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Baka: A Cry from the Rainforest

Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC HDLatest broadcast: on BBC Two Wales

Phil Agland revisits the Baka Pygmy family he filmed 25 years ago in his BAFTA award winning documentary 'Baka: People of the Rainforest'. An extraordinary journey into the heart of the rainforest in Cameroon, where the past of the Baka revisits them through watching the old film projected in the forest - raising questions about their old life in the forest and what is happening to them now.

One generation later, the children of the old film are now parents. Camera, who was born at the end of the first film and named after Phil's film camera, now has a gorgeous seven year old daughter, Ambi. Camera's brother Ali, who wanted his baby sister thrown away in the original film, also has a young daughter, but tragically she is disabled.

Watching themselves for the first time on film, seeing how their parents used to live, prompts laughter, amazement and a profound sense of loss. Leading ultimately to an epic journey deep into the forest to rediscover the old life of their fathers, and a quest to find the magical 'Elephant's Mirror', an almost mythical place where, their fathers had told them, the elephants go to admire their tusks.

This is a tragic story of alcohol addiction, and the death of little children, of a family caught helplessly between the world of the forest and the outside world that rejects them. But it is also a story of redemption inspired by the old film and a lifeline to the future offered by the children, especially Camera's daughter, Ambi, who attends school for the first time. Show less

Contributors

Producer:
Phil Agland
Director:
Phil Agland

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