Why we need more cultural documentaries for the younger generations

At the moment, Tanzania, like many other African nations, faces the dynamics of globalisation. Preserving our diverse richness of cultural heritage is now an urgent matter of concern.

While the younger generation is increasingly exposed to global trends through the internet and social media, there is little or no immersion at all into the cultural reality of where they belong, the African roots. The cultural knowledge gap across generations widens with time.

The production of cultural documentaries can be an intervention with impact in this regard. As young people find more interest in the digital world, these documentaries can be vehicles for our cultural knowledge to locate our young people where they are.

Our cultural heritage is not only to be taken as an educational resource, though of course it is, but much beyond that as an important source of inspiration for our very being. Cultural documentaries help reinforce a shared sense of who we are and keep our traditions alive in more assured ways.

Tanzania has a diversity of over 120 tribal traditions, each with its own culture, language, art, history, mythology, wisdom, philosophy, and many other cultural beliefs and norms. These gems, which the ancestors preserved, are important and are life-giving.

Sadly, in many communities, a significant portion of this cultural wealth is at risk of being lost as elders pass away and younger generations grow up detached from the cultural roots, both socially and geographically. There are, of course, genuine emergent issues that have affected the continuum of cultural preservation and generation-to-generation handover.

Cultural documentaries will help preserve the stories and languages. I was saddened by a documentary published by Reuters last year featuring Katrina Esau (90 years old), who was said to be the only surviving speaker of the N|uu language of South Africa. That can happen in any culture.

When a language goes into extinction, it goes with all it safeguarded: folktales, linguistic devices, cultural wisdom, songs, names, history, literature, and the whole corpus of culture and tradition which is contained and expressed in that language.

Anthony Giddens, a sociologist, explains that “culture is key to shaping an individual's identity, providing a sense of belonging and continuity.” The goal is not to make the present generation live the life of generations past, no! Rather, it is to instil a deeper sense of appreciation of the past and to fortify a sense of identity and belonging.

For example, producing positive, educative documentaries about different aspects of tribal traditions and lifestyles will both educate and captivate young viewers. There is a marked difference when documentaries about us are made by journalism firms from overseas, as they tell our story the way they want. We need to tell our history ourselves in ways that are more exciting and inspiring than textbooks or lectures could, especially because today’s young people learn better visually.

We have a growing gap in cultural knowledge between generations. Think of a generation that grew up speaking the native language, which is followed by a generation that completely has no access to the native language.

The common feeling among the older generations is that the young ones are defiant of traditional ways. The interaction is negative as the two groups don’t have a convergence point; one sees the culture as a treasure, and another sees it as an irrelevant antique.

Documentaries can attempt to bridge this gap by resonating traditional practices with today’s world without losing their essence. Such harmonies can be forged in music, artistic works, literature, and storytelling. One medium that can communicate this mix at once is a documentary.

Cultural knowledge is also fundamental in instilling morals and character formation. The new tides of our times are stronger than we think, and many young people globally are swept by the popular trends of new ways and new values from the West. Family values, human sexuality, personhood, dignity, community spirit, etc., are all important values which have deep roots in our cultures. These are important for young people, as they form their integral identity before they are told what to be or believe out there.

According to recent studies, children exposed to cultural stories from an early age tend to develop greater empathy and resilience. Studies also show that the decline of oral cultural storytelling affects youth identity (Yamkela Ntwalana, Nomasomi H. Matiso, Preserving Human Culture in Schools Through Oral Storytelling, EHASS Journal, Sept. 2024).

This highlights the urgent need to make cultural documentaries more accessible to the younger generation. When young people understand their cultural identity, they own it. Culture makes people confident! They are less likely to be influenced by negative outside forces and can approach challenges with care and integrity.

Cultural documentaries can also link the young with their socio-political history and inspire pride and patriotism. This is important as most young people are developing feelings that life is better abroad than here at home in Tanzania. We can share our stories before they fade into the irrecoverable past.

Shimbo Pastory is a Tanzanian advocate for positive social transformation and a student of the Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines. Email: [email protected], website: www.shimbopastory.com