The Poet's Salary

The Poet's Salary
[the-poets-salary--Film-list-image]

2008 / 59 minutes

Directed by
Eric Wittersheim Alexandre Francois
Country of production
France

For the first time in many years, on the little island of Motalava in Vanuatu, a new song will be composed in the island's ancestors’ language, the language of god Quat, and become part of the island’s repertoire. The Poet’s Salary tells of the daily life of ethnographers while doing fieldwork, through a vivid and colourful account of the mutual exchanges between the people of Motalava and ethnolinguist Alexandre Francois and ethnomusicologist Monika Stern .

Language and subtitles
Mwotlap, Bislama and French with English Subtitles
Region
Melanesia
Country
Vanuatu
Keywords
Music / Ethnomusicology Linguistics / Language Informant-researcher relationship