WATCHING A MOVIE IN TANNU TUVA.

WATCHING A MOVIE IN TANNU TUVA. Part One of “The Quest for Tannu Tuva” quotes from a 1931 book by a German ethnographer who was the first non-Russian to visit Tannu Tuva. He described the Tuvans coming from miles around to see a movie. The Kyzyl power plant was only operated when a movie was being shown. The Part One Youtube video shows the 1926 movie that the Tuvans were watching when the ethnographer visited. The Tuvans did not know Russian and so could not follow the plot or tell who was on which side. Yet they loved the movie and were especially excited by the scenes showing horses. They were, however, very angry when the movie cut to close ups. They felt they were being cheated when they saw only a face or a foot on the screen. They wanted to see a whole human being.