Tawai: A Voice from the Forest

I loved this documentary for its deep philosophical exploration of what it means to be a human in the context of a fast disappearing natural world. It was subtle, thought provoking and never pedantic or propagandistic. It was a beautifully told story with dreamy cinematography that made me feel very immersed in each of the different places Bruce Parry explores.

Tawai

A beautiful, haunting and most welcome opportunity to tune in to how the remaining few real egalitarian hunter gather societies relate to each other and their surroundings. How they live and breathe that connection and inter-relatedness, how their way of life keeps them so tightly in touch with the present moment, with each other and the soil on which they step. An insight into what we lose when we fall out of that interwoven way of life and most of all, an invitation to allow in and fully embody the heavy aching pain and frustration that our own daily actions are chipping away at these precious last living examples of true human harmony with nature. Chipping away at the resources that are the lifelines of our planet.

It is pain that we really need to face, fully open to and deeply feel. We owe it to these societies and we owe it our planet and to ourselves, to witness and be present to this process of destruction that is happening to us as one global unit.

Tawai means to feel a sense of connection to our surroundings, in a way like how a baby is connected to a mother and her breast. To know with its whole being that it needs her, that it feeds upon her and will not be able to survive without her and her love.

This is yet again Bruce parry's finest hour.he has brought to us the simple yet wonderful life of panan people ,also there struggles of being forest people and having to addapt there way of life to suit foreigners coming in and destroying the forest for material and monetary gains ,I'm actually very moved and sad and happy that we have fabulous people that show us the true meaning of life Thanks from the bottom of my heart Bruce for making this simply wonderful movie.

Tawai: A Voice From The Forest is a documentary worth watching, just to understand there are still people or tribes living in harmony with nature, far away from civilization or at least what we think it is to be civilized. I thought it was an interesting view on how those people live in the Maleysian forests of Borneo. Forests that are destroyed for our own selfish way of life, for things we don't realy need, or at least for things where there are alternatives for, like palm oil for example. The most interesting part to me were those people in Borneo, as for the religious and spiritual part of those meditating people in India I found that lesser interesting. The documentary won't change anything though, big corporations will continue cutting down every single tree there is if there is a profit to make. Governments are all responsible as well as money is the only thing they are interested in, and certainly not a bunch of indigeous people living from the forest. A well done documentary that make you think about the consequences of the continuous deforestation of our planet. Worth watching if you still dream about a better world.

In my view, this is a movie that should be screened in schools all over the world. I truly believe that it speaks to a deep yearning and void that modern society is struggling to pin down and relieve.

I watched the movie when it first came out in 2017, now, after watching again (8 years later), I find its message even more pressing and relevant --leadership, plurality of thought and beliefs, nature as the host of life-- are all things that this life-changing journey will head anyone into. A true hint towards the light at the end of the tunnel.

Thanks to all the people involved for making this movie!