Movies: Anthropology

Several filmmakers discuss the introduction of Western modes of communication, especially film, to native cultures. While these tools can help a native people to document their own culture, it can also "swallow" their culture, encroaching upon and ir...

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Biography of the ideas and teachings of Marcel Mauss, considered the founder of Anthropology who lived and wrote in the first half of the 20th century, in France. His work is discussed through the testimony of three students, carried out in Paris bet...

Short documentary about the traditions, lives and culture of the Qadiri tariqa of Iran's Kurdistan...

This film depicts a moment of flirtation between N!ai, the young wife of /Gunda, and her great-uncle /Ti!kay. The two share a "joking relationship," a Ju/'hoan kin relationship which provides opportunities for casual intimacy, emotional release, and ...

Ju/'hoan women often share an intimate sociability and spend many hours together discussing their lives, enjoying each other's company and children. In this short film, Ju/'hoan women rest, talk and nurse their babies while lying in the shade of a ba...

A dark and magical visit to the fabled Parisian address Rue Fontaine 42. This was the residence of André Breton, the mastermind of surrealism, who surrounded himself with an impressive collection of modern, Western art and ethnographic objects from O...

A three-act film-essay about memory and the historical-cultural ties of the Finno- Ugric peoples. The first chapter is dedicated to ancient Bearese of memory, such as Karelian cliff drawings, Kalevala runo song and Khanty bear feast rituals. the s...

Explores the historical and contemporary significance of salt, detailing its extraction from the earth and oceans, its role in food preservation, livestock nutrition, and its various industrial uses. The film highlights how salt has shaped human civi...

“The shepherdess” is a short ethnographic film inspired by Joyce, an 80 year old woman who has spent her whole life farming in Eastern Ontario. While this film is largely centred on Joyce’s narrative about her life, it is also about Joyce’s flock of ...

Captain Kleinschmidt leads an expedition sponsored by the Carnegie Museum to the arctic regions of Alaska and Siberia to study the natives and the animal life....

Inside the Khmer Rouge takes an in-depth look at the history, domination, and current status of the Khmer Rouge (a Communist regime) in Cambodia. The film features revealing interviews with soldiers of both the modern Khmer Rouge and those who fight ...

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From time immemorial, the people of the island used to leave the clothes of their dead to the sea, so that the mother of the sea could turn them into imaginary people. The ignorant Musa finds the gold-embroidered pieces of southern women's trousers ...

Long thought to be the first film ever made by an Indigenous filmmaker, Black Fire examines the situation of First Nations people in the early 1970s through politically charged discussions, comical vox pops, and interviews with luminaries of the time...

Ãjãí is a fun game in which only the players' heads can touch the ball. This practice, shared by few indigenous peoples in the world, is present among the Myky and Manoki populations of Mato Grosso, who speak a language of an isolated linguistic fami...

Thanassakis, a 13-year-old boy, is staying with his grandparents in the Greek village of Ano Ravenia, while his parents stay with his younger brother in Zurich, Switzerland. It was filmed during three periods: winter in the village, summer in the vil...

“The barbaric negro inhabitants of an African village are shown in their various forms of activity, the first view being a photograph of a number of children of all sizes, shapes and degrees of African beauty. Following this is a match between two gi...

Mr. Burbridge's party slew three giant gorillas, one weighing something like 450 pounds. Two of these were sent to the Belgian Government and one to the Smithsonian Institution. The explorer also brought away with him three young gorillas, one of whi...

A film about Mali's ancient culture, and this culture's position in the country today. Filmed with a Malian crew, cut to the beat of Malian music, the film offers an alluring mosaic of perspectives....