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Mentawai - Born in the jungle

"Mentawai - Born in the Jungle" is an episode of a four-part documentary series, which was shot in Indonesia by 3 travel bloggers. The aim of the series is to present local tribes, who are living their life in a traditional way, following their ancestor’s legacy.

Mentawai is a native tribe, who live on Siberut Island, west from Sumatra. They live a semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle deep in the jungle. What makes them even more interesting is their traditional tattoos, which - according to the researches - is one of the oldest on earth.
Despite the Indonesian government's development assistance, the Mentawai people managed to preserve their aboriginal lifestyle.

The film takes the viewer on a journey to this extraordinary tribe. Through the eyes of the creators the daily life of the Mentawai gets revealed. How and what do they hunt for? What do they eat? What spiritual practices do they have? How do they communicate with the spirits? How are their tattoos made?

"Mentawai - Born in the Jungle" is a real time-travel.

  • Andras Csapo
    Director
  • Andras Matai
    Director
  • Rita Harmincz
    Producer
  • Andras Matai
    Producer
  • Andras Csapo
    Producer
  • Andras Csapo
    Cameraman
  • Andras Csapo
    Editor
  • Andras Matai
    Editor
  • Andras Matai
    Writer
  • Rita Harmincz
    Writer
  • Andras Matai
    Key Cast
    "documentary host"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Mentawai - Dzsungelben szülöttek
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    expository
  • Runtime:
    46 minutes 15 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 3, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Hungary
  • Country of Filming:
    Indonesia
  • Language:
    Hungarian
  • Shooting Format:
    digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Cinema premier in Hungary
    Budapest
    Hungary
    November 26, 2018
    Hungarian Premier
  • Screening on The World Conference on Creative Economy
    Denpasar
    Indonesia
    November 8, 2018
Distribution Information
  • Ozone TV
    Country: Hungary
    Rights: Free TV
Director Biography - Andras Csapo, Andras Matai

András CSAPÓ is a young director and cameraman from Budapest, Hungary. Since he was a child, he has mostly been interested in two main things: travel and nature. He graduated from SZTE University in Environmental studies BSc in 2014 and from ELTE University in Science Communication MSc in 2017.

András MÁTAI is a travel blogger from Budapest, Hungary. Since he was a child, he was interested in two things: getting to know far away places and tell the story to others. First through his travel blog, later through documentary movies.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

This was absolutely a unique experience. First of all we didn't have much experience making documentaries at all, Secondly not under such circumstances. We were shooting deep in the jungle without much of an infrastructure, no electricity for example.
Beforehand we had a lots of questions, about transportation, protecting our equipment, charging batteries, how to talk to and act with the Mentawai people, etc... Then, after arriving everything just went smoothly. The Mentawai people turned out to be super friendly and not to mention funny. They had a really good sense of humor. Spending couple of days with them, we actually felt building a good relationship.
At the end, we truly felt sorry to say good-bye, but we got back to the civilization with lots of unforgettable memories and, of course, with the movie.