Experiencing Interruptions?

BE' JAM BE the never ending song

In Sarawak (Borneo), “the ones who live upstream” are the first affected by deforestation. The Penan, (ex) nomadic hunters, are caught in the eye of that storm : how to go on living when one’s entire world is being taken apart, when the landscape, which brought meaning to existence, literally disappears and with it language, customs and the spirits ?

The film, carried by the song of those who refuse to give in, draws the lines of resistance of each one to that deadly fight. It tells of the intimate interweaving of a sweet and secret way of life with the fight which rages in the shadow of the big trees.

  • Caroline Parietti
    Director
  • Cyprien Ponson
    Director
  • Caroline Parietti
    Writer
  • Cyprien Ponson
    Writer
  • Les Obliques
    Producer
  • Alix Lumbreras
    Editing
  • Paul Maillardet
    Sound mixing
  • Magali Marc
    Colour timing
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    BE' JAM BE et cela n'aura pas de fin.
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 25 minutes 25 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 21, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    30,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    France
  • Country of Filming:
    Malaysia
  • Language:
    Eastern Penan
  • Shooting Format:
    HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Visions du Réel
    Nyon
    Switzerland
    April 21, 2017
    World Premiere
    PRIX BUYENS-CHAGOLL
  • Festival de cinéma de Douarnenez
    Dournenez
    France
    August 22, 2017
    non-competitive
  • Festival international du film insulaire de l'île de Groix
    Groix
    France
    August 25, 2017
    Prix Île d'or
  • Festival international du cinéma des peuples Ânûû-rû Âboro
    Poindimié
    France
    October 16, 2017
    Best Pacific full length film
  • Festival America Molo Man
    St-Laurent de Maroni
    France
    October 20, 2017
    non-competitive
  • Corsica Docs
    Ajaccio
    France
    October 18, 2017
    Prix « Long métrage » Jeune Public
  • Freedom Film Festival
    Kuala Lumpur
    Malaysia
    September 7, 2017
    International
    Asian film
  • Forumdoc
    Belo Horizonte
    Brazil
    November 25, 2017
    South America
    non-competitive
  • Les Hivernales du doc
    Bruniquel
    France
    January 13, 2018
    Non competitve
  • Festival de cine de de los pueblos indigenas
    Valparaíso
    Chile
    January 11, 2018
    Official selection
  • Lakeside Doc Festival
    Naukuchiatal
    India
    March 18, 2018
    Indian Premiere
    Official selection
  • Green Image Film Festival
    Tokyo
    Japan
    March 23, 2018
    Japon premiere
    Grand Prize
  • Voces Contra el Silencio
    Mexico
    Mexico
    April 15, 2018
    Mexican Premiere
    Official selection
  • DOK.fest München
    München
    Germany
    May 3, 2018
    German
    DOK.horizonte
  • Ecozine
    Zaragossa
    Spain
    May 22, 2018
    Spanish
    Official selection
  • Festival international de cine ambiental FINCA
    Buenos Aires
    Argentina
    June 1, 2018
    Argentina
    Second prize international feature film
  • Smaragdni Eco Film Festival
    Smiljan
    Croatia
    June 5, 2018
    Croatia
    Official selection
  • Sol e Luna
    Palerma
    Italy
    July 5, 2018
    Italy
    Official selection
  • Whakapapa film festival
    Irsina
    Italy
    July 6, 2018
    Special mention
  • International Debut Documentary Film Festival Rudnik
    Sviyazhsk
    Russian Federation
    August 3, 2018
    Russian
    Official selection
  • Festival de Cine Independiente de Mar del Plata MARFICI
    Mar del Plata
    Argentina
    August 4, 2018
    Official selection
  • Festival International de Cinéma des Droits Humains FESTIMO
    Sucre
    Bolivia, Plurinational State of
    August 14, 2018
    Bolivian
    Official selection
  • Festival International de Cinéma de la Montagne Shh FICMUS
    Ushuaïa
    Argentina
    August 21, 2018
    Official selection
  • Festival BOBINES REBELLES 05
    Barret-sur-Méouge
    France
    August 24, 2018
    non-competitive
  • 12° Muestra Cine+Video Indígena

    Chile
    August 27, 2018
    non-competitive
  • International Film Festival of Patagonia : Tierra, Mujer, Hombre

    Argentina
    August 31, 2018
    Official selection
  • Festival of Out of Circuit Cinema AD HOC
    Mirabel
    France
    September 6, 2018
    non-competitive
  • International Film Festival of Puerto Madryn MAFICI

    Argentina
    September 12, 2018
    Official selection
  • Matsalu Nature Film Festival
    Tallin
    Estonia
    September 21, 2018
    Estonia
    Official selection
  • Eugene Environmental Film Festival E- University of Oregon Baker Downtown CenterugEvoFF

    United States
    October 6, 2018
    Official selection
  • 13th International Film and Communication Festival of Indigenous / Native Peoples FICMAYAB

    Guatemala
    October 8, 2018
    Official selection
  • Bozcaada International Festival of Ecological Documentary BIFED
    Bozcaada
    Turkey
    October 13, 2018
    Third Prize of the International Competition
  • International Festival of Ethnological Film
    Belgrade
    Serbia
    October 13, 2018
    Official selection
  • Festival Internacional De Cine Indígena De Wallmapu
    Temuco Gulumapu
    Chile
    October 19, 2018
    Official selection
  • Festival Dei Popoli – International Documentary Film Festival
    Florence
    Italy
    November 9, 2018
    Official selection
  • Nuovi Mondi Film Festival
    Cuneo
    Italy
    December 1, 2018
    Official selection
  • Wild and Scenic Film Festival

    United States
    January 20, 2019
    Official selection
  • Rain International Nature Film Festival

    India
    January 25, 2019
    Official selection
  • Antropofest
    Prague
    Czech Republic
    January 25, 2019
    Czech Republic
    non-competitive
Distribution Information
  • DAWAI DAWAI
    Country: France
Director Biography - Caroline Parietti, Cyprien Ponson

The co-directors, and Caroline Parietti (Switzerland, 1985) and Cyprien Ponson (France, 1987), met during a master's degree in documentary writing (CREADOC/France), after personal journeys in anthropology and community social work. Their work explores issues of memory, violence and resistance in the margins. 

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Caroline Parietti & Cyprien Ponson imagined and created the movie „BE’ JAM BE the never ending song“ as a storytelling experience of the far away echoing our own life landscapes everywhere. Both a sensitive experience of the forest and a way of listening to the Penan thought, it was important for them to envisage a political cinema centred on what the other has to say, and to do it together. Concerned about the devastation of the living world, they wanted to explore the dual reality of ecocide-etnocide in order to overcome it and reflect on how to live in this world, in solidarity with indigenous struggles.