People and Places

Includes the following films:

Walking Is Dancing

2010. USA. Directed by Deborah Stratman. The filmmaker explores a facet of Malawian identity by traveling throughout the country interviewing residents, visiting local institutions, and capturing everyday events on camera. A portrait of Malawi emerges through her observations of communal television watching, a bard reciting a poem, a well-organized video store, and numerous dance and music celebrations, both planned and spontaneous. 40 min.

From Hetty to Nancy

1997. USA. Directed by Deborah Stratman. Images of the austere Icelandic landscape form the backdrop for readings from a series of letters written at the turn of the 20th century. Majestic waterfalls, open plains, a ship loaded with protesting sheep, a boat in icy waters, snow capped peaks, and icy roadways are punctuated with Hetty’s ironic stories of quotidian events with her female companions. Her accounts are juxtaposed against historic texts about the Icelandic people overcoming the cataclysmic forces of nature. 44 min.