Browse Titles - 196 results
Acting Like a Thief
written by Shashwati Talukdar, fl. 1996 and P. Kerim Friedman, fl. 2006; directed by P. Kerim Friedman, fl. 2006 and Shashwati Talukdar, fl. 1996; produced by P. Kerim Friedman, fl. 2006 and Shashwati Talukdar, fl. 1996 (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 2005), 15 mins
Acting Like a Thief is about a Chhara tribal theatre group in Ahmedabad, India. Starting with the arrest of playwright DaKxin Bajrange (Chhara), the documentary reveals how the Budhan Theatre has transformed the lives of adults and children within the community.
Sample
written by Shashwati Talukdar, fl. 1996 and P. Kerim Friedman, fl. 2006; directed by P. Kerim Friedman, fl. 2006 and Shashwati Talukdar, fl. 1996; produced by P. Kerim Friedman, fl. 2006 and Shashwati Talukdar, fl. 1996 (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 2005), 15 mins
Description
Acting Like a Thief is about a Chhara tribal theatre group in Ahmedabad, India. Starting with the arrest of playwright DaKxin Bajrange (Chhara), the documentary reveals how the Budhan Theatre has transformed the lives of adults and children within the community. Acting Like a Thief is about a Chhara tribal theatre group in Ahmedabad, India. Starting with the arrest of playwright DaKxin Bajrange (Chhara), the documentary reveals how the Budhan The...
Acting Like a Thief is about a Chhara tribal theatre group in Ahmedabad, India. Starting with the arrest of playwright DaKxin Bajrange (Chhara), the documentary reveals how the Budhan Theatre has transformed the lives of adults and children within the community. Acting Like a Thief is about a Chhara tribal theatre group in Ahmedabad, India. Starting with the arrest of playwright DaKxin Bajrange (Chhara), the documentary reveals how the Budhan Theatre has transformed the lives of adults and children within the community. Chhara tribals were notified as "natural criminals" by the British in 1871 and imprisoned in a labor camp in Ahmedabad. After Indian independence, they were de-notified, but the stigma of being a "born criminal" follows them to this day. The Budhan Theatre was inspired by the activism work of Mahasweta Devi.
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Field of Study
Anthropology
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Shashwati Talukdar, fl. 1996, P. Kerim Friedman, fl. 2006, Dakxin Bajrange, fl. 2005
Author / Creator
Shashwati Talukdar, fl. 1996, P. Kerim Friedman, fl. 2006
Date Published / Released
2005
Publisher
Documentary Educational Resources (DER)
Topic / Theme
Chhara, Politics, Theatrical productions, Tribal and national groups, Cultural change and history, Cultural identity, Ethnic relations, Indigenous peoples, Ethnography, Haryanvi
Copyright Message
© Documentary Educational Resources
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Add & Mabel's Punkin Center
written by Dillon Bustin, fl. 1982; directed by Dillon Bustin, fl. 1982 and Richard Kane, 1944-; produced by Richard Kane, 1944- (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 1984), 16 mins
Add & Mabel's Punkin Center is about memories. It's about the urge to collect things from the past to help make vivid those cherished times. But it's also about today, about two old-timers whose tender and jovial banter reveals a contentment with the present derived only from knowing their past. To experience Punk...
Sample
written by Dillon Bustin, fl. 1982; directed by Dillon Bustin, fl. 1982 and Richard Kane, 1944-; produced by Richard Kane, 1944- (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 1984), 16 mins
Description
Add & Mabel's Punkin Center is about memories. It's about the urge to collect things from the past to help make vivid those cherished times. But it's also about today, about two old-timers whose tender and jovial banter reveals a contentment with the present derived only from knowing their past. To experience Punkin Center in Southern Indiana is to experience the value of reminiscence. Today, we see a homespun folk museum filled with hundreds of...
Add & Mabel's Punkin Center is about memories. It's about the urge to collect things from the past to help make vivid those cherished times. But it's also about today, about two old-timers whose tender and jovial banter reveals a contentment with the present derived only from knowing their past. To experience Punkin Center in Southern Indiana is to experience the value of reminiscence. Today, we see a homespun folk museum filled with hundreds of thousands of antiques and curiosities Add and Mabel Gray have collected since the 1920s. Each item inspires stories about vaudeville acts and organ grinders, Kraft cheese parties and Western Swing, Depression days and Amish neighbors. Over the years, Punkin Center grew to become the hub - the true backbone of their Midwestern community, fulfilling a need for isolated rural folk to be in touch with each other and the rest of the world. Add & Mabel's Punkin Center is about memories. It's about the urge to collect things from the past to help make vivid those cherished times. But it's also about today, about two old-timers whose tender and jovial banter reveals a contentment with the present derived only from knowing their past. To experience Punkin Center in Southern Indiana is to experience the value of reminiscence. Today, we see a homespun folk museum filled with hundreds of thousands of antiques and curiosities Add and Mabel Gray have collected since the 1920s. Each item inspires stories about vaudeville acts and organ grinders, Kraft cheese parties and western swing, Depression days and Amish neighbors. Over the years, Punkin Center grew to become the hub - the true backbone of their Midwestern community, fulfilling a need for isolated rural folk to be in touch with each other and the rest of the world.
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Field of Study
Anthropology
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Dillon Bustin, fl. 1982, Richard Kane, 1944-, Mabel Gray, fl. 1984, Add Gray, fl. 1984, Mark Hammer, 1937-2007
Author / Creator
Dillon Bustin, fl. 1982, Richard Kane, 1944-
Date Published / Released
1984
Publisher
Documentary Educational Resources (DER)
Speaker / Narrator
Mark Hammer, 1937-2007
Person Discussed
Mabel Gray, fl. 1984, Add Gray, fl. 1984
Topic / Theme
American, Folklore, Museums, Collecting and collectables, Cultural change and history, Ethnography, Americans
Copyright Message
© Documentary Educational Resources
×
African Dance: Sand, Drum, and Shostakovich
written by Ken Glazebrook, fl. 1970 and Alla Kovgan, 1973-; directed by Ken Glazebrook, fl. 1970 and Alla Kovgan, 1973-; produced by Ken Glazebrook, fl. 1970 and Alla Kovgan, 1973- (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 2002), 1 hour 10 mins
This documentary explores African contemporary dance through eight modern dance companies from Africa, Europe and Canada that participated in the Festival International de Nouvelle Danse in Montreal, Canada in 1999.
Sample
written by Ken Glazebrook, fl. 1970 and Alla Kovgan, 1973-; directed by Ken Glazebrook, fl. 1970 and Alla Kovgan, 1973-; produced by Ken Glazebrook, fl. 1970 and Alla Kovgan, 1973- (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 2002), 1 hour 10 mins
Description
This documentary explores African contemporary dance through eight modern dance companies from Africa, Europe and Canada that participated in the Festival International de Nouvelle Danse in Montreal, Canada in 1999. This documentary explores African contemporary dance through eight modern dance companies from Africa, Europe and Canada that participated in the Festival International de Nouvelle Danse in Montreal, Canada in 1999. Interviews, includ...
This documentary explores African contemporary dance through eight modern dance companies from Africa, Europe and Canada that participated in the Festival International de Nouvelle Danse in Montreal, Canada in 1999. This documentary explores African contemporary dance through eight modern dance companies from Africa, Europe and Canada that participated in the Festival International de Nouvelle Danse in Montreal, Canada in 1999. Interviews, including those with dance historians Yacouba Konate and Alponse Tierou, add insight to beautifully-photographed performances. What emerges is a fascinating diversity of contemporary African dance themes and styles. Exploring the interactions between tradition and modernism, the consequences of colonization and urbanization, the self-expression of women through dance, and the roles of masculinity and family relationships, the film is a unique source of information and inspiration for dancers, dance historians, choreographers, critics, as well as those interested in African culture, past and present. "More than ever, as a forum for cross-cultural exchanges, this ninth edition of the Festival showcases African dance because it appears to be undergoing a cultural and artistic renaissance nurtured by the contact and clash between tradition and modernity, and by a reevaluation of its global links." — Festival International de Nouvelle Danse
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Field of Study
Dance
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Ken Glazebrook, fl. 1970, Alla Kovgan, 1973-, Yacouba Konaté, Alphonse Tierou, fl. 1988, Susanne Linke, 1944-, Mathilde Monnier, 1959-, Seydou Boro, 1968-, Vincent Mantsoe, 1971-, Germaine Acogny, 1944-
Author / Creator
Ken Glazebrook, fl. 1970, Alla Kovgan, 1973-
Date Published / Released
2004, 2002
Publisher
Documentary Educational Resources (DER)
Topic / Theme
African, Movement in performance, Choreographers, Dance theory, Expression in performance, Cultural change and history, Cultural identity, Dance, Ethnography, Africans
Copyright Message
© Documentary Educational Resources
×
Aftertaste
written by Ceridwen Dovey, 1980-; directed by Ceridwen Dovey, 1980-; produced by Ceridwen Dovey, 1980- (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 2004), 36 mins
Wine has been made in the Western Cape region of South Africa for over 300 years. At first, slaves and indigenous Khoisan worked the vineyards owned by white European settlers. Classified as 'Coloureds,' the descendants of these laborers have continued to work these vineyards for generations. Until recently, they...
Sample
written by Ceridwen Dovey, 1980-; directed by Ceridwen Dovey, 1980-; produced by Ceridwen Dovey, 1980- (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 2004), 36 mins
Description
Wine has been made in the Western Cape region of South Africa for over 300 years. At first, slaves and indigenous Khoisan worked the vineyards owned by white European settlers. Classified as 'Coloureds,' the descendants of these laborers have continued to work these vineyards for generations. Until recently, they could not own the houses they lived in, and were paid for their labor partly in alcohol. This instituted form of abuse – called the d...
Wine has been made in the Western Cape region of South Africa for over 300 years. At first, slaves and indigenous Khoisan worked the vineyards owned by white European settlers. Classified as 'Coloureds,' the descendants of these laborers have continued to work these vineyards for generations. Until recently, they could not own the houses they lived in, and were paid for their labor partly in alcohol. This instituted form of abuse – called the dop system – was designed by wine farm owners to encourage alcohol dependency in their workers so that they would not leave the farm to look for work elsewhere. Wine has been made in the Western Cape region of South Africa for over 300 years. At first, slaves and indigenous Khoisan worked the vineyards owned by white European settlers, and the descendants of these laborers have continued to work these vineyards for generations. Until recently, laborers could not own their houses, and were paid for their labor partly in alcohol. This exploitation – called the dop system – was designed by wine farm owners to encourage alcohol dependency in their workers so that they would not leave the farm to look for work elsewhere. This film focuses on two wine farms where “empowerment” projects have recently been started in response to calls for change. The wine farm workers receive part of the profits from the sale of “empowerment” brand wine Winds of Change. They have used this money to buy their own houses and shares in the wine farm business. On the surface, these “empowerment” projects seem to be a radical departure from the abusive, paternalistic labor relationship between farm owners and workers that has existed for so long. But the legacy of centuries of abuse cannot be eradicated overnight. The film tells an optimistic – but realistic – story about life and change in the new South Africa.
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Field of Study
Anthropology
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Ceridwen Dovey, 1980-, Jaco van der Merwe, Loala Van der Westhuizen, Johan Booysen, Andries Lotter, Lilly Lotter
Author / Creator
Ceridwen Dovey, 1980-
Date Published / Released
2004
Publisher
Documentary Educational Resources (DER)
Topic / Theme
Khoisan, South African, Cultural change and history, Economics, Wine, Agriculture, Imperialism, Human rights, Racial integration, Ethnography, South Africans
Copyright Message
by Documentary Educational Resources
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Ajishama, The White Ibis
written by John Dickinson, 1946-; directed by John Dickinson, 1946-; produced by John Dickinson, 1946- (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 2003), 1 hour 25 mins
Shot in Venezuela over a 30-year period, this documentary depicts the life and work of Jose Maria Korta, the controversial Jesuit Missionary with the indigenous people of the Amazon.
Sample
written by John Dickinson, 1946-; directed by John Dickinson, 1946-; produced by John Dickinson, 1946- (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 2003), 1 hour 25 mins
Description
Shot in Venezuela over a 30-year period, this documentary depicts the life and work of Jose Maria Korta, the controversial Jesuit Missionary with the indigenous people of the Amazon. Shot in Venezuela over a 30-year period, this documentary depicts the life and work of Jose Maria Korta, the controversial Jesuit Missionary who joined the Makiritare tribe in the remote upper Ventuari Amazon Territory to initiate economic self-development projects i...
Shot in Venezuela over a 30-year period, this documentary depicts the life and work of Jose Maria Korta, the controversial Jesuit Missionary with the indigenous people of the Amazon. Shot in Venezuela over a 30-year period, this documentary depicts the life and work of Jose Maria Korta, the controversial Jesuit Missionary who joined the Makiritare tribe in the remote upper Ventuari Amazon Territory to initiate economic self-development projects in which Indians produced honey and meat, managed their own transport systems and participated in a broad based marketing co-op called CEPAI. The success of these ventures, and Korta's increasing dedication to economic development instead of proselytizing caused resentment among other missionaries. The Indians at times mismanaged their new resources as they found themselves unprepared for the increased contact with the outside world. In 1990 Korta realized that although CEPAI had gone a long way to solve some of the economic problems particularly in the Amazon basin, it had not addressed general cultural issues.
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Field of Study
Anthropology
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
John Dickinson, 1946-, Virgilio Sarmiento, Henry Quintero, José A. Colinas, Noel Rodriguez, Hector Cantele, Alberto Valdez, Ignacio Castellot, Alejandro Goñi, Antonio Rodriguez, Isaias Rodriguez, José Maria Korta, 1929-
Author / Creator
John Dickinson, 1946-
Date Published / Released
2003
Publisher
Documentary Educational Resources (DER)
Topic / Theme
Yecuana, Cultural assimilation, Schools, Cultural identity, Economic development, Cultural change and history, Tribal and national groups, Missionaries, Indigenous peoples, Ethnography, Maquiritari
Copyright Message
© Documentary Educational Resources
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The Akha Way
written by Sharon Hainsfurther, fl. 1999 and Mary Flannery; directed by Sharon Hainsfurther, fl. 1999; produced by Sharon Hainsfurther, fl. 1999, Yellowcat Productions (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 1999), 25 mins
For over a thousand years, the Akha people have inhabited the hills of Asia — mainly Southern China, Burma and Northern Thailand. The Akha Way or Akhazaunh, is the code by which they live. This documentary describes their origins and their culture.
Sample
written by Sharon Hainsfurther, fl. 1999 and Mary Flannery; directed by Sharon Hainsfurther, fl. 1999; produced by Sharon Hainsfurther, fl. 1999, Yellowcat Productions (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 1999), 25 mins
Description
For over a thousand years, the Akha people have inhabited the hills of Asia — mainly Southern China, Burma and Northern Thailand. The Akha Way or Akhazaunh, is the code by which they live. This documentary describes their origins and their culture. For over a thousand years, the Akha people have inhabited the hills of Asia — mainly Southern China, Burma and Northern Thailand. The Akha Way or Akhazaunh, is the code by which they live. This doc...
For over a thousand years, the Akha people have inhabited the hills of Asia — mainly Southern China, Burma and Northern Thailand. The Akha Way or Akhazaunh, is the code by which they live. This documentary describes their origins and their culture. For over a thousand years, the Akha people have inhabited the hills of Asia — mainly Southern China, Burma and Northern Thailand. The Akha Way or Akhazaunh, is the code by which they live. This documentary describes their origins and their culture. It contains extraordinary footage of a shaman healing ceremony; a funeral, with the ritual sacrifice of a water buffalo; the reading of a pig's liver after a new house is built, and more. Today the Akha Way is fast disappearing. Forced migration, Christianity, money and drugs are eroding the cultural heritage of the Akha tribe.
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Field of Study
Anthropology
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Sharon Hainsfurther, fl. 1999, Mary Flannery, Yellowcat Productions
Author / Creator
Sharon Hainsfurther, fl. 1999, Mary Flannery
Date Published / Released
1999
Publisher
Documentary Educational Resources (DER)
Speaker / Narrator
Mary Flannery
Topic / Theme
Akha, Cultural change and history, Religious beliefs, Cultural identity, Tribal and national groups, Indigenous peoples, Ethnography
Copyright Message
© Documentary Educational Resources
×
Alaskan Eskimo, From The First People
directed by Sarah Elder, fl. 1973-2015 and Leonard Kamerling, fl. 1974-2012; produced by Leonard Kamerling, fl. 1974-2012, Alaska Native Heritage Film Project, in Alaskan Eskimo (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 1977), 46 mins
This is a film about change and contemporary life in Shungnak, a village on the Kobuk River in northwestern Alaska, 75 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Life in this inland community is dominated by the seasons and the river. In October, when the film begins, the Kobuk becomes filled with ice, which slowly thicken...
Sample
directed by Sarah Elder, fl. 1973-2015 and Leonard Kamerling, fl. 1974-2012; produced by Leonard Kamerling, fl. 1974-2012, Alaska Native Heritage Film Project, in Alaskan Eskimo (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 1977), 46 mins
Description
This is a film about change and contemporary life in Shungnak, a village on the Kobuk River in northwestern Alaska, 75 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Life in this inland community is dominated by the seasons and the river. In October, when the film begins, the Kobuk becomes filled with ice, which slowly thickens until freeze-up is complete. Traditional subsistence activities still continue: women net fish under the ice, and a man and his wife...
This is a film about change and contemporary life in Shungnak, a village on the Kobuk River in northwestern Alaska, 75 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Life in this inland community is dominated by the seasons and the river. In October, when the film begins, the Kobuk becomes filled with ice, which slowly thickens until freeze-up is complete. Traditional subsistence activities still continue: women net fish under the ice, and a man and his wife construct a cottonwood mudshark trap that is carefully placed in the river ice. The combination of old and new technology is pervasive. Some people hitch their teams of huskies to a sled, others travel by snowmobile.
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Field of Study
Anthropology
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Leonard Kamerling, fl. 1974-2012, Alaska Native Heritage Film Project
Author / Creator
Sarah Elder, fl. 1973-2015, Leonard Kamerling, fl. 1974-2012
Date Published / Released
1977
Publisher
Documentary Educational Resources (DER)
Series
Alaskan Eskimo
Topic / Theme
Cold weather, Hunting, Daily life, Cultural change and history, Inupiat
Copyright Message
Copyright © 1977 Documentary Educational Resources
×
Alaskan Eskimo, In Iirgu's Time
directed by Katrina Kassler Waters, 1957-; produced by Katrina Kassler Waters, 1957-, in Alaskan Eskimo (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 1988), 19 mins
Iirgu is an elder from the Siberian Yupik Eskimo village of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island. As two grandchildren listen, Iirgu recounts events in Gambell from the time the first missionaries arrived. His story is known as an ungipamsuk or true historical narrative. With ambivalent feelings, he describes more recen...
Sample
directed by Katrina Kassler Waters, 1957-; produced by Katrina Kassler Waters, 1957-, in Alaskan Eskimo (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 1988), 19 mins
Description
Iirgu is an elder from the Siberian Yupik Eskimo village of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island. As two grandchildren listen, Iirgu recounts events in Gambell from the time the first missionaries arrived. His story is known as an ungipamsuk or true historical narrative. With ambivalent feelings, he describes more recent changes - how whaling practices have changed, how life has become easier, but also how younger generations are losing touch with the...
Iirgu is an elder from the Siberian Yupik Eskimo village of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island. As two grandchildren listen, Iirgu recounts events in Gambell from the time the first missionaries arrived. His story is known as an ungipamsuk or true historical narrative. With ambivalent feelings, he describes more recent changes - how whaling practices have changed, how life has become easier, but also how younger generations are losing touch with the old ways.
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Field of Study
Anthropology
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Katrina Kassler Waters, 1957-
Author / Creator
Katrina Kassler Waters, 1957-
Date Published / Released
1988
Publisher
Documentary Educational Resources (DER)
Series
Alaskan Eskimo
Topic / Theme
Traditional history, Oral history, Cultural change and history, Yupik
Copyright Message
Copyright © 1988 Documentary Educational Resources
×
Alaskan Eskimo, The Drums of Winter (Uksuum Cauyai)
written by Sarah Elder, fl. 1973-2015 and Leonard Kamerling, fl. 1974-2012; directed by Sarah Elder, fl. 1973-2015 and Leonard Kamerling, fl. 1974-2012; produced by Leonard Kamerling, fl. 1974-2012 and Sarah Elder, fl. 1973-2015, in Alaskan Eskimo (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 1988), 42 mins
This feature-length documentary explores the traditional dance, music and spiritual world of the Yupik Eskimo people of Emmonak, a remote village at the mouth of the Yukon River on the Bering Sea coast.
Sample
written by Sarah Elder, fl. 1973-2015 and Leonard Kamerling, fl. 1974-2012; directed by Sarah Elder, fl. 1973-2015 and Leonard Kamerling, fl. 1974-2012; produced by Leonard Kamerling, fl. 1974-2012 and Sarah Elder, fl. 1973-2015, in Alaskan Eskimo (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 1988), 42 mins
Description
This feature-length documentary explores the traditional dance, music and spiritual world of the Yupik Eskimo people of Emmonak, a remote village at the mouth of the Yukon River on the Bering Sea coast. This documentary explores the traditional dance, music and spiritual world of the Yupik Eskimo people of Emmonak, a remote village at the mouth of the Yukon River on the Bering Sea coast. In The Drums of Winter, the people of Emmonak tell us throu...
This feature-length documentary explores the traditional dance, music and spiritual world of the Yupik Eskimo people of Emmonak, a remote village at the mouth of the Yukon River on the Bering Sea coast. This documentary explores the traditional dance, music and spiritual world of the Yupik Eskimo people of Emmonak, a remote village at the mouth of the Yukon River on the Bering Sea coast. In The Drums of Winter, the people of Emmonak tell us through actualities and interviews how their history, social values and spiritual beliefs are woven around the songs and dances that have been handed down to them through the generations. It is not just old songs that are important; new songs and dance movements are created to reflect modern life with all its complexities. Each time a person gets up to dance, he is strengthening the continuity of the ages. The film follows the elders of Emmonak as they prepare for the coming ceremonial gathering (potlatch) with a neighboring village. In the Kashim (qasgiq or men's house), they practice their songs and painstakingly work out the motions of the dances. Each movement has meaning and plays a part in telling a story. In the days before television, radio, bingo and weekly basketball games, dance was the sole means of entertainment. Throughout the film, archival photographs and film footage accompany the words of early missionaries who brought Christianity to the area. These sequences provide a historical context for the film and give us a strong sense of the resilience of Yup'ik culture, having survived despite a century of missionary suppression.
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Date Written / Recorded
1977
Field of Study
Anthropology
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Sarah Elder, fl. 1973-2015, Leonard Kamerling, fl. 1974-2012
Author / Creator
Sarah Elder, fl. 1973-2015, Leonard Kamerling, fl. 1974-2012
Date Published / Released
1988
Publisher
Documentary Educational Resources (DER)
Series
Alaskan Eskimo
Topic / Theme
Folk music, Spirituality, Tribal and national groups, Cultural change and history, Cultural identity, Dance and dancing, Indigenous ethnic groups, Ethnography
Copyright Message
by Documentary Educational Resources
×
Altar of Fire
written by Robert G. Gardner, 1925-2014 and J. F. Staal, fl. 2010; directed by Robert G. Gardner, 1925-2014 and J. F. Staal, fl. 2010; produced by Robert G. Gardner, 1925-2014 (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER)), 45 mins
This film records a 12 day ritual performed by Mambudiri Brahmins in Kerala, southwest India, in April 1975. This event was possibly the last performance of the Agnicayana, a Vedic ritual of sacrifice dating back 3,000 years and probably the oldest surviving human ritual.
Sample
written by Robert G. Gardner, 1925-2014 and J. F. Staal, fl. 2010; directed by Robert G. Gardner, 1925-2014 and J. F. Staal, fl. 2010; produced by Robert G. Gardner, 1925-2014 (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER)), 45 mins
Description
This film records a 12 day ritual performed by Mambudiri Brahmins in Kerala, southwest India, in April 1975. This event was possibly the last performance of the Agnicayana, a Vedic ritual of sacrifice dating back 3,000 years and probably the oldest surviving human ritual. This film records a 12 day ritual performed by Mambudiri Brahmins in Kerala, southwest India, in April 1975. This event was possibly the last performance of the Agnicayana, a Ve...
This film records a 12 day ritual performed by Mambudiri Brahmins in Kerala, southwest India, in April 1975. This event was possibly the last performance of the Agnicayana, a Vedic ritual of sacrifice dating back 3,000 years and probably the oldest surviving human ritual. This film records a 12 day ritual performed by Mambudiri Brahmins in Kerala, southwest India, in April 1975. This event was possibly the last performance of the Agnicayana, a Vedic ritual of sacrifice dating back 3,000 years and probably the oldest surviving human ritual. Long considered extinct and never witnessed by outsiders, the ceremonies require the participation of seventeen priests, involve libations of Soma juice and oblations of other substances, all preceded by several months of preparation and rehearsals. They include the construction, from a thousand bricks, of a fire altar in the shape of a bird. Around 1500 B.C., nomads who spoke an Indo-European language entered India and evolved a complex ritual involving the cults of fire and Soma, a hallucinogenic plant that grew in the Western Himalayas. Their Vedic language developed into Sanskrit, the classical language of Indian civilization. Among the later religions of India, Hinduism accepted and Buddhism rejected the Vedic culture. But both retained many of its ritual forms and recitations. Some of these have traveled all over Asia. Agni, the fire, is still worshipped with the help of Vedic mantras in Japanese Buddhist temples. In India itself, the preservation of the Agnicayana, though partly explained by the extraordinary conservatism of the Vedic Brahmins and their dedication to the culture of their spiritual ancestors, remains one of the miracles of history.
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Field of Study
Anthropology
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Robert G. Gardner, 1925-2014
Author / Creator
Robert G. Gardner, 1925-2014, J. F. Staal, fl. 2010
Date Published / Released
1976
Publisher
Documentary Educational Resources (DER)
Topic / Theme
Nambudiri, Cultural change and history, Linguistics, Anthropology, Vedas, Religion, Religious rites and ceremonies, Ethnography
Copyright Message
by Documentary Educational Resources
×