Companies :
Studio du Bureau Etnographique (Этнографическое Бюро Студия)
Plot synopsis
This film is a portrait of 87-year-old Peter Sengepov, the last surviving Shaman of the Kazym River, who lives completely alone in the deep forests of the Siberian taiga. The only company he keeps in his humble dwelling are two cats, a small dog and a young moose, whom he found injured in the woods and nursed back to health. He has caught 89 bears in his life and still makes traditional masks from birch bark. From time to time, he performs religious ceremonies in a nearby settlement for the remaining members of his Khanty people. Only a handful of them remain here because almost 70% of Russian oil is extracted in southern Siberia. Consequently, oil companies are buying up huge territories and remorselessly forcing the indigenous inhabitants out of the region. These people did not have an easy time of it in the past either. As far back as 1934, the communists shot dead 12 local Shamans, including Peter's father. This documentary by the young director Ivan Golovnev has won several awards at international festivals. (http://www.oneworld.cz/ow/2009/index2.php?id=24&idf=13990)