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Synopsis

The beautiful medieval city of Mostar was the site of some of the bloodiest fighting in Bosnia-Herzegovina’s recent war. This city is now divided by more than then emerald green Neretva River that runs through it. After the war, Mostar’s east side became overwhelmingly Muslim and its west side, Catholic. It is a divide hard for tourists to see, but all too real for its citizens.

Much Ado In Mostar focuses on a group of 15 – 21 year olds from both sides of town, coming together to perform Shakespeare’s great romantic comedy, “Much Ado about Nothing”, directed by Professor Andrew Garrod of Dartmouth College. The cooperation shown by the three ethnic groups involved in the production – Bosniak, Croat, and Serb – not only sends a powerful message of peace, unity, and healing to its audiences in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro, but will touch viewers worldwide.

Synopsis

When the god Lowa created the world, he sent the artists Lewoj and Lanij to paint colorful patterns onto all the living creatures on Earth. According to Marshallese lore, the people of the Marshall Islands learned from the artists to create order by using colors to denote identity, rank, and duty amongst themselves. The people of these islands today, however, face unprecedented challenges in navigating the defining colors of their past and discovering what it means to be Marshallese in the 21st century. The forces of globalization, cultural and economic imperialism, foreign military interests, and climate change all converge in the Central Pacific where the Marshallese are trying to forge a path towards “development.”

The Undiscovered Country explores the clash between tradition and modernity by fusing three art forms: documentary film, cell animation and theater. Combining the perspectives of Marshallese fishermen, students, politicians, activists, foreign educators, and anthropologists with the teachings of traditional Marshallese stories (bwebwenato) and Marshallese adaptations of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and The Tempest, this documentary examines the impact of “development” on Lowa’s colorful world.

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