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Abstract:
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Kukeri is a documentary film investigating the Surva tradition performed in the Pernik region of Bulgaria . The film was shot in Bulgaria , in the winter of 2011 /2012 , over the course of three weeks , and will be completed in August of 2012 . During this creation process , I acted as the creator , director , and guide , and facilitated an artistic process that was shared with my cinematographer , Drew Xanthopoulos .
Surva is a ritual performance whose purpose is to chase away evil spirits , ensure a good harvest , health , and perpetuate the life cycle : birth , death , and rebirth . Much of the performance is strictly regulated by tradition and rooted in an agrarian society that is thousands of years old . The society is quickly changing due to urbanization and globalization , and this is having drastic effects on the tradition itself . Inspired by a sense of homesickness for my Bulgarian culture , this project was a study of the transitory aspects of cultural tradition . It assayed topics of ethnography , anthropology , and folk costume , but at its root were more complex topics of the value of cultural traditions and the effects of globalization on one of the oldest rituals in the world . |