How do we make sense of rural change in Asia? This special screening event draws together ethnographic films directed by three researchers in the School of Geography to explore the intimate and sensory aspects of cultural continuity and change across rural Asia.

Featuring communities in India, China, and the border of Indonesia and Timor-Leste, each film explores how modernity is shifting people’s relationship to their communities and the places they call home. The evening event will feature an introductory session with the three directors reflecting on their filmmaking practice and our need to understand the specificities of people and place when responding to crises. A post-screening Q and A session will allow a broader discussion of the representations of rural cultural transformation showcased in all three films.

The films are:

Spirit: Longing and Belonging in the Indian Himalayas (20mins, Jane Dyson, India)

Drum Village Primary School (14 mins, Vickie Zhang, China)

Wild Honey: Caring for Bees in a Divided Land (30 mins, Lisa Palmer, Indonesia/Timor-Leste)

Speaker Bios

• Professor Uma Kothari (Moderator): Professor, School of Geography, University of Melbourne and Professor of Migration and Postcolonial Studies, University of Manchester
• Dr Jane Dyson: Senior Lecturer, School of Geography, University of Melbourne
• Ms Vickie Zhang: Graduate Researcher, School of Geography, University of Melbourne
• Associate Professor Lisa Palmer: Associate Professor, School of Geography, University of Melbourne