Tobačni spomini / Tobacco memories

Vasi v JZ Bolgariji, ki se nahajajo med gorovjem Rila na eni in gorovjem Rodopi na drugi strani, so znane po pridelavi tobaka za prodajo, ki ga opravljajo predvsem muslimanski Pomaki. Kljub temu pa smo danes v omenjenih vaseh priča velikemu upadu tega dela, predvsem zaradi nizke in negotove odkupne cene suhega tobaka in težkega dela, ki še vedno poteka predvsem na roke. Pridelava tobaka, ki je bila prej identifikacijski element vasi in prebivalcev, zdaj postaja element preteklosti, del socialnega spomina, ki je prepleten z različnimi konotacijami in pomeni. Na eni strani je v samo delo vpeto izkustveno znanje, na drugi strani pa je to delo ostalo le simbol golega preživetja predvsem revnejših družin, ki nimajo druge ali boljše izbire. 

Etnografski film Tobačni spomini upodablja različne prostorske in materialne dimenzije delovnega procesa kot tudi odnos ljudi do načina življenja, ki počasi izginja. Pri tem sledi imanentnemu toku delovnega procesa, ki s svojo ponavljajočo se rutino, utelešeno v gestah ljudi med delom, spodbuja različne in večplastne spomine, nostalgijo po preteklem političnem in ekonomskem sistemu in različne načine istovetenja z delom. V video materialu lahko vidimo, slišimo in občutimo povezavo ljudi do zemlje, okolice, vasi, tradicije, dela ter vsesplošnih sprememb v družbi. Film sledi protagonistki Fatme v različnih fazah dela, spoznamo pa tudi njeno mamo Emine in moža Ahmeda.

Proces dela je delno ujel tudi žal lani preminuli vizualni antropolog Asen Balikci, ki je snemal življenje v vasi Brežnica, nedaleč stran od vasi Debren. Njegov film Pomak Portraits: Women of Breznitsa iz l. 1997 med drugim prikazuje različne faze pridelave tobaka, ki potekajo precej podobno kot v današnjem obdobju.

Kamera, montaža, scenarij: Manca Filak
Postprodukcija zvoka in slike: Žiga Gorišek
Podnapisi: Manca Filak, Georgi Medarov
Tehnična podpora: AVL, ISN ZRC SAZU

Snemanje: Debren, 2017; montaža Slovenija, 2020.

Vizualna etnografija je bila del študijske prakse Erasmus +, ki je potekala na Centru za nematerialno kulturno dediščino na Inštitutu za folkloristiko in Etnografski muzej, ki je del Bolgarske akademije znanosti v Sofiji (Bolgarija). Praksa je potekala na različnih lokacijah po državi med majem in avgustom 2017. Film je bil zmontiran v okviru raziskovalnega programa (Etnološke, antropološke in folkloristične raziskave vsakdanjika) št. P6-0088, ki ga je sofinancirala Javna agencija za raziskovalno dejavnost Republike Slovenije iz državnega proračuna.

The villages in southwestern Bulgaria, between the Rila Mountains on the one side and Rhodope Mountains on the other, have been long known for cultivation and production of tobacco. Muslim Pomaks that are still engaged in this work are facing a decline in production due to the low purchase price of dry tobacco leaves and difficult working conditions. Tobacco production, once an element of identification of the villages, is now becoming an element of the past, a part of social memory fused with multiple connotations and meanings.

The ethnographic film Tobacco memories follows Fatme and her family in the village of Debren (southwest Bulgaria) and shows the spatial and material dimensions of tobacco production and the familiy’s relationship to the slowly disappearing lifestyle. The intrinsic flow of the work process with its repetitive routine embodied in their gestures during work stimulates different and multi layered memories and a certain measure of nostalgia for the former political (and economic) system.

The working process was partly depicted by the late visual anthropologist Asen Balikci, who filmed everyday life in the village of Brežnica near Debren. His film entitled Pomak Portraits: Women of Breznitsa from 1997 shows different phases of tobacco production, i.e. similar routines and problems seen in the film Tobacco memories.

Camera, editing, script: Manca Filak
Sound & image postproduction: Žiga Gorišek
Subtitles: Manca Filak, Georgi Medarov
Technical advisement: AVL, ISN ZRC SAZU

Filmed in Debren, 2017; edited in Slovenia, 2020.

Visual ethnography was a part of an Erasmus + Traineeship program at the Center for intangible cultural heritage, Institute for folkloristics and Ethnographic museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia (Bulgaria). Filming took place in various locations across the country between May and August 2017. Editing was finished with the financial support from the Slovenian Research Agency (research core funding No. P6-0088), Ethnological, Anthropological and Folklore Studies Research on Everyday Life.

Festivali / Festivals:

• Vidiki vizualne etnografije v Sloveniji: posvet s filmskim programom (SI, 2020)
• Dnevi etnografskega filma / Days of Ethnographic Film (SI, 2021, Slovenian premiere)
• Rising Gardens Film Festival (Asia, 202, Asian Premiere, Selection: COMMUNITY AND SUSTENANCE)
• SIEF2021 15th Congress: BREAKING THE RULES? POWER, PARTICIPATION, TRANSGRESSION (FIN, 2021 / AV Program)
• SEFF Student Ethnographic Film Festival (CRO, 2021) – THIRD PLACE
• 8th International Degrowth Conference (NL, 2021) – “Feminist and Decolonial Naturecultures”
• Cinema and You International Film Festival (UKR, 2021) – NOMINATION Documentary Film Students
• Kratovo Ethnographic Film Festival (MK, 2021)
• International festival of ethnological film Belgrade (SRB, 2021)
• Society for Visual Anthropology Film and Media Festival (US, 2021)
• IUAES 2021 Yucatan Congress: INDIGENOUS AND ETHNOGRAPHIC FILM EXHIBITION (Mexico, 2021)
• The International Ethnographic Film Festival of Quebec (Canada, 2022)
• Festival neodvisnega filma FNF (SI, 2022)
• KIEFF – Korea International Ethnographic Film Festival (Seoul, 2022)
• EASA2022: Transformation, Hope and the Commons (Belfast, 2022)
• Portuguese Anthropological Association APA (Evora, 2022)
• ETNOFILM ČADCA (Slovakia, 2022) – ETHNOLOGIST BEHIND THE CAMERA AWARD
• RAI – Royal Anthropological Film Festival (UK & online, 2023)

Nagrade / Awards:

• Cinema and You International Film Festival (UKR, 2021) – NOMINATION Documentary Film Students
• SEFF Student Ethnographic Film Festival (CRO, 2021) – THIRD PLACE
• ETNOFILM ČADCA (Slovakia, 2022) – ETHNOLOGIST BEHIND THE CAMERA AWARD

Omembe in recenzije / News & Reviews:

• On the fields of tobacco: Changing perspectives and expanding methodologies through visual ethnography – Entanglements Journal
• Festival Dnevi etnografskega filma – Radio Prvi – Gymnasium
• Dnevi etnografskega filma: kratkice – Koridor
• Filmi, ki ne vsiljujejo lastnih pogledov – ZRCalnik
• Tokratni Dnevi etnografskega filma z brezplačnimi spletnimi projekcijami – RTV.slo MMC
• Dnevi etnografskega filma 2021: Drugačni pogledi na drugačne dežele – Dnevnik.si
• ETHNOLOGIST BEHIND THE CAMERA AWARD – Etnofilm Čadca