Country: Switzerland, Germany
Year: 2004
Duration: 110'
Under the infinite, starry sky of the Sahara, amongst the dunes, the markets and the camps, a Tuareg nomad is searching for his camel. The film's narrator, Ibrahim Tshibrit, is trying to keep alive the oral traditions of his people and explains how the stories he tells will one day become the Truth. As he follows the lives of various characters, the director reveals the soul of a people, of a world in which ässhäk - respect for others and nature, indulgence, patience, the art of living together - represents an absolute value.
"Those familiar with the tuareg know that the term ässhäk is of great importance to them. You can see it in many different shades: the manner in which they solve their problems, their behaviour towards one another and towards all other creatures as well. It is not only the key to their social life, it is also renders their survival in the desert environment possible, where every step must be taken carefully. Their entire culture revolves around it." (U. Koch)
Biography
film director
Ulrike Koch
Ulrike Koch was born and grew in Birkenfeld an der Nahe, Germany. She studied Chinese and Japanese culture at the University of Zurich, and then majored in Chinese literature and philosophy at the University of Peking. Since 1984 she has worked on several international film productions, as casting director (Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, 1986), assistant director (Ulrike Ottinger's Johanna d'Arc of Mongolia - 1988 - and Nikita Mikhalkov's Urga - 1990). In the early 80s che bagan to travel regularly to China, Tibet and Mongolia, getting familiar with the nomadic peoples of these countries. Her experiences have informed her documentary films: Tradizionelle Medicine in Asien: Qigong in China (1996) and Die Salzmänner von Tibet (1996-1997).
FILMOGRAFIA
Tradizionelle Medicine in Asien: Qigong in China (Traditional Medicine in Asia: Qigong in China, 1996) e Die Salzmänner von Tibet (The Saltmen of Tibet, 1996-1997), ÄSSHÄK - Tales from the Sahara