ll end with a shameless plug for The Enemy God. If Padilha’s strategy of letting the Yanomami represent their side of the story is so ‘brilliant’, how much more provocative and challenging is the Yanomamö’s own story, told entirely in their words, as told in The Enemy God?

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Year-End Update

Tom Khazoyan — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:35:19 +0000

In the sometimes slow-moving world of independent film, we can look back at a number of accomplishments this year. Each step means the story our Yanomamö friends asked us to tell gains a wider and wider hearing. For that we are very grateful. Here are a few highlights and then some new things we’re looking forward to.

This year:

We began distribution of the film through our sales agent, Entertainment 7. We expect the film to be made available in parts of Asia (India, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore) and Scandinavia through a deal that was set up in Cannes on October. Hindi version anyone?
We completed the last of our creative and technical tweaks to the film: 5.1 surround sound mix and some new graphics.
We finished a Spanish-language version that is on our latest DVD release.
Speaking of DVDs, we completed a full DVD release that includes more special features with interviews and background videos, our surround-sound mix, Spanish and English versions, trailers, and more. [click on Buy The DVD, above to get your copy.]
We screened the film at a few more festivals and a number of special screenings at universities and churches.
We had a great theatrical opening in Denver at the Starz FilmCenter. Sell-out opening night. Great audience response, great Q&A afterward.

What’s Next?

More special screenings are in-process. If you want to bring the film to your school, club, church, coffee house, or local cinema, please let us know. You can e-mail us at: info@theenemygod.com
It is possible that Bautista Cajicuwa, the man whose life story is told in the film, will be coming to the U.S. for a visit. We’ll keep you posted on that. We would love for him to be able to talk with audiences about the film in-person. Getting Bautista out of the jungle and to the U.S. is difficult however, so we are not yet certain of the dates.

More to come!

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Controversy Continues Among Anthropologists

Tom Khazoyan — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:33:50 +0000

This article was passed on by a friend in a university. It outlines some recent developments in the controversy surrounding a book called, “Darkness In Eldorado” by Patrick Tierney. The book caused quite a stir when published in 2000 for its accusations of deception, abuse, and manipulation by anthropologists and others working among the Yanomamö. It is an interesting read, though it seems that Tierney took his own liberties with the truth. This article talks about some new maneuvering in the American Anthropological Association.

Read the article in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

If you talk with the Yanomamö about events and people like Tierney describes, they don’t mince words. They see most of the outsiders as people with their own agendas who have not generally had the long-term best interests of the Yanomamö in mind as they have come and gone doing their research. This is one of the reasons they asked us to help them tell their own stories in a film. It’s not that everything an anthropologist says about the Yanomamö isn’t true, but sometimes there are only half-truths spoken. Our commitment is to help the Yanomamö speak their own truths, in their own voice, and let the world hear them for the first time.

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New DVDs in stock!

Tom Khazoyan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:58:28 +0000

We are excited to be releasing a new batch of DVDs. We have spent some time adding features for this version, which will be our final home video release. If you haven’t yet seen the film in-person, get the DVD today and watch it at home.

The Enemy God DVD

This limited-edition DVD includes the complete film with English subtitles and a Dolby 5.1 surround-sound mix (English version only). This release also includes a Spanish-language soundtrack and subtitles for the main film. Special features include interviews with the Yanomamö leaders behind the film, behind-the-scenes clips with the filmmakers, the movie’s trailer, and a special video documentary set that explains the spiritual worldview of the Yanomamö and more of the story behind the story.

Click HERE to go to our web store to purchase your DVD today.

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