THE BOOK OF PARADISE HAS NO AUTHOR

live cinema performance / single channel video

live presentation premiered at Other Cinema, San Francisco 2010.

expanded single channel video version: 78 minutes, 2025

In this eclectic spin on the concert film, Ross Lipman transforms footage of one of his celebrated live documentary performances into a new video essay that’s at once an archeological dig and a riveting history. Its underlying subject is the origin of civilization – as comprised entirely of media clips. In the summer of 1971 Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos announced the discovery of a tribe of primitive cave dwellers who had lived in complete isolation for thousands of years in the rainforest of Mindanao. The Tasaday indigenous group represented a chance to witness firsthand the roots of our culture, and to explore the very essence of humanity. They also—as we learn—offered Marcos and his cronies a unique political opportunity.

The Book of Paradise Has No Author presents this stunning story entirely through its portrayal in differing accounts by western media, integrating rare ethnographic footage, vintage television broadcasts, recordings, and still photographs. Reflecting on each other like shards of broken glass, these third-party depictions reveal as much about the telling as the tale --at once detailing the events, and retaining the mystery of our haunting encounter with the Tasaday.

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