"…We Have to Work with our own Heads" (/Angn!ao): San Bushmen and the Media

Abstract

The way that the Bushmen San negotiate their relations with film and video makers and how they and tourists respond to films about them are the subjects of this analysis. Tourist responses to In God's Places [1997], after visiting one such village, are discussed in terms of broader issues of identity, representation, and reception. What have tourists learned about themselves from the encounter? What do San viewers think of films made about them? What do San actors, like Gao of The Gods Must be Crazy films, think about Western interpretations of his films? This article also discusses how In God's Places and other documentaries have elevated San knowledge as a primary source, rather than relying on academic experts and others who speak "for"them. Issues of essentialism and enchantment with hunting and tracking by film-makers are discussed in terms of cosmology, power, and ownership. The article ends with some comments on how the San are engaging the historical record in terms of their own perspectives, experiences and knowledge.