Mage Porob (2019 documentary).webm

Mage Porob is a 2019 documentary that was made in the Ho language , a vulnerable Adivasi language from eastern India. The film largely includes interviews with the villagers of the Keshpada village in Mayurbhanj district, Odisha, India and members of Birbasa, a student union based in w:Bhubaneswar . Plot outline The Mage Porob festival of the Ho people pushes all — young and old — from their village homes to gather for a community dance. No one stops dancing until the sun sets. The film goes deeper asking what is the Ho way of life beyond Mage Porob? Plot summary The Ho people remember their ancestors and deities as the dehuri (elder and priest) offer the prayers and best flowers, fruits, leaves and meat. (Kujur) But a festival is not a festival without a community dance. All conflicts come to an end when Mage Porob drags the villagers to the dancing field. Even a mother with a baby taps her feet to the rhythms of dama and dumeng while holding the next dancer with one hand and the baby with the other. The entire village becomes an assembly line. The once-successful music arranger who is now partly disabled still keeps the drummers in sync with his coordinated hand gestures. The dan