Bitter Roots

BITTER ROOTS THE ENDS OF A KALAHARI MYTH is set in NyaeNyae a region of Namibia located in southern Africas Kalahari desert traditional home of the Juhoansi It updates the ethnographic film record begun in the 1950s by John Marshall whose films documented 50 years of change and who together with Claire Ritchie established a grassroots development foundation which Adrian Strong the filmmaker joined in the late 1980s Through archival footage and discussions with community members this film sensitively examines the problems lions elephants conservationists currently facing the Juhoansi and challenges the myth that they are culturally unable to farm The film investigates the perpetuation of this myth by showing how tourists and filmmakers still demand to see how people used to live rather than they way they live now and how the Juhoansi cope with such expectations while steadfastly continuing to farm against all the odds