What if Babel Was Just a Myth?
A film by Sandrine Loncke
According to Unesco, a human language disappears every two weeks. Within a century, 50 to 90 percent of all languages will be gone. Does it matter?
Linguist Florian Lionnet of Princeton University emphatically believes it does. For years, he’s been documenting Láàl, a language spoken by only 700 people living in two villages on the banks of the Moyen-Chari River, in Southern Chad. Language encodes culture and worldviews, and each time a language disappears, we lose an irreplaceable part of humanity.
What if Babel Was Just a Myth? follows Lionnet as he accompanies villagers during their daily activities—fishing, carving a dugout canoe, dancing, and telling stories.
Beautifully shot and enhanced with short animated segments, What if Babel Was Just a Myth? is a fascinating case study of one language and the
challenges of preserving it—and a plea for the protection of linguistic diversity.
Beauty in trouble
A Film by Jan Hrebejk
Beauty in Trouble explores a young woman’s romantic dilemma: torn between a primal connection and the need to provide for her children, she loves two men. Beauty in Trouble is full of unexpected twists, humor and amazing performances culminating in a surprising and paradoxical ending.
The Rape of Europa
A film by Richard Berge, Nicole Newnham and Bonni Cohen
The Rape of Europa is an epic journey through seven countries, into the violent whirlwind of fanaticism, greed, and warfare that threatened to wipe out the artistic heritage of Europe. Joan Allen narrates this chronicle about the battle over centuries of western culture.