“I had the story bit by bit, from various people, and as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story.” — Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
This is the opening line from Ethan Frome and even though the story itself doesn’t resonate with Immersion this line is very apt in consideration of an endangered language. When there is wholescale loss speech you can almost imagine the ghost like whispers of long forgotten phrases which may have been said or things that might have been done.
As it is the last couple of weeks have been very productive. I’m submitted the film to a deluge of festivals including Kinofilm in Manchester, Krakow and CLERMONT-FERRAND among others. Here’s hoping for the best as I continue before the deadlines.
In relation to Podcast translations we have made contact with Yuchi, Gaelic and possible Welsh speakers and will hopefully be getting a few interviews up before Christmas
“do nothing”
“Document the language”
“revitalise the language” — Immersion
Here is the scene from the script describing Lema looking across the street.
EXT: STREET IN NORTHERN QUARTER
Lema looks across the street
(Dream like sequence, hypnotic
and slow )
A woman sets up a wooden block, a paint brush and a jar of
water. She paints characters onto the wood block with water.
They fade and disappear. She does the same onto a shop
window. These characters also seem to evaporate once
written. A man, Dominant Language, crashes into her. She
falls onto her knees and the glass jar holding the water
shatters. The fallen woman tries to say something but no
sound comes from her. The man looks deliberately at Lema and
then walks on without trying to help the fallen woman.
“Sometimes I dream in many languages at once.”
“Black Rhinoceros”