The Great Dance

‘You have to know the ways of an animal before you can eat it.’ This is the philosophy on which the San Bushmen’s way of life is based. In only a few places in the Kalahari desert in Namibia, this philosophy is still put into practice. Ngate is one of the last San hunters. With spears, arrows, but especially with stamina and knowledge handed down from one generation to the next, he hunts the dwindling number of wild animals. It is a tough life; sometimes, it takes a whole day to catch a single springbok. What is more, the number of places where hunting is allowed is rapidly decreasing. The makers of this beautifully composed documentary travelled to places in South Africa and Namibia where the descendants of the Bushmen live. BEING SAN shows how they, after watching the film, are overwhelmed by pride and a desire to live as their ancestors did.