[Clipart] Re: flags, films, yat-kha

[Bryce Harrington]

Hi Lu,

Yes you're welcome to use the flags for any purpose, as they're
available under the Public Domain.  I think the authors of those flags
would be very pleased to see them used to help with your work!

Bryce

On Fri, 30 Apr 2004, Lu Edmonds wrote:

> Hi there,
>
> I got yer name bia SourceForge from a Linux friend.
>
> We would like to ask permission to use your flags for a small
> DVD project by the Siberian music band Yat-Kha (www.yat-kha.com)
> who have made a live DVD of a soundtrack performance to the
> great classic 1928 silent film "Storm over Asia".
>
> We want to use the flags to indicate the 32 language subtitles
> we have made (a huge effort by the band's fanbase - everything
> from basque to Mongolian, Buryat, Tuvan, Chinese, Hungarian,
> Arabic etc.). We will give you a credit with a website of yer
> choice, and a DVD of course!
>
> Let me know if that is OK,
>
> All best,
>
>
>
> Lu EDMONDS
>
>
> About the film:
> ----------------
> This silent b/w film was shot in Mongolia/Buryatia/Tuva way back
> in 1928 by the great pioneer formalist director Vsevolod
> Pudovkin. All the main elements of modern cinematography were
> set down in this time along with his contempories such as
> Eisentstein.
>
> A new music soundtrack was performed in 2002 live onstage by the
> group "YAT-KHA" (from Kyzyl, Tuva Rep in Russian Fed - look it
> up on the map). So it is a "live DVD" and along with the fact
> there will be 32 subtitles we hope it is in the pioneering
> spirit of the original.
>
> The importance of this film as a document of life in
> Siberia/Mongolia after the civil war is very great indeed. It
> provides a fascinating insight into the colonial struggles of
> the time between the Empires (British & Soviet). It really is an
> amazing document of the old way of life for nomadic peoples of
> the area way to the north of India in the Sayani/Altai mountains
> that continue along from the Himalayas. It has actual temple
> scenes and a beautifully shot "Tzai" Bhuddist festival, teeming
> fur markets, steppe and mountains...
>
> It also has a great plot with a strongly political statement
> against imperialism and interference by the then Great Powers
> (in this case, the British Empire) in the life of the people of
> Mongolia / Tuva / Buryatia. Especially ironic in that the
> Soviets who made the film later censored it to supress the final
> message (where the Mongolian people rise up against the British)
> as it maybe had too much of a parallel with the Soviets
> themselves!
>
> About the band:
> -------------------------
> The band Yat-Kha have been going for 12 years and they live in
> faraway mountainous republic of Kyzyl, Tuva which is the
> headwaters of the river Yenisei. They sing sing kanzat, sygyt,
> kargiraa styles (something like Druphad or Qawwali in that it is
> a very old and ancient style of singing; they can make 3 notes
> at once and can whistle with their throats!). I am a musician
> from London and somehow I got involved many years ago and have
> been helping them. We decided to try and make a DVD of this
> film. We did it mainly because we really like the band, and also
> of course the film is very interesting. So we don't have a big
> commercial objective.
>
>