Yakel

New Zealand-made documentary, filmed over a three-year period, following the remarkable story of Kowia, an 108-year-old chief from the Vanuatu island of Tanna. The survivor of tribal wars, colonisation, epidemics, WW2, violent volcanic eruptions and destructive cyclones, Kowia’s remained steadfast throughout to his "kastom" life, choosing to reject the trappings of the modern world in favor of a life free of material goods - no money, no clothes.

The jungle they live in provides life's necessities. Clothing is made from grass, the village huts from trees, bush medicine is in abundance and food crops thrive in the super-fertile volcanic soils. Guidance comes from ancestral spirits. But Chief Kowia is the last of his generation. As he faces his mortality, he worries what will happen to his people when he is no longer there to guide them. Will his culture stay strong or will the outside world lure his people from their uncluttered lives?

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