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David Harrison, Gregory Anderson, Vasya, Nora Vasquez, Johnny Hill Jr. ... see more see more... , Manideepa Patnaik , Mr. Panda

In a time when over 7,000 distinct languages are spoken around the world, professors David Harrison and Gregory Anderson navigate treacherous terrain and travel to the furthest reaches of the globe to... read more read more... research forgotten and hidden languages. As colonialism and economic unrest spread, the new generations begin to abandon their ancestral languages, and their cultures are passively suppressed. But their legacy is not lost thanks to Harrison and Anderson, and now amateur linguistics can follow along as these two adventurous ethnographers observe a Kallawaya healing ritual in Bolivia, attend a traditional ceremony in a remote village in India, and set their sights on Siberia to document these languages before they are lost forever. Together, Harrison and Anderson speak over twenty-five languages, and though their mission is a serious one, they always attempt to maintain a sense of levity as they explore how disappearing languages serve as an indicator of the disappearing traditions and heritage of Indigenous people everywhere. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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80% liked it

239 ratings

Unrated, 1 hr. 5 min.

Directed by: Daniel A. Miller, Jeremy Newberger, Seth Kramer

Release Date: April 5, 2008

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Flixster Reviews (26)


  • fb68600877
    April 24, 2012
    fb68600877
    Okay documentary, but I'm not sure I necessarily agree with the premise. Just losing languages isn't a bad thing. Language is used for communication, which is why languages die. They don't serve a function if only one person speaks them. However, I appreciate what these guys try ... read moreto do. I could just use a little less holier-than-thou attitude from them. (At one point in the film, one of the linguists derides anyone who would spend their life studying French because over a million people speak it. A little elitist, no?)

Critic Reviews


Kirk Honeycutt
January 18, 2008
Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter

The film certainly makes a compelling case for this particular kind of academic derring-do.

Justin Chang
January 18, 2008
Justin Chang, Variety

A fleet-footed study of human communication and its limitless structural and functional possibilities. Full Review

Louis Proyect
February 11, 2010
Louis Proyect, rec.arts.movies.reviews

Makes the case that the death of "lesser" languages is as much of an assault on civilization as the leveling of a rain forest. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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