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 Winnowing is a five-minute video filmed in September 2015 in the Badakhshan region of Tajikistan.   A man winnows wheat using a pitchfork and the wind to separate the grain from the stalk. Behind him, the Panj River. a tributary of the Amu Darya, forms the border with Afghanistan. The man’s repeated labor, projected in slow motion, emphasizes the Pamir culture’s ongoing self-sustaining life. Their living patterns have not changed much in centuries. The accompanying music by Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach adds a sense of timelessness and repetition to the scene. The video’s ethnographic style shows a far off place made closer. The idea is the opposite of globalization - a distant culture that remains intact makes the world a bigger place instead of a smaller one.

 

Noah Eisenbruch contributed to the completion of Winnowing. 

Music: Abbey Lincoln, Max Roach, Triptych: Prayer, Protest, Peace

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