A Balinese rice farmer haunted by the spirit world (35 min)
The film follows an older Balinese man, Nyoman Kereta, as he struggles with the intrusion of spirits into his consciousness. Kereta says he has been living in two worlds, the world of his family and community and the world of the spirits, for the past 40 years. His experiences skirt the borders of cultural and spiritual norms, simultaneously manifesting and exceeding Balinese beliefs about the supernatural world and the possibilities for human interaction with it.
Kereta’s reported experiences seem credible or explicable to some, bizarre and extraordinary to others, enigmatic or doubtful to his wife, and the sign of major mental illness to his psychiatrist. The film documents his painful history of trauma, loss and poisoning, and draws on his other family member’s interpretations of how to understand his struggles and distress. Central questions of how to interpret his experiences, and what role a schizophrenia diagnosis entails are explored.
There are people who are sick and, until they die, nobody cares for the. They just disappear.








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Credits
Director
Producer
DP
Consulting Editor
Editor
Music Composer
Music Editor
Robert Lemelson
Robert Lemelson & Alessandra Pasquino
Wing Ko
Pietro Scalia
Wing Ko
Malcolm Cross
Richard Henderson

Awards
- Winner, Award of Excellence, Best Shorts Competition, La Jolla, CA, 2012
- Winner, Best Documentary Feature, Los Angeles Shadows and Illuminations, International Underground Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA, 2012
- Winner, 1st Place Documentary Feature, Los Angeles Reel Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA, 2012
- Nominee, Honorable Mention, Richmond International Film Festival, Richmond, VA, 2012
- Winner, Special Jury Prize, California Film Awards, San Diego, CA, 2012
- Winner, Award of Excellence, Accolades Film, Television, New Media and Videography Awards, Los Angeles, CA, 2012
- Nominee, Best Limited Series, International Documentary Association Awards, Los Angeles, CA, 2010
- Winner, Cine Golden Eagle Award, 2011
- Winner, Special Jury Prize, California Film Awards, San Diego, CA, 2013
- Winner, Award of Excellence, International Film Festival for Peace, Inspiration and Equality, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2010
Festivals
- Jean Rouch International Ethnographic Film Festival, Paris, France, 2011
- Los Angeles International Underground Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA.
- Richmond International Film Festival, Richmond, VA.
- Jean Rouch International Ethnographic Film Festival, Paris, France, 2011
- Los Angeles Reel Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA, 2012
- Winner, Silver Screen Award, Nevada Film Festival, Las Vegas, NV, 2010
- Gig Harbor Film Festival, Gig Harbor, WA, 2010
- Society for Visual Anthropology Media Festival, New Orleans, LA, 2010
- Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, Ithaca, NY, 2011
- Globians world+culture Documentary Film Festival, Berlin, Germany, 2011
- Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival, Taipei, Taiwan, 2011
- Society for Visual Anthropology Media Festival, New Orleans, LA, 2011
- Awareness Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA, 2012
- Cincinnati Film Festival, Cincinnati, OH 2012
Conferences
- University of Michigan, Culture, Mind and the Brain Conference, Ann Arbor, MI, 2012
- Society for Psychological Anthropology Meeting, Santa Monica, CA, 2011
- Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, 2011
- Clinical Ethnographic Seminar: University of Chicago Clinical Ethnography, The Committee on Southern
- Studies and the Comparative Human Development Workshop on Culture, Chicago, IL, 2011
- World Psychiatric Association Thematic Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, 2011
- Society for Psychological Anthropology Meeting. San Diego, CA, 2013
- American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, New York City, 2014
Screenings
- USC Masters of Visual Anthropology Seminar, Los Angeles, CA, 2010
- Rutgers University, Comparative Religion Class, Newark, NJ, 2012
- Hampshire College, Amherst, MA, 2012
- Brunel University Seminar, London, UK, 2012
- Cal State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, 2011
- University of Chicago, Clinical Ethnography Workshop, Chicago, IL, 2011

Shadows and Illuminations: Multi-Touch eBook









With a complete documentary film, ethnography, and multi-media interactive study guide contained in one package, this immersive ebook is anthropology for the 21st century. It provides students and educators with an innovative and updated way to explore key topics in psychological anthropology through the story of Kereta, a Balinese man who believes he lives in two worlds, the everyday world and the world of the spirits. His case raises fascinating questions about culture, personal experience, mental illness, and trauma.
Ideal for use in college-level survey and upper-division anthropology courses, the ebook offers multiple educational features including biographical and cultural information, theoretical investigations, glossary, review quizzes, essay prompts, group discussion questions, and more. Its media-rich format will engage students with over one hundred still photographs, video extras, a complete original soundtrack and behind-the-scenes glimpses into fieldwork and ethnographic filmmaking.