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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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A Year in the Field

Thu, 24 Sep 2020 11:16:57 GMT

A Year in the Field
Buy Now: $295.00

Created by filmmaker Dennis Lanson and anthropologist George Gmelch (author of "In the Field: Life and Work in Cultural Anthropology"), A Year in the Field follows  Estonian anthropologist Joonas Plaan as he studies the impact of climate change in a Newfoundland fishing village. The film shows how cultural anthropologists carry out their research, revealing the value of long-term ethnographic fieldwork – particularly participant observation, the quintessential method of cultural anthropology.

Plaan is a member of the Too Big To Ignore research network and avid advocate for small scale fisheries. At first, he struggles to gain acceptance among local people, some of whom suspect he is a Russian spy. However, once he begins working alongside the fishers as a crew member on crab and lobster boats, he not only develops rapport but gains their respect and trust. By following Plaan, the film illustrates all the main elements of field research: from moving into a foreign community, learning the language, defining one's role, living as closely as possible to the ways of the locals, and recording their culture for a year or more.

A Year in the Field highlights the value of local knowledge while also showing how the long-term and immersive nature of fieldwork becomes a  transformative experience for the individual who engages in it.   The film is a valuable resource for anthropology students  and scholars alike interested in an intimate insight into the trials, successes, and unearthings of long term fieldwork.

"Over the course of a year, the film shows environmental anthropologist Joonas Plaan's transition from stranger to community member, fisherman and friend. In so doing, it offers deep insights into the practice of ethnography... valuable to students and professionals alike."
– Reade Davis, Nipissing University

"A Year in the Field weaves its observation of a young anthropologist's rigorous fieldwork methods with his personal story in a Newfoundland fishing village and his discovery that the human cost of overfishing and global warming is the end of a cultural world. ...a valuable addition to introductory and methods courses in anthropology."
– Peter Biella, San Francisco State University

"The reflective nature of all cultural anthropological field work, which links what people say, what people do, and how they tell their stories, is visibly central (in A Year in the Field), while numerous snippets of key ethical principles are interwoven in everyday scenes. This film will make a great addition to both online and offline lessons in ethnographic practice."
– Lynda Mannik, York University

"An intelligent and sensitive film, with numerous insights that ring true for all ethnographic research."
– Adrian Tanner, Memorial University of Newfoundland

"All will recognize the pitfalls and gaffes, the pain and the joy of fieldwork through the eyes of an Estonian anthropology student as he does a year's doctoral research in a small fishing village in Newfoundland."
– Russ Bernard, Dir. Institute of Social Research, Arizona State University

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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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Young Bird Season

Fri, 24 Aug 2018 12:27:00 GMT

Young Bird Season
Buy Now: $295.00

Competitive pigeon racing in New England is featured in this short film that reveals the camaraderie and competition of the niche sport and its participants. As their treasured birds race hundreds of miles night and day, the men of the Braintree Racing Pigeon Club pass the time with chitchat, obsessive stat-keeping, and affable trash-talk adorned with a Boston brogue. Director Nellie Kluz's verité portrait briefly immerses the viewer into a menagerie of crowded coops and clubhouses, punctuated with flourishes both artistic and avian.
— Ted Mott, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

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Youth and the Man of Property

Fri, 24 Aug 2018 12:27:00 GMT

Youth and the Man of Property
Buy Now: $340.00

A suburban couple calls the police to intervene after being harassed by a youth.

This film is included on the Pittsburgh Police Short Films DVD collection.

Films in the Pittsburgh Police series

901/904

After the Game

A Forty Dollar Misunderstanding

The 4th and 5th and the Exclusionary Rule

Henry is Drunk

The Informant

Inside/Outside Station Nine

Investigation of a Hit and Run w/ Legal Discussion

Manifold Controversy

Nothing Hurt But My Pride

Three Domestics

Twenty One Dollars or Twenty One Days

Youth and the Man of Property

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Yucatec Maya Deaf Sign

Fri, 24 Aug 2018 12:27:00 GMT

Yucatec Maya Deaf Sign
Buy Now: $295.00

In 1976, Hubert Smith set out with a group of researchers to visually document Yucatec Maya society within the village of Chican. This project resulted in the 4-part series, The Living Maya. During filming, however, it was impossible to ignore the use of sign language in the village. Smith and his team saw a lot of the deaf residents, filmed them often, and went back to have these sign exchanges translated. Now it is time to share a story solely about them.

The Yucatec Maya Deaf Sign DVD contains three distinct sequences: the first, A Search for the Origins of Yucatec Maya Deaf Sign, follows linguist Robert Johnson of Gallaudet University in his study of the extent of Yucatec Maya Deaf Sign. At the time, genetic researchers believed that the high incidence of deafness — and thus of sign language use — was limited to Chican. Johnson set out to ascertain whether the Chican use of sign language was, in fact, an isolated case or if it was widespread among the Maya. Johnson travels throughout the region and finds both a high incidence of deafness and widespread knowledge of sign language, and ultimately gathers evidence that Yucatec Deaf Sign is, indeed, a language and not simply a gestural system.

The filmed conversations, Snake Encounter and Courtship & Marriage provide an opportunity to see Yucatec Deaf Sign in use. Each conversation is shown more than once, to provide both the real-time experience and annotated versions offering access to the meaning of the stories told. Margaret Mead, who served as an advisor to the project before her death once remarked, “The language is one thing, but what is remarkable is that the entire community uses it!”

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Yuri Vella's World

Fri, 24 Aug 2018 12:27:00 GMT

Yuri Vella's World
Buy Now: $320.00

The documentary follows Yuri Vella, writer and social activist of the Forest Nenets living in West-Siberia. He left his home village ten years ago to lead the life of a reindeer herder in the taiga. The little unique world he created there was meant to offer protection from the alcoholism and unemployment that sadly poses a serious threat to the indigenous peoples of Siberia. To give his grandchildren proper education in their natural environment and teach them reindeer herding skills, he establishes an elementary school in his winter camp. Unfortunately, Yuri Vella's world is but an oasis of traditional lifestyle in one of the largest oil-producing regions of Russia.

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Yákwa

Fri, 24 Aug 2018 12:26:00 GMT

Yákwa
Buy Now: $320.00

This is a four-part documentary about the Yákwa, the most important ritual of the Enauênê- Nauê Indians of Brazil. For seven months every year, the spirits are venerated with offerings of food, song and dance so they will protect the community.

The World Outside the Rock - The Yákwa festivities open with the Enauênê-Nauê preparing for the big fish-catch by making salt, canoes and fish traps. Fearing the spirits, the Indians make new flutes, and explain their sacred significance.

Dataware's Revenge - For two months, the men leave the village in groups and build dams on forest waterways to catch fish as they return from spawning. Xinare, the village elder, tells the myth of time in which a dam spontaneously builds itself, until one day Dataware, a civilizing hero, decides to take revenge of the fish.

Harikare: The Spirit's Host - After the fish-catch, everyone returns with smoked fish that will be offered to the spirits and eaten by the villagers until the end of the ritual. The stormy entrance of the spirits into the village begins the most intense and spectacular phase of the ceremony.

The Little Cassava Girl - As the celebration goes on, the Indians cut down and plant cassava root on the collective fields, the field of the Yákwa spirit. The Indians relive the myth of the girl who was buried by her mother and who transformed herself into the first cassava root.

Films in the Rituals series

Yákwa, The Banquet of the Spirits

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Yangon Film School

Fri, 24 Aug 2018 12:26:00 GMT

Yangon Film School
Buy Now: $340.00

Films made by participants of Yangon Film School workshops in Myanmar 2007.Since its inception in 2005, the non-profit organisation Yangon Film School has brought together experienced filmmaking tutors from around the world and young Burmese men and women with some prior experience in the media for residential training in all aspects of filmmaking - from screenwriting to editing - with a particular focus on documentary.

DISC 1 — Contains the work of 12 new participants from The Art of Documentary Filmmaking Beginners Workshop 2007, who were given the opportunity to grapple with the technical, artistic and ethical aspects of the genre by producing their own short documentaries on the topic of children in Myanmar. This DVD contains their first film exercises: Stories from the Princess Hotel; their final films: Children in Myanmar; and a short film About the Beginners' Workshop.

DISC 2 — Stories of Change are projects by students of several YFS courses completed during The Art of Documentary Filmmaking Stage Two in 2007. Made for two NGOs, Metta Development Foundation and International Development Enterprise, these documentaries portray people from Kachin State, southern Shan State and the Ayeyarwaddy Delta who describe, in their own emotive and surprisingly humorous words, how development organisations are making a real difference to their lives.

This DVD also includes short films About the Stage Two Workshop and About the Screenwriting Workshop, another 2007 YFS course in which nine Burmese writers learned how to turn their story ideas into screenplays.

The body of work on these two DVDs bears witness to a growing nucleus of talented young Burmese filmmakers who are striving to create challenging work in an environment notorious for discouraging independent media. Their films provide a hitherto unseen window on the lives of ordinary people in Myanmar.

DISC 1 : Films from the 2007 Yangon Film School Beginners WorkshopStories from the Princess Hotel - Seven short film exercises.

Children in Myanmar - Four short films:

A Piece of Eden - Dir. and Editor: Aung Nwai Htway (16 min). A touching yet unsentimental film about how a 12-year-old boy suffering from muscular dystrophy finds support and friendship at a remarkable centre for the disabled run by an NGO in Yangon's Insein township.

Far from Home - Dir: Thi Ha Thwe (11 min). Thirteen-year-old Maung Lin is working on a farm 500 miles away from his native village near Monywa. Director Thi Ha Thwe tries to coax him out of his reticence in order to find out how he copes with homesickness and isolation.

Happy Days - Dir: Wai Mar Nyunt, Camera: Thaiddhi, Sound: Dashi Htu Ra, Editor: George Cragg (13 min). A charming, uplifting portrait of the director's irrepressibly ebullient next-door neighbour, 13-year-old Shoon Lei.

Water Boy - Dir: Tay Zar Win Tun (15 min). This short documentary describes 13-year-old Aung Myat Thu's strenuous job at a water purification factory. During his breaks, we hear about his family in Twante and learn what gives him the strength to persevere in the face of hardship and separation from his loved ones.

DISC 2: Films from the 2007 Yangon Film School Stage Two Workshop

Beyond the Tsunami - Dir: Shin Daewe (21 min). Ko Myint Oo and Ma Pu live with their four sons in Aung Myay Thar in the Ayeyarwaddy Delta of southern Myanmar. Like many others in their village, they lost everything in the Tsunami. They tell the story of that fateful day and describe how an NGO's programmes are helping them to rebuild and improve their lives.

Stepping Up - Dir: Pe Maung Same (21 min). Ko Tin Tun is a farmer eking out a living in the Ayeyarwaddy Delta. His survival rests on one basic need: water. His fortunes are transformed by the arrival of a simple but life-changing piece of technology in the shape of a treadle pump from IDE.

A Farmer's Tale - Dir. and Editor: Lay Thida (19 min). This short documentary offers an insight into the life of a former poppy grower in the Pa-O region of Myanmar's southern Shan State and shows how Metta Development Foundation's Farmer Field School programme is helping him and others like him grow alternatives to opium and earn a living from a harsh, unyielding land.

The Merry Widows of Nam Mun Village - Dir. and Editor: Kyi Phyu Shin (23 min). This film captures the dynamic widows of Nam Mun village in Kachin State as Metta Development Foundation's Participatory Action Research (PAR) programme enables them to spearhead projects - from pig rearing to rice banks and savings and loans - that are transforming lives from abject poverty into economic viability.

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