photo montage (c) 1997, Barbara L. Sykes & Michael Dietze

Based upon my poem of Borneo’s ingenious cultures, "Song of the River" is as much a visual poem as it is an experimental ethnographic documentary. Shot while traveling up Sarawak’s Rajang River in Borneo, this tape speaks simply, in an intimate and personal way of the harmonious relationship Borneo’s indigenous people have with one another, and with the river, animals, birds and rainforest. It is a devotional piece honoring the spirituality, wisdom, integrity and essential qualities of respect and appreciation for life that these people have.

Shiva Darsan

"Shiva Darsan" is as much a video poem, as it is an experimental ethnographic documentary on Hinduism, holy men, spirituality and transcendence. Shiva is the Hindu lord of procreation and death. Darsan is sacred perception. Darsan is as much to see, as it is to be seen by that of the worshipper and the deity, holy person or sacred place. It is as much the spiritual that yields to be grasped, known, touched and experienced, as it is the worshipper who is there to receive the divine.

This piece is also a personal reflection on the Shivaratri Festival at Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, the birthday celebration of Shiva at one of his most important pilgrimage sites in Asia and at the most sacred of Nepalese shrines. It is here that Shiva's birthday celebration is most spectacular with tens of thousands of Hindu pilgrims from throughout India and Nepal in attendance annually. Prior to entering Pashupatinath Temple, the pilgrims ritually purify themselves in the sacred Bagmati River. On the shores of the river, Brahman priests perform cremation ceremonies with the deceased's family members. While devotees of Shiva completely covered in cremation ash perform puja, or ritualized offerings to their lord.

"Shiva Darsan" is the first tape produced for "In Celebration of Life.... In Celebration of Death...", a series of experimental ethnographic tapes tapes shot during my fourteen month sabbatical abroad in Asia and the Mid-East while in intensive research and videotape production. This series reveals the religious, cultural and philosophical beliefs of indigenous people from various cultures by exploring their rituals, dance, music and daily activities that revolve around life and death. From birth to death, special rites and celebrations mark the important events of one's existence, assuring a symbiosis of body and soul with the divine. This deep relationship between the people and their gods are reaffirmed through daily activity. At times, the person symbolically becomes god, strengthening their own sense of sacredness and self-respect.

Completed: (c) 1994, Barbara Sykes-Dietze, Twelve minutes in length

Funded by: Chicago Artists Abroad
Columbia College, Chicago, Television Department

Awards with Screenings:

CINE Golden Eagle Award, Arts Category, Council on International Nontheatrical Events, Washington, DC, 3/31/-3/3/95
1st Place, Faculty Production Award, Mixed Category, Broadcast Education Association, Las Vegas, NV, 4/7-4/10/95
1st Place, Documentary Category, La Crosse Video Festival, La Crosse, Wisconsin, May 11, 1995
Certificate for Creative Excellence, Religion Category, 28th US International Film & Video Festival, Chicago, 5/31-6/1/95
Bronze Apple Award, Domestic & International Concerns, National Educational Media Network, CA, 5/24-5/28/95
CERTIFICATE OF MERIT, Shiva Darsan, Long Island Film & Video Festival, New York
3rd Place, Experimental Category, BACA's 29th Annual Film & Video Festival, Brooklyn, NY, 5/15-5/22/95
Certificate of Merit, Religious& Ethics Category, Intercom'94, Chicago International Film Festival, 10/94
Certificate of Merit, Video Tusculum, Greeneville, TN, 11/94

Additional Exhibitions:

Hawaii, Honolulu Underground Film Festival, November 15-22, 1997
Estonia, Parnu, "10th Parnu International Visual Anthropology Film Festival", July 7-14, 1996
Germany, Hamburg,12th International Hamburg Short Film Festival, June 19-23, 1996
Spain, Madrid, XI International Women's Film Festival, November 10 - November 19, 1995
Manosque, Allee de Provence, Festival International de la creation Video et Cinematographique, November 10-18, 1995
Ohio, Columbus International Film & Video Festival, October 24 & 25, 1995
New York, Albany, 2nd Annual Metroland International Short Film Festival, October 1 - October 10, 1995
Chicago, Festival of Illinois Film and Video Artists, October 1, 1995
Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah Short Film & Video Festival, June 9 - June 17, 1995
Chicago, Image Union, PBS, Broadcast Television, WTTW, April 22 & April 28, 1995
Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Three Rivers Arts Festival, June 2 - June 18, 1995
New York, Amherst, VIDEOASIS, The Screening Room, September, 1994

Distributor: CINE
Council on International Nontheatrical Events
1001 Connecticut Ave, Suite 638
Washington, DC, 20036 (202) 785-1136 Fax (202) 785-4114