Film short abstract:

Deux Horizons juxtaposes walking through an abandoned rice field with navigating the ocean for fish in the Sine-Saloum Delta. It inquires the relation between life ashore and at sea, novice anthropologist and skilled interlocutors and ethnographic practice via the discursive and via the experiential

Film long abstract:

The split-screen/two audio channel video 'Deux Horizons' ('Two Horizons', 4:17min, DV) juxtaposes two minimally edited scenes shot on first visits to the respective places and traces the anthropologist's search for the first answers on the dynamics of drought and sea level rise and people's subsequent turn away from terrestrial- towards aquatic livelihood practices in the Sine-Saloum Delta, Senegal. The protagonists in the video are a young man occasionally working in tourism and a group of young fishermen. The former narrates his experiences with the rice and explains to me a conversation with an older man from a few hours before. In the scene with the fishermen, in contrast, little words are exchanged as we were caught up in fishing practice. The discussion on the film could run along the following themes of the conference: Extinction – Life in the Sine-Saloum Delta is highly affected by Climate Change, yet also has a longstanding history of incessant change and adaptability. ‘Deux Horizons’ moves beyond disaster narratives and highlights how extinction and calamity are met with skilled improvisation and creativity by delta dwellers.Who Speaks and for Whom – ‘Deux Horizons’ offers a radical view onto two first fieldwork encounters and thereby contests the ‘knowledgeability’ of the anthropologist. It lays open the pitfalls of communication and the limitations of intersubjectivity. Responsibility – ‘Deux Horizons’ highlights the anthropologist’s limited response-ability towards and the dependency on his interlocutors. It furthermore challenges the viewer to navigate through two concurrent scenes and two different modes of communication (discursive and experiential).