Film: ?The Language You Cry In? Director: Alvaro Toepke and Angel Serrano Produced: 1998. 52 minutes long. English with Mende and English subtitles. Who are the primary figures in the film and what are their roles? Lorenzo Turner ? first heard the song in Georgia and recorded it there. Cynthia Schmidt ? played recording for the women and they began to sing along to the first phrase (the grave is restless the grave is not yet at peace). Found out that the song was one that was sung at burials, it connected them with their ancestors. Ethnomusicologist. Joseph Opala ? Anthropologist who continued the research where Turner left off, and traveled to Sierra Leonne to connect the song from southern America. Amelia Dawley ? Af. American who kept the song in her family, raised on an isolated island in a swamp. First sung the song to Lorenzo Turner. Tazieff Koroma ? helped to analyze the song and look for clues to the songs origin. He is a linguist. Mary Moran ? renamed ?Jewah,? daughter of Amelia Dawley. Helped rekindle the connections to her mothers people in Sierra Leonne. Baindu ? a woman who assisted Schmidt with deciphering what the song lyrics meant. What does the song mean (literally)? What is this song?s significance to the Mende people in Sierra Leone? A ceremony occurs, consisting only of the adult members of the community with only the women singing. The women would cover themselves in white clay, which represented death. The song connected the villagers to their ancestors. What is this song?s significance to the Moran family and the Gulla community? It pinpoints where their ancestors came from. The Moran?s now feel that they are no longer strangers to the African community, this song renewed the old connection to Africa. How do the researchers connect the recording to Mary and Baindu (methods)? AMELIA'S SONG Ah wakuh muh monuh kambay yah lee luh lay tambay Ah wakuh muh monuh kambay yah lee luh lay kah. Ha suh wileego seehai yuh gbangah lilly Ha suh wileego dwelin duh kwen Ha suh wileego seehi uh kwendaiyah. Everyone come together, let us work hard; the grave is not yet finished; let his heart be perfectly at peace. Everyone come together, let us work hard: the grave is not yet finished; let his heart be at peace at once. Sudden death commands everyone's attention, like a firing gun. Sudden death commands everyone's attention, oh elders, oh heads of family Sudden death commands everyone's attention, like a distant drum beat. (translated by Tazieff Koroma, Edward Benya and Joseph Opala)
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