A Jew in Kumasi: Hebrew, Mosquitoes, and the Deluge (Institutional Use)

Mosquitoes have killed more humans and other animals than all of the world’s wars combined. A Jew in Kumasi: Hebrew, Mosquitoes, and the Deluge a hybrid documentary by Shalom Gorewitz features Dr. Kofi Owusu-Daaku, one of Africa’s leading Entomologists, providing a “101” field lecture about mosquitoes especially in relationship to Malaria. Gorewitz adds an aesthetic layer by interspersing short, often recurrent metaphoric gestures that more abstractly describe his thoughts about what it means to make art about scientific subjects. Since Ghana is a very religious culture, Gorewitz repeats the Lord’s Prayer, using several performed versions including one in Hebrew. The deluge is metaphysical, electronic, data breaking down is compared to speaking in tongues. A young boy dances on a beach. A walk into the bush, flirting with danger. Whether one agrees with Owusu-Daaku’s radical solution or not, this is a new way of looking at the border of interspecies struggle.