Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller and Jeremy Newberger estimate they have been making films together for about 14 years but that partnership was severely tested over the use of a single wall outlet in Bolivia.
“We were staying at a five-star hotel, which meant that you could see five stars through as hole in the ceiling, and we were all jockeying for the one electrical outlet in the whole hotel. We were even fighting with the linguists for battery power,” said Newberger.
Powering up their camera and audio equipment was just one of the challenges the three filmmakers faced as they followed world renowned linguists David Harrison and Gregory Anderson around the world hunting down the last remaining speakers of various soon to be extinct languages.
Their four-year search took them to Bolivia, India, Siberia and to a Native American reservation in Arizona.
“To say we were off the beaten path is a bit of an understatement,” Miller said, adding that the mosquitoes in Siberia were an unexpected challenge – for their sound equipment and their nerves. “In fact I’m not sure the linguists even like us anymore after all of these adventures.”
But their patience may have finally paid off. Last month Kramer, Miller and Newberger learned their feature-length documentary, “The Linguists” had been accepted into the Spectrum Documentary Spotlight Category for this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
“We never thought we had a chance of getting into Sundance so when we got the call I couldn’t even speak, Miller recalls. Then, Kramer says, “I heard all of this screaming in the office. Dan and I did one of the most embarrassing high-fives and hugged each other.”
And then they got back to work polishing the final print.
According to Kramer, their film started out as a documentary about Yiddish, a dying language spoken mostly by European Jews through the mid 1900s. “Our families all spoke Yiddish at one time but at some point it was decided not to hand that down.”
But as they began to collect information about Yiddish they realized thousands of other languages were being lost as well.
“It started as something very personal and turned into a movie that is more universal,” Kramer explained.
Nevertheless, they recognized that making an entertaining film about endangered languages would be a challenge.
Until they met Harrison and Anderson.
“They were so passionate and hilarious,” said Newberger.
The dedicated linguists easily convinced the filmmakers that capturing endangered languages before they disappear is a matter of utmost urgency. Not only are the languages being lost but the world is also losing “centuries of knowledge,” Miller said.
Thanks to Harrison and Anderson’s vivacious characters, the filmmakers believe “The Linguists” will amuse and educate its audiences. As to their first trip to the Sundance Film Festival Miller admits, “We are still pinching ourselves.”
In no particular order their goals for the festival are to:
“Live our 15 minutes of fame to the absolute fullest, bring awareness opf endangered languages to as many people as possible and” Newberger adds with an audible wink “get our pictures taken with celebrities.”
“The Linguists” screens:
Friday, Jan. 18, Noon, Egyptian Theatre, Park City Saturday, Jan. 19, 12:45 p.m., Broadway Centre Cinemas V, SLC Saturday, Jan. 19, 11:30 p.m., Prospector Square Theatre, Park City Wednesday, Jan. 23, 8:30 p.m., Holiday Village Cinema II, Park City