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
Stones Have Laws (Dee Sitonu a Weti) is an immersive initiation into the life of a Maroon community in the former Dutch colony of Suriname. Combining stories of African ancestral traditions and escaped slavery with enacted contemporary rituals, the film explores how the community’s powerful ties to the land have become endangered as industries threaten to devastate the region through deforestation and mining.
Co-directors Lonnie van Brummelen, Siebren de Haan and Tolin Erwin Alexander closely involved the 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.
This screening is followed by a Q&A with directors Lonnie van Brummelen, Siebren de Haan and Tolin Erwin Alexander, hosted by Astrid Korporaal, Research and Symposium Curator of FRAMES of REPRESENTATION.
