Mujaan
The lead paragraph at www.wildandscenicfilmfestival.org says it "uses film to inspire activism on behalf of the environment," and there is plenty of reason to let the 5th Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival get in your face on a variety of topics. The films do so - intelligently, soulfully, educationally, and often quite optimistically.
Here's one gem - "Mujaan" - a message without a cause. Mujaan is "The Craftsman." It is so cool to watch the craftsman build a house. It is poetry to watch the craftsman build a house.
On the grassy plains of Mongolia, a flower accents what is close at hand. Mountains accent the distance. The winter is coming and a house needs to be built.
The craftsman's tools are simple: an ax, a hand drill, a saw. To mill tree trunks, he cuts a round of trunk, a piece with a solid branch that he can use as a natural maul. He wields and wedges and pounds and splits. You should see this guy with an ax. He strips and shapes the wood into pieces that fit into each other. He uses his hand as a measuring tape. Where nails would suit, he uses clever sheepskin ties.
Sheep contribute fully to the project. Wool is mixed with wood shavings. Huge rolls of this mixture are wheeled around behind a horse until it meshes into large battings of insulation. Who knows what all the goat parts are used for, but, among other things, the craftsman is well fed.
The craftsman makes a retractable lattice that becomes part of the house's walls. This house is a yurt, a big round room. He lays the spokes of the ceiling to meet a circular construction of wood, including a bit of stylishness added to such pieces. Through this top piece, smoke will rise from the home fire.
Interspersed with simply elegant life craft, "Mujaan" shows a hand sketching and painting. As methodically and skillfully as the craftsman, the artist renders, in two dimensions, the tasks that the craftsman realizes in four dimensions.
The home is built in time to beat the changing season. Between the craftsman and the artist, some fifth and sixth dimension is expressed. Someone might consider one of those dimensions activism.
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