Filming Pilgrimage to Ya’a: Toward a Participatory Filmmaking

Abstract

Ya’a, an Oromo village located in Beni Shangul and Gumuz Regional State in Ethiopia, is one of the most significant Muslim pilgrimage centers in Ethiopia. Ya’a became a pilgrimage center when a Tijānī shaykh, Al-Faki Ahmad Umar, died there in 1953. This article is about the process of making the film titled Pilgrimage to Ya’a. Matsunami, the filmmaker, participated in the pilgrimage ritual and involved the residents of Ya’a in making the film. We describe how Matsunami accompanied a group of pilgrims traveling on foot and how the festival performed at Ya’a was organized by the residents. The film was screened at Ya’a in October 2007, and we also detail how the viewers, the residents of Ya’a, reacted to the film. This study reconsiders the collaborative approach to making ethnographic films and examines the possibility of a participatory filmmaking.