Bunong birth practices between tradition and change

Year of release: 2010
Duration: 50 min
Director: Tommi Mendel
Original Language: Bunong and Khmer
Country of production: Cambodia and Switzwerland
Shooting location: Mondulkikri province Cambodia
Distributor: Tigertoda productions,
Albisstrasse 146, 8083 Zürich, Switzerland
tel: +41 79 3309422, tommi@tigertoda.ch

On the basis of a social anthropological case study, this film documents the birth practices of the Bunong in Mondulkiri province, located in the northeast of Cambodia. Social, economic, and political changes are transforming the province tremendously and are affecting villagers’ beliefs, perceptions and habits regarding pregnancy, delivery and early motherhood. Traditional midwives, pregnant women, mothers and their families give a personal insight into their present decision-making strategies, which are at the crossroads between tradition and modernity.

Tommi Mendel

Born 1970 in Lucerne, Switzerland. Studied Social Anthropology, Religious Studies and History at the University of Zurich. Currently he is working on his PhD-thesis in Religious Studies with means of Ethnographic Film and teaches at the same time at the University of Zurich. Further he is a board member of the Audio-visual Commission of the Swiss Ethnological Society.

Filmography:

Bunong Guu Oh – Bunong’s Birth Practices Between Tradition and Change. Documentary, tigertoda productions 2010. 50 min. Arukihenro – Walking Pilgrims. Documentary, tigertoda productions 2006. 73 min.