Documentary Educational Resources - Subject / Religion & Spirituality / Rituals & Ceremonies / All Films

On Behalf of the Living

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:47:44 GMT

On Behalf of the Living
Buy Now: $320.00

On Behalf of the Living unfolds on two levels: an exploration of humanity’s preoccupation with life after death and the story of one anthropologist’s experiment—taking his lifelong “participatory” research on a Papua New Guinea island to its logical, if counter-intuitive, conclusion.

The film is composed of three strands. The first includes footage that Ton Otto filmed with his parents in the Netherlands, where discussions of faith, God, and eternity are argued out ‘en famille’. The second strand takes place on Baluan Island, where Christian Suhr documents Ton’s reunion with his adoptive family. Before long, the two find themselves entangled in complex disputes —both spiritual and personal. The third strand, in a different register altogether, consists of a series of dialogues between Ton and Christian, one-on-one. Through alternating first-person perspectives, they interrogate and challenge each other with rare directness, questioning the very viability of their experiment—and even the anthropological project as a whole. This strand functions as a Greek Chorus, providing a check on the ideas and insights emerging from the main storyline. While probing the realm of the ancestors, the film’s primary source and frame of reference remain the lived experiences of the people—mostly family—that it embraces with its lens.

Writing about his motivation for making the film, Ton writes that he was interested in confronting “one of the great mysteries of human life: its ending. What happens after our biological demise? What kinds of afterlife are imaginable? How do we continue to relate to our dead loved ones? Being an anthropologist by profession I was driven to immerse myself in different cultural worlds, not only to discover alternative beliefs and practices but also to challenge my own ideas about the continuities and discontinuities between the living and the dead.”

"On Behalf of the Living is a stunning film. It is about Papua New Guinea, and the Netherlands and Denmark, but even more, it is about the nature of human life and death. Terrence Malick-like in its scope, it is also the best film of any kind about religion I have seen in a long time…It is a major piece of work."
— Prof. Joel Robbins, Cambridge University, UK

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Ethnografilm, France, 2024

NAFA Int'l Ethnographic Film Festival, Denmark, 2023

Int'l Festival of Ethnological Film, Macedonia, 2023

Ethnofest - Athens Ethnographic Film Festival. Greece, 2023

European Society for Oceanists, France, 2022

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The Bride Market of Imilchil

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 10:15:17 GMT

The Bride Market of Imilchil
Buy Now: $320.00

Each September, during a three-day event, eligible men and women from the Berber tribes of Aït Benhaddou in central Morocco gather in front of the shrine of Imilchil to select a spouse and marry. Through interviews and observational footage The Bride Market of Imilchil presents an intimate portrayal of the Souk Aam marriage festival, enabling viewers to read the signs and subtle behaviors that shape this unique ritual, and offering insight into local ideas about marriage and divorce. In the final sequences, the film suggests the increasing presence of tourists as an explanation for the declining participation in the festival.

Shot in 1985 and originally released in 1987, the film remains a classic in ethnographic cinema and is an excellent resource for teaching about gender, kinship, and related topics.

“This is an exciting film. The very content captures attention. The photography is superb, not only aesthetically satisfying with its often muted colors, but also sensitive in its lingering portrayal of hands, faces, body language. An old woman praying, a dust storm in slow motion, accelerated shadows of clouds across the tent city: these are scenes of rare beauty…”
— Visual Anthropology Review, Spring 1990

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Light Upon Light

Mon, 2 Oct 2023 11:47:00 GMT

Light Upon Light
Buy Now: $320.00

One day, an Egyptian friend gave Danish anthropologist Christian Suhr a piece of advice: Stop focusing on all the darkness in the world, and look at the light instead. Tired of studying the tensions between Muslim and Western world views in Europe, Suhr began to study religious experiences of light in post-revolutionary Egypt.

Light Upon Light explores how practitioners of Sufi Islam search for light at a time of deep darkness and political turmoil. Throughout his journey in Cairo and back home in Denmark, Suhr engages in conversations with friends and acquaintances while also observing and participating in rituals that open the hearts of practitioners to the light of God. While speaking to universal human concerns, the film offers a nuanced portrayal of religious practices as the filmmaker seeks to understand the experiences of those he meets as well as his own experience of divine light.

“Danish director and anthropologist Christian Suhr’s feature documentary offers a respectful yet compelling peek into the surprisingly diverse communities of Sufi worshippers within the Islamic tradition of Egypt.” – Deborah Young, Film Verdict

“It is groundbreaking that a Danish director (Christian Suhr) is part of an Arab production. It is a symptom of a greater transformation in the cultural power relationship between Western and Arab documentary filmmaking – a relationship that historically has been very unequal. For long there has been a hegemony, where Western production companies have led the productions of documentaries also from the Arab world. Here the hegemony is turned upside down.” — Rasmus Steen, Head of Documentary, IMS

Selected Screenings & Awards

Special Mention, Jean Rouch International Film Festival, France, 2023

Opening Film, Ethnofest – Athens Ethnographic Film Festival, Greece, 2022

World Premiere, CPH:DOX, Denmark, 2022

International Premiere, Cairo IFF, Egypt, 2022
German International Ethnographic Film Festival, Germany, 2024

Dhaka International Film Festival, 2024

Society of the Anthropology of Consciousness Annual Meeting, USA, 2024

Jean Rouch Hors-les-murs Festival, France, 2024
European Association of Social Anthropologists Conference, Spain, 2024

American Academy of Religion, USA, 2023

Society for Visual Anthropology Film and Media Festival, Canada, 2023

Middle Eastern Studies Association (MESA) Film Festival, Canada, 2023

Freiburger Filmforum, Germany, 2023

Tripoli Film Festival, Lebanon, 2023

NAFA Film Festival, Denmark, 2023

Mind & Life Europe Conference, ESRi, Italy, 2023

FIFEQ Montreal, Canada 2023

FIFEQ Ville de Quebec, Canada 2023

Ethnocineca, Austria, 2023

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt, 2023

Arabian Nights Festival, Cinemateque, Denmark, 2022

Amsterdam Ethnographic Filmday, Netherlands, 2022

Ethnokino, Switzerland, 2022

Practices, Aesthetics and Entanglements Conference, Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, 2022

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SanDance!

Wed, 24 Aug 2022 10:15:02 GMT

SanDance!
Buy Now: $320.00

Set in the transcendent dance culture of Africa’s San First Peoples, SanDance! celebrates humanity’s original essence of dance.

This enchanting film follows San dancers from rehearsals in remote villages in Namibia, South Africa and Botswana to their electrifying performances at the Kuru San Dance Festival in Botswana. Held on full moon, the festival draws San dancers and musicians from across southern Africa to the largest annual gathering of San peoples. The film expresses the hopes and dreams of San dancers as they strive to revitalize their beautiful dance traditions, which are threatened by ongoing marginalization of the San’s fragile hunter-gatherer culture.

Radiating from the Kuru San Dance Festival into the visionary world of the trance-healing dance, SanDance! illuminates the spiritual traditions that underpin ancestral San culture across southern Africa.

Proceeds from SanDance! directly benefit the KDT, and the dance groups featured in this film.

“The film’s immersion into Southern Africa’s indigenous cultures touches on a wide berth of subjects including ancient history, recent history, colonialism, genocide, dance, language, subsistence, ecology, and philosophy. Because of its shorter runtime and mass of content, SanDance! will easily fit into many curricula.” – Frank Gunderson, Yearbook of Traditional Music

“SanDance! is billed as a journey to the heart of Africa’s original dance culture, but it’s much more than that. It opens a door into a segment of African culture that is in danger of dying out... Richard Wicksteed has spent decades filming and working with the San, making at least 10 films of varying length. The level of acceptance and their trust in him is clear from this sensitive and well-paced portrayal of an important culture under threat... I watched [the film] more than once, and still want to watch it again. For the dance. For the music. For the story. For the pleasure.” – Michael Britton, Music in Africa

Selected Screenings & Awards

Best Documentary, Garden Route Int'l Film Festival, South Africa, 2021

Award of Excellence, Documentary Feature, Impact Docs Award, 2021

Globe Award, ARFF, Barcelona, Spain 2021

Best Cinematography, International Feature, Thin Line Festival, USA 2021

International Council for Traditional Music, Ghana, 2023

Award of Excellence - Original Score, Docs Without Borders, USA, 2021

Award of Excellence, IndieFEST Film Awards, USA 2021

Best Cinematography, ABQ Indie Film Fest, USA, 2021

Best Feature - Documentary, Bucharest Film Awards, Romania, 2021

Buenos Aires Film Festival, Brazil, 2021

Osaka International Film Festival, Japan, 2021

Garifuna International Indigenous Film Festival, USA, 2021

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Death of the One who Knows

Mon, 9 May 2022 15:10:55 GMT

Death of the One who Knows
Buy Now: $320.00

In the Toraja highlands of Sulawesi (Indonesia), Lumbaa is one of the last masters of ritual speech. After his forced conversion to Pentecostalism, he is compelled to stop all his ritual activity and oratory. Concerned by the disappearance of “those who know”, a young Catholic priest named Yans Sulo sets out in search of the society’s ancient oral genres, seeking to invent new forms that would keep them alive. The two men meet. But it is too late. By recounting the life and death of Lumbaa, the film shows how the intrusion of world religion disrupts a Southeast Asian society.

"This documentary concerns the struggle to keep Aluk Todolo and its rituals alive in the face of government efforts at erasure. There is a beauty, order and moral sophistication to Lumbaa. He gently draws our attention to painful tensions between morality, tradition, religion and daily village life. Rappoport locates his story within a narrative concerning Christianity, colonialism, globalisation and disruption... Rappoport's film documents important and threatened customary knowledge in her focus on this ritual leader and his prowess. Ethnomusicology and documentary cinema are powerful tools in understanding the complex way in which ritual change is a corollary to socio-political contestation. Its brilliance is haunting." – Tanisha Jowsey, The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology

Selected Screenings & Awards

Honorable Mention, Best Documentary, International Council for Traditional Music, 2022

Honourable Mention, Werbner Award for Visual Anthropology, RAI Film Festival, 2021

AAS 2022 Film Expo, USA, 2022

Riga Pasaules Film Festival, 2021

Bayonne Film Festival Haizebegi, 2021

Maison de l'Asie (EFEO), 2021

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Yanomamö Films: Remastered, Vol. 1

Tue, 14 Sep 2021 09:45:14 GMT

Yanomamö Films: Remastered, Vol. 1
Buy Now: $1,000.00

In 1968 and again in 1971 filmmaker Timothy Asch and anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon collaborated on a project to film the Yanomamö Indians. Chagnon had conducted research among the Yanomamö beginning in 1964, and Asch had previously filmed in the field in Africa and Japan. During his first field trip, Chagnon used a 16mm Bolex to film selected aspects of Yanomamö life.

In 1968, Asch joined Chagnon, and from this first collaboration two films were produced: The Feast and Yanomamö: A Multidisciplinary Study. The latter film was made in close cooperation with a team of scientists from the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Michigan. A feast was chosen as the subject of the other film for several reasons: it was a predictable event, and as a single event it could be placed in the social and cultural context of the village. Additionally, the feast illustrated some classical anthropological themes - reciprocity and alliance formation - that would complement Chagnon's own published work, particularly his widely-read Yanomamö: The Fierce People.

Between 1968 and 1971 Chagnon returned annually to the field and filmed alone. The footage shot during this period became more meaningful when viewed as part of the larger body of film on the Yanomamö shot collaboratively by Asch and Chagnon in 1971. During 1971 the team (together with Craig Johnson who recorded synchronous sound) shot an additional 80,000 feet of 16mm color film, using Arriflex, Bolex, Nagra, and Uher equipment. The scene of most of this film is the remote village of Mishimishimabowei-teri, a village whose history and inhabitants Chagnon knew well. Several figures in particular are outstanding: Moawa, a village headman and Dedeheiwä, another headman and the leading shaman in Magical Death.

In all, Asch and Chagnon shot approximately 110,000 feet (50 hours) of film on the Yanomamö, much of it in Mishimishimabowei-teri. Thirty-seven films were produced from this footage and initially used in a national introductory curriculum project supported by the National Science Foundation. Today, they have become classics of visual anthropology and continue to be studied in classrooms throughout the world.

This collection includes these remastered films:

Arrow Game

The Ax Fight

Children's Magical Death

Climbing the Peach Palm

A Father Washes His Children

Magical Death

A Man and His Wife Make a Hammock

A Man Called Bee: Studying the Yanomamö

Moonblood: A Yanomamö Creation Myth

Weeding the Garden

Several of these films are also available on the Yanomamö Shorts DVD collection. This two-disc set includes the following remastered titles on Disc One: Arrow Game, Children's Magical Death, Climbing the Peach Palm, A Father Washes His Children, A Man and His Wife Make a Hammock and Weeding the Garden. Also included on Disc One: Firewood, Tapir Distribution and Tug-of-War. Disc Two includes: Dedeheiwä Rests in His Garden, Children Roasting Meat, A Woman Spins, Children Make a Toy Hammock, Sand Play, Playing in the Rain, Mouth Wrestling, and Young Shaman.

Films in the Yanomamö series:

Arrow Game *†

The Ax Fight †

Bride Service

Children's Magical Death *†

Climbing the Peach Palm *†

A Father Washes His Children *†

The Feast

Firewood *

Jaguar, a Yanomamö Twin Cycle Myth

Magical Death †

A Man and His Wife Make a Hammock *†

A Man Called Bee: Studying the Yanomamö †

Moonblood: A Yanomamö Creation Myth †

Myth of Naro, as told by Dedeheiwä

Myth of Naro, as told by Kaobawä

New Tribes Mission

Ocamo is My Town

Tapir Distribution *

Tug-of-War, Yanomamö *

Weeding the Garden *†

Yanomamö: A Multidisciplinary Study

Yanomamö of the Orinoco

* included on the Yanomamö Shorts compilation
† included in the Yanomamö Films: Remastered, Vol. 1 set

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The Buddha Mummies of North Japan

Fri, 12 Apr 2019 15:49:00 GMT

The Buddha Mummies of North Japan
Buy Now: $295.00

At select temples throughout northeastern Japan, the robed bodies ofself-mummified Buddhist monks are worshipped as “Living Buddhas.” Theyare thought to heal the sick, protect the living, and continue toinspire monks with the intense dedication of their ascetic disciplinecenturies before. The Buddha Mummies of North Japan includes interviewswith the monks who attend to these “Living Buddhas,” descriptions of the dieting regime and austerities required in order to self-mummify, and a rare redressing ritual in which the robes of the mummies are cut intotalismans for devotees.

This is the first independentdocumentary to capture these mummified monks on film, to observe key ceremoniesof their 12-year ritual cycle, and to present interviews with leading scholarson this rare form of contemporary Buddhism.

"Combining ascendant global proclivities toward nature and spirituality alongside the inherent stunning visuals, the historical layers, interwoven doctrines, and surrounding socio-demographic challenges of the subject (rural depopulation, an aging society, declining parishes) offer filmmakers—several of whom are scholars in the field—ample material to explore."
- Caleb Carter, Kyushu University, Religion and Society 2021 Reviews

"The film is particularly suitable for undergraduate and graduateclasses in Japanese studies and Cultural Anthropology, since it deals withtopics such as asceticism, Esoteric Buddhism, and folk religion in Japan,as well as anthropological themes such as materiality and devotionalpractices. Also, Religious Studies courses covering subjects such as deathand the afterlife could widely benefit from the content."
- Filippo Pedretti, Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies

SELECTED AWARDS AND SCREENINGS

Best Cinematography, Documentary Short FilmFestival, Toronto, 2018

Best Documentary, University of Toronto FilmFestival, 2017

Society for the Anthropology of ReligionBiennial Conference, Toronto, 2019

Association of Asian Studies Annual Meeting,Washington, D. C., 2018

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Yanomamö Series

Wed, 5 Sep 2018 11:07:00 GMT

Yanomamö Series
Buy Now: $5,770.00

In 1968 and again in 1971 filmmaker Timothy Asch and anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon collaborated on a project to film the Yanomamö Indians in southern Venezuela and northern Brazil. Chagnon had conducted research among the Yanomamö beginning in 1964, and Asch had previously filmed in the field in Africa and Japan. During his first field trip, Chagnon used a 16mm Bolex to film selected aspects of Yanomamö life.

Several of these films are also available on the Yanomamö Shorts DVD collection, a 2007 re-mastered/authored 2-disc set which also contains eight previously unreleased short Yanomamö films and additional information about the series.

Films in the Yanomamö series:

Arrow Game *†

The Ax Fight †

Bride Service

Children's Magical Death *†

Climbing the Peach Palm *†

A Father Washes His Children *†

The Feast

Firewood *

Jaguar, a Yanomamö Twin Cycle Myth

Magical Death †

A Man and His Wife Make a Hammock *†

A Man Called Bee: Studying the Yanomamö †

Moonblood: A Yanomamö Creation Myth †

Myth of Naro, as told by Dedeheiwä

Myth of Naro, as told by Kaobawä

New Tribes Mission

Ocamo is My Town

Tapir Distribution *

Tug-of-War, Yanomamö *

Weeding the Garden *†

Yanomamö: A Multidisciplinary Study

Yanomamö of the Orinoco

* included on the Yanomamö Shorts compilation
† included in the Yanomamö Films: Remastered, Vol. 1 set

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Yanomamö Short Films

Wed, 5 Sep 2018 11:07:00 GMT

Yanomamö Short Films
Buy Now: $545.00

This 2-DVD set combines 17 short Yanomamö films in a 2007 compilation which contains additional background information about the series. Six of the films on Disc One were remastered in 2021. The updated versions are included here, and are also available in the set Yanomamo Films: Remastered, Vol 1.

Disc One contains all previously released titles:

Arrow Game *

Children's Magical Death *

Climbing the Peach Palm *

A Father Washes His Children *

Firewood

A Man and His Wife Make a Hammock *

Tapir Distribution

Tug-of-War

Weeding the Garden *

* Remastered 2021

Disc Two collects eight previously unreleased short films from the series. They only exist as what Asch called "slopticals," duplicated workprints with optical tracks that he assembled in order to receive feedback from fellow filmmakers. Although they lack narration or translated subtitles, they show many interesting aspects of social life:

Dedeheiwä Rests in His Garden (6 min)

The warmth of adult-child interaction is shown as children play with the resting Dedeheiwä.

Children Roasting Meat (5 min)

Several children sit and play together. One roasts meat and bananas over a small fire.

A Woman Spins (8 min)

A woman reclines in the shade, spinning while a baby tries to play with her thread.

Children Make a Toy Hammock (7 min)

While running around and playing, a few children work on a smaller version of the hammocks their parents make.

Sand Play (19 min)

Boys and girls aged four to seven sit in a tight circle and play around a sand pile.

Playing in the Rain (8 min)

Children and adults play tug of war in the rain.

Mouth Wrestling (5 min)

Teenagers wrestle over a wad of tobacco.

Young Shaman (10 min)

A young shaman, still an initiate, gets sick and loses control on the hallucinogen ebene.

Films in the Yanomamö series:

Arrow Game *†

The Ax Fight †

Bride Service

Children's Magical Death *†

Climbing the Peach Palm *†

A Father Washes His Children *†

The Feast

Firewood *

Jaguar, a Yanomamö Twin Cycle Myth

Magical Death †

A Man and His Wife Make a Hammock *†

A Man Called Bee: Studying the Yanomamö †

Moonblood: A Yanomamö Creation Myth †

Myth of Naro, as told by Dedeheiwä

Myth of Naro, as told by Kaobawä

New Tribes Mission

Ocamo is My Town

Tapir Distribution *

Tug-of-War, Yanomamö *

Weeding the Garden *†

Yanomamö: A Multidisciplinary Study

Yanomamö of the Orinoco

* included on the Yanomamö Shorts compilation
† included in the Yanomamö Films: Remastered, Vol. 1 set

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Candles for New Years

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 08:16:00 GMT

Candles for New Years
Buy Now: $295.00

For 200 years, groups of Lahu have been migrating from southwestern China into the highlands of Southeast Asia's "Golden Triangle" region. Though they share much with other migrants in the ethnic patchwork of the region, the Lahu maintain a vigorous sense of themselves as a distinct people. New Years is their prime time for celebrating what it means to be Lahu. Candles For New Years is the first visual portrait of Lahu life prepared for English-speaking viewers. Anthropologist Jacquetta Hill has followed for more than a decade the fate of a group of Lahu who cleared the forest and built a community north of Chiang Mai, Thailand. In this film, she describes the Lahu New Year as celebrated by the community: the elaborate preparations to appease the spirits they rely upon to bring them good fortune, the dancing & feasting and the mingling with friends and relatives from sister villages.

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