Jan van Boeckel, STICHTING ReRun: It is Killing the Clouds

lecture and video projection

Jan van Boeckel and Cecile Verhei of ReRun Producties presented an overview of the films that his group made and presented one from their film archive. The following films were introduced and screened: Reveal to Survive (subject: the Amsterdam Film Festival that took place in November 1993 with the same title, the dilemma of indigenous peoples vis-à-vis the media, 1993, 25 min), The Earth is Crying (subject: Native Americans visiting Europe and commenting on the impact of Western civilization, 1986, 80 min), The Betrayal by Technology (subject: French philosopher Jacques Ellul speaking on the autonomy of the “Technological System,” 1992, 50 min), It is Killing the Clouds (subject: the confrontation between Aboriginal Dreamtime and Westerners' dream of Progress, 1992, 150 min), Kayapo – Out of the Forest (Beckham, subject: Kayapo and Brazil, 1988, 60 min).


Jan van Boeckel is an artist-educator, anthropologist and film-maker. Currently, he is professor in art education at the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn. Previously, Jan was program director in design theory at the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavik. Jan has regularly taught at Schumacher College and the Centre for Environment and Development Studies (CEMUS) in Uppsala, Sweden.

His areas of interest and concern are the world-views and environmental philosophies of indigenous peoples. Together with film-making group ReRun Productions, he produced a series of documentaries on this theme, as well as films on philosophers such as Jacques Ellul and Arne Naess, who provide a critical analysis of Western industrial society.