Stones Have Laws (Dee Sitonu a Weti), Dirs. Lonnie van Brummelen, Siebren de Haan and Tolin Erwin Alexander, Netherlands / Suriname, 2018, 100 min., Saamaka, Okanisi and Dutch with English subtitles
Featured in this year’s FoR,Stones Have Laws (Dee Sitonu a Weti) is an expansive and immersive initiation into the life of a Maroon community in the former Dutch colony of Suriname. Directors Lonnie van Brummelen and Siebren de Haan and co-director Tolin Erwin Alexander closely involved the Maroon community in the development of the project, which was written using an experimental process of collective scripting. The result is a unique cinematic form that bridges filmmaking, poetry and theatre.
In this moderated conversation, the film’s directors and co-director discuss their process and the complex ethics of representation which underlie the project.
