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Creative Ethnography Network:
Documentary, Visual Journalism, Visual Ethnography
The Creative Ethnography Network (CEN) was started in 2017
to make a series of documentaries,
writings and publications exploring the creative processes of observation.

other more experimental works

 

 
The God of the North: Taiwan 2023

God of North Birthday Filmed on the 22nd April 2023 in Tainan City, Taiwan.
Important festival day for the God of the North. Creative Ethnography Network.
Additional music Snakebeings Filmed + edited by SB

Send me to Ramanik Dweep: (Part One)The Kaliya Naag in Fiji Islands
(full documentary)

The stories of Kaliya Naag, a poisonous snake caught polluting the Yamuna river and sent by Lord Krishna to Ramanik Dweep: the 'island of pleasure' set in the vast Pacific ocean; otherwise known as Fiji. The creative documentary collects the stories of Ramanik Dweep and adds a few more with addition of an electronic 'techno-animist' cult operating in the Laucala Beach area of Suva. Coinciding with the release of the movie Dune, this documentary may explain the true origins of the 'Spice Worm' Shai Hulud - through the various Snake-Gods which inhabit modern day Fiji Islands. Arrakis, also known as "Rakis" is very similar sounding to 'Rakiraki' in Fiji Islands. Rakiraki is the nearest town to Nakavada Mountains where the true Kaliya, and perhaps even Dengei, dwell. Do not disturb the Kaliya is the key message of the movie: Move silently around their living spaces and observe from a far distance -with a clear heart you will see the Naag.
Story told by Bhan Kaliya.
Actor Laini Naqurs
Festivals 2021/2022:
Best Documentary Short Film. 2022. Bhutan International Short Film festival
Best Director. 2022. Mokkho International Film Festival Jawahar nagar, Reddiarpalayam, Pondicherry
Best Short Documentary award. 2022. Golden Eagle Indie Film Festival. Erukkur
Best Short Documentary award. 2022 Gona Film Awards KARAIKKUDI, TAMIL NADU 630305
Also selected at: The Asian Rivers Film Festival October 31, 2022 Paradise Film Festival January 3, 2022 Himachal Short Film Festival November 28, 2022 Marudham Indie Film Festival January 8, 2022 Kerala Short Film Festival April 20, 2022 Goa Short Film Festival October 11, 2022 Think Shorts S October 31, 2021

 
Send Me from Ramanik Dweep (Extra Footage) Part Two of the Ramanik Dweep Series about the Naag (Snake) shrines of Fiji Islands. Filmed between 2021-2022 this episode asks more questions about the connection between Fiji Water, the Vatukoula Gold Mines and the Kaliya caves of Nakauvadra - sacred places that hold dangerous curses, where apparently the English King Charles III visited in the 1970's. This second episode combines footage from the 'Ghost Ships of Suva' and the remaining Electronic Shrines of Ambala, made by the director as they were leaving Fiji after a three year stay during the Covid era.

Actor Laini Naqurs
Story told by Bhan Kaliya.

 
WITHOUT CONSCIOUS EFFORT: A retrospective of Techno-Animist machines
(full documentary)
A CCTV camera's observations into a noisy factory where coin operated divinity machines, mutant synthesizers and coin-operated shrines are being reproduced by a techno-animist cult. Partly fictional biography through randomly accessed memories narrated by an artist obsessed with morse-code, cut-up radio voices and bingo numbers. A haphazard creative ethnography of Techno-Animist practices. Selected in 2021 for film festivals in Sweden (Tranås, Jönköpings län) and India (Pune + Himachal + Kerala + Goa). Research publication based on the documentary in Leonardo Journal, MIT press: https://doi.org/10.1162/leon_a_01913
Festival Screenings in 2021:

 

Ombak Wave. Ghost Ships of Suva. 2020.

An abstract edit of discarded ships in the Suva harbour and reconstructions of events within the rusting radio room. Music by Circuit47. Featured in Visual Anthropology 2023

Actor Laini Naqurs

 

The Liquid Supermarket--

A journey through Boeng Trabaek channel which runs through south end of the city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Filmed and edited by Dr Emit Snake-Beings over the two months spent crossing 'stink canal' on a daily basis, whilst staying in the city January - February 2019. At the southern most part of the city the canal becomes a catchment area for the plastic floating down with the sewage and waste water of Phnom Penh. Metal cages keep the plastic within the boundaries of the city whilst allowing the water to pass under a road and out into the countryside to the Mekong river. The people living at the southern end of Boeng Trabaek channel gather and sell the many water snails that thrive in the nearby swamps and wetlands. The repetitive sound of the snail seller's motorbike mounted loud hailer can be heard on the soundtrack of the film, mixed in with other sounds recorded in the streets during the time in Phnom Penh. This film is part of the fieldwork / thinking process for an academic article published in Visual Anthropology:
https://doi.org/10.1080/08949468.2020.1824969
Trần Hưng Đạo
The 'observational' documentary in reflection, incorporating Hanoi streets and the Animist-Buddhism rites of Lên đồng, Vietnam. Documenting Trần Hưng Đạo one of the most powerful of the Mandarine spirits, only performed by the most experienced mediums for special circumstances. There are 36 Lên đồng spirits which the mediums are carried by (Đức Thánh Trần / Tín ngưỡng Đức Thánh Trần) in the possession rites of Lên đồng

Lên đồng
rituals filmed with Nhung Dinh.
Camera: Emit Snake-Beings & Nhung Dinh
Editing: Emit Snake-Beings
 

The silver boot

Camera & editing Emit Snake-Beings Filmed in: Tbilisi, Georgia 2019 Based on the legend of the golden fleece. To fleece or be fleeced, that is the question. Filmed and edited by snakebeings in Tbilisis, Poti and Batumi, Georgian. Voices recorded in cafes, trains and stairwells. Dialogue recreated from overheard conversations in Armenia and Georgia 2017.

This film is part of the fieldwork / thinking process for an academic article published here: https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2021.1964589

 
 
 
 

(A portrait of) James Robinson
Visual Ethnography of New Zealand Painter and Artist James Robinson. 2019 version. Collaborative exploration of creative practices in Port Chalmers, Otago, incorporating the coast-line, studio workshop and environments. This is a re-edited version of the film which featured at Te Manawa - Museum of art science and history - Palmerston North NZ: Six month continuous playback of ‘A portrait of James Robinson’ creative practice ethnographic documentary December 2017-June 2018. See the original edit which was on show at the Te Manawa exhibition HERE. (Camera + Editing: Dr Emit Snake-Beings).

Kailash in KTM (Kathmandu) - Collaborative documentary filmed over a period of three days in 2018, staying, speaking, eating and taking part in the daily routines and rituals of the small shrine located behind the main Aadeswor Mahadev temple. Founded by Shree Bijay Malla in 2015, from repeated visions since early childhood, Kailash in Kathmandu is a place of pilgrimage and devotion.

see the collaborative website at https://kailashktm.org/

 


CEN - Valapattanam River -Muthappan to Azhikkal -

A journey on the Kerala state-run ferry service on the Valapaatanam river, Kerala, south India. Beginning at the famous Muthappan temple and stopping at some very small islands until reaching the Azhikkal Shipyards. The video shows the life of the river and some of the people who use the ferry on a daily basis. Part of a longer documentary I am making about wooden boat building in the Azhikkal Shipyards on the Valapaatanam river, North Kerala, India. This is the introductory part, with the last shot ending on the site of the boat building operations..

 

AZHIKKAL SHIPYARD: Ethnographic impression incorporating the collaboration of Sulkha wood ship manufacturers in Azhikkal / Azhikode, Kannur in Northern Kerala (South India). (Camera + Editing: Dr Emit Snake-Beings)

GANESH UTSAV - Collaboration with participants in the event organised by Fiji Sevashram Sangha - Procession starting in the centre of Suva and moving towards the immersion of the Ganeshe Icons, taken by small boats, off the coast at MY Suva park.
FILMED IN SUVA, FIJI, 13TH SEPT 2019 (Camera + Editing: Dr Emit Snake-Beings)
 Non-Verbal C.E.N. edit

Nutsubidze Plateau II micro district II area of Tbilisi

Minimalist video filmed in the Nutsubidze Plateau II micro district II area of Tbilisi. Shot mainly from waist level on a Canon 550D, editing and sound in camera. This film is part of the fieldwork / thinking process for an academic article published in Tourist Geograpies:

This film is part of the fieldwork / thinking process for an academic article published here: https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2021.1964589


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