Lez Volpe Writer and film producer, Port Elizabeth, South Africa In all honesty I'm still kind of dazed as a result of seeing The Great Dance - such an intense visual experience. What's more, those elusive partially formed fragments of images meandering in and out of the shadows at the extremities of my consciousness, are suddenly dancing on the screen in front of me. Except of course, that they are beyond personal past visual experiences. I was thinking, okay so what have I seen that was more compelling or intense than that final scene of hunter and hunted? Any other documentaries ... mmm ... no. Okay what about any movies ... mmm ... still thinking. That and the image of the three hunters in the eye of the buck... Jenny & Allan Mackay Award winning a/v producers, Cape Town, South Africa The photography was outstanding, sometimes incredible and your cloud and weather effects were excellent, especially the scene where the clouds are racing across the sky with the bushman walking at normal pace below. The praying mantis in the opening scene was brilliant, as was all the insect photography. Your ground shots of animals were amazing and completely refreshing to see things from a totally different angle - quite unique we thought. The narrator could never have been a European and although we realised it was not a bushman speaking, we felt he got the message across extremely successfully. The black and white recreation of scenes was excellent and well presented. The crow and the springbok - the close-ups of the crow in flight were outstanding. The close-up of the vulture, stripping the carcass and the sound of the blood dripping on the sand - a superb ground shot which reminded us of a scene from Serengeti at the Imax and which I did not think could be surpassed, but you succeeded. Of course the highlight of the film was the final hunt in which Karoha made a superhuman effort. This was a case of the survival of the fittest and one does not feel that dismay at the death of an animal when both hunter and hunted pit themselves against one another on equal terms. Mel Laurance Film producer, USA bravo, i have watched the film twice now and am impressed in a number of ways. firstly, for the great repect and appreciation the film makers show toward the san people, and in particular, the hunters....i felt that they portrayed these characters wonderfully...they are so interesting, innocent yet so wise...i was in awe....i have had a similar experience in namibia, however, i believe the band we worked with were much more removed from a traditional life. secondly, for the absolutely masterful photography, editing, direction, sound (congrats to you) and fabulous music....this is a true work of art. thirdly, for the noble purpose of the film...certainly, a culture and people that have existed for 30,000 years should be able to survive...i think that an audience appreciation of these people will go a long way in pleading their case to whoever it gets exposed to.

 

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