DOCUMENTARIES

HOT DOCS 2017: GHOSTS OF OUR FOREST

Published

8 years ago

March 26, 2017

In 1992, the pygmy Batwa people of Uganda were forcefully removed from their ancestral homes by the government to protect the habitat of the endangered gorilla population. Left with no compensation or resettlement plans, most Batwa people today live in poverty. They are fast dwindling in numbers. In a perverse twist of fate, many Batwa now make a living guiding tourists along the Batwa Trail, putting on show-and-tell performances of their former way of life for money. To “uplift” his people, 24-year-old Gad Semejeri has formed the Batwa Music Club, singing and dancing the spiritual and traditional music of the Batwa. Told through lush images with beautiful musical numbers, Ghosts of Our Forest is a sensitive portrayal of a people whose physical connection to nature has been forcefully severed but remains alive through song and story. Synopsis by Aisha Jamal

Screen Times during Hot Docs

Wednesday, May 3rd @915 @Scotiabank Theatre 3

Friday, May 5th @1PM @TIFF Bell Lightbox 3

Saturday, May 6th @315PM @Scotiabank Theatre 13

www.ghostsofourforest.com

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Fernando Fernandez

Fernando Fernandez is a graduate of Environmental Studies at York University in Toronto. He became interested in entertainment journalism in the late 2000s writing for online startups. He founded FERNTV in 2009 and focused mainly on the film industry. With over a thousand interviews conducted with all walks of life in film, he is still learning as if every day is day one.