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Kava - The Drink of The Gods

 
Kava - The Drink of The Gods

This documentary was shot by German filmmaker Thorolf Lipp from summer 1997 to summer 1998. It is a journey through three countries in Oceania: Samoa, Fiji, and Vanuatu as well as Germany. It gives insight into kava rituals as they are carried out today. Through kava, a drink made from the roots of the pepperplant, friendships are formed, visitors welcomed, and chiefly authority sanctioned. However, the film deals not only with the traditional use of kava in Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa, but also with the more recent phenomenon of informal kava drinking in nonritual contexts and the increasing use of kava extracts in pharmaceutical drugs for European and North American markets. The film also addresses the basic question of ‘who owns kava’ and what rights and benefits from kava should accrue to Pacific islanders from kava’s extraction and global marketing by foreign commercial interests. But even tough kava today is extracted, packaged, and produced for global markets, kava is more than just a cultural relic; it is becoming a symbol of identity for many Pacific Islanders as for Oceania as a whole: Kava will always remain: The Drink of the Gods. Produced by the Institute of Pacific Studies of the University of the South Pacific.

In 2000 re-edited for German Televison into a 58 min. version. English and German

Director, Camera, Sound, Editing: Thorolf Lipp

Festivals: 2000 - Ethnofilmfest Berlin (www.ethnofilmfest.de/).

  • D 1998, 58 Min. (Samoa, Fiji & Vanuatu)
  • Script, Director & Photography: Thorolf Lipp
  • Bayerisches Fernsehen (2001)