“In the beginning, women lived apart, unaware of the existence of men. Until one day, when the first woman, Toli, who was brave and adventurous traveled deep into the forest. Toli discovered solitary creatures with big muscles who knew how to climb trees and harvest wild honey. When Toli tasted their honey, she thought they should all live together….” That is how one of the creation stories of the Aka people from the tropical rainforest of the Congo Basin goes. Akaya, Kengole, Dibota and their friends and family are hunters-gatherers (and also great story-tellers) who guide us through their world. They explain their origins, myths, and the very spiritual meaning of life.
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The film avoids putting a grid of values over the depiction of the lives of these people living in the deep forests of Congo. Resulting in me seeing, that we have much more in common, than what separates us. Linda Västrik manages to get extremely close to these people and since she is very empathetic, straight and bold, she does not use their lives, molding it into a box of predetermined dramaturgy, but rather unfolds the story of their lives. At this time. I've never seen anything like this and I'm very grateful to Västrik and her team for going through all the hardship of making this film, following an old piece of music! There is hope.
