La Légende de l'homme loutre
Province de Vinh Long, Vietnam Série-Collection : Les Seigneurs des animaux

Jacques Malaterre
1995 - 26 min - Super 16 mm - Couleur - France

A long time ago in the Mekong Delta there existed an ages old tradition : men fished with the help of otters. Of that time there remain only legends scattered in memory. This film is the story of the last man who knew how to train otters.
Bao's was a family of fishermen from father to son. They fished with otters. But as far as he was concerned it lasted only a short time, for when he was still a boy, the war came along and everything changed. The otters disappeared and Bao became a farmer.
Two years ago he found a young otter in a trap set by fishermen. Bao took him in and, at least for a while, resumed the family tradition again.
Nowadays a free otter is in danger, especially if it isn't afraid of humans. Fishermen poison otters because they destroy everything. The animals are killed for their hides and their meat.
Now that his otter has grown up, Bao wants to set it free again ; so he sets out in search of a wild place, far from humans.