RICE CYCLE, HUMAN CYCLE

Documentary (in production)

The life of Lok Ta, a 83 years old farmer and traditional healer, who lives in a timeless village in Siem Reap province (Cambodia) where the pre-angkorian rituals are still practiced. These rituals mark each stage of human life and are in line with the different stages of rice life, from birth to death. Lok Ta lived through the French protectorate, the Independence, the Republic, the Khmer Rouge and the civil war, as well as the modernity of today that seems so distant to his village, and became the protector of this so fragile culture.

Director : Kulikar Sotho
Producer : Arte – NHK
Director of Photography and Editor : Morgan Havet

#Important : All the following videos are pre-editing.

Teaser.

Rice Field

Ceremony of Puberty.

Once the child is 8-12 years old, the villagers do the ceremony of Puberty. At the end of this ritual, at sunrise, the teenagers are ready to be accepted by society into the new phase of their life. Then, their old self, represented by the figures made from banana trees, are swapped to give way to their new self.

Monk Ceremony.

Nara, a young villager of 20 years old, is preparing himself to become a monk and to learn the five principles of life. The tradition wants that every young man has to become a monk at least 5 months. Nara wants to be a monk during 2 years. After this he will become a man, and be ready to be a husband.

Wedding.

While the young man stays in the pagoda learning the principles of life, the woman “entering the shadow”. She will be isolated from her family for a period of a few days to six months. After this period of seclusion, she is considered marriageable. Then, the wedding is allowed.

The “Young Again” Ceremony.

Once the person becomes old, the villagers do this ceremony to give him or her a new youngness. As for the puberty, a new body is given, here by the white sheet and the old body is burnt.

The Death Ritual.

The last ritual of the traditionnal khmer life, the death ritual. The dead body is under earth during 4 years, and if the villagers have the money to do the ceremony, they do it after these 4 years or later. They dig out the body/bones, then they burn it, clean the bones and give them to the monks.