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Elephant Games

Skip Blumberg
1985, 27:42 min, color, sound

Description

"Games are a narrow slice of culture that go very deep," says Blumberg. In Elephant Games, he celebrates the interaction of traditional culture, economics and play at the Elephant Festival in Surin, Thailand. While focusing on awesome and often outrageous spectacles such as elephant tug-of-war, soccer and speed races, Blumberg's subtext is the economic dependence of the Thai people on the elephant, its endangered status, and the need for coexistence with humans. Action-oriented and entertaining, Elephant Games is also a portrayal of a threatened cultural symbol.

Audio/VTR: Jan Kroeze. Associate Producer: Jane Aaron. On-line Editor: Rick Feist. Music: Carabao.