This Council approved the launch of the program’s first phase the heritage axe of collecting and preserving endangered languages and cultures. Once this first step is accomplished, it will be possible to set up the other two phases of the program: mass diffusion and popularization on the Internet, then support for the indigenous communities.

Sorosoro in Action

Gabon and Guatemala!

The Council has approved the very first shootings of the program. In February 2009, the Sorosoro teams will start collecting audiovisual data in Gabon and Guatemala.

In Gabon, Sorosoro will work with African researchers from the Dynamic Laboratory of Language (DDL) in Lyon, as well as with linguists and ethnologists from the Omar Bongo University and from the CENREST (the Gabon National Center of Scientific and Technological Investigation) at Libreville. In Guatemala, the work will be undertaken in partnership with the OKMA centre (Oxlajuuj Keej Maya’ Ajtz’iib’), a research and documentation centre for Mayan languages with 20 years of field experience.

For each of these two countries, the shootings will last two years, with 3-4 one month sessions each year. The first year, 6 languages will be filmed in Guatemala and 8-10 in Gabon. Over the two years, around 12 languages in Guatemala and 20 in Gabon will be filmed in all.

In addition to these two countries, Sorosoro is already planning its 2010 projects in Senegal, Guiana, and New Caledonia. The Council is equally interested in two other countries, Mexico and Cambodia. Research teams have already performed sufficient linguistic analyses, which is necessary to render image gathering pertinent.

Method First, Field After

Filming is set to start. Preparations are underway and the first departure will take place in February 2009. However, before starting to create a database of threatened languages and cultures, a method needed to be agreed upon. For the past few months, linguists and ethnologists have been asked to elaborate a methodology for filming; the final version was approved by the Council. This document, “How to film threatened languages?” covers a list of pertinent themes, both cultural and purely linguistic, that may be addressed in all of the countries where filming is set to take place.

This non-exhaustive list of elements is destined to be commented on and completed over time. It aims to answer the following questions:

• How to film a language?
• How to capture its essence?
• What should be filmed?
• What makes for an interesting object of study both linguistically and culturally?
• What does this or that language bring to the world, why is this language important and precious?
• What makes it unique, what interests us about it?

Internet Diffusion: the second axe

One of Sorosoro’s goals is to help the general public become aware of threatened languages and cultures. This is why short films will be created using the images collected in each country. These films will be broadcast on the Internet and organized by theme: accounts, rituals, scenes of daily life…

Building a European Network

To create the largest possible audience for this linguistic and cultural heritage, Sorosoro is looking to build strong partnerships. Academic partnerships are being developed and the network now needs to expand to other organizations working in the same sector. The ultimate goal is the elaboration of a European network.

Sorosoro is already collaborating with Vigdis Finnbogadottir, the former President of the Republic of Iceland. She is currently UNESCO’s Goodwill Ambassador for Languages and is working at the University of Reykjavik on the creation of a World Centre for Languages in Iceland. Linguamon – House of Languages – in Barcelona has also been contacted; as well as the Volkswagen foundation in Hanover.

By pooling their strengths, all of these actors in the safeguard of languages, will have a better chance to succeed in their respective programs and in creating awareness around the stakes of this important factor of cultural diversity.