Browse Titles - 23 results
Confluences - Emerillon of French Guiana (Teacher's Edition)
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Like self-fulfilling prophecies, scientific reports have hitherto depicted the Emerillon of French Guiana as cultureless and doomed to disappear. With this film, an anthropologist proposes to defy these negative images, delving into their world with a lucid description of the...
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Like self-fulfilling prophecies, scientific reports have hitherto depicted the Emerillon of French Guiana as cultureless and doomed to disappear. With this film, an anthropologist proposes to defy these negative images, delving into their world with a lucid description of the down-to-earth and intersubjective conditions of anthropological fieldwork and knowledge-creation. Several Emerillon take up her proposi...
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Like self-fulfilling prophecies, scientific reports have hitherto depicted the Emerillon of French Guiana as cultureless and doomed to disappear. With this film, an anthropologist proposes to defy these negative images, delving into their world with a lucid description of the down-to-earth and intersubjective conditions of anthropological fieldwork and knowledge-creation. Several Emerillon take up her proposition, and through their resourceful and often stumbling efforts to maintain a life in the forest while profiting from their French citizenship, they present another version of what being Emerillon is all about.
Show more Show lessCultivating Death (Teacher's Edition)
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Cemeteries are not only places for the dead. They are also spaces in which the living interact with each other – and with the dead. “Cultivating Death” depicts the different ways in which bereaved people remember and commemorate their deceased family members and friends,...
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Cemeteries are not only places for the dead. They are also spaces in which the living interact with each other – and with the dead. “Cultivating Death” depicts the different ways in which bereaved people remember and commemorate their deceased family members and friends, by visiting and tending their graves at a Victorian cemetery in London. It is a common belief in the West that the bereaved have to ..
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Cemeteries are not only places for the dead. They are also spaces in which the living interact with each other – and with the dead. “Cultivating Death” depicts the different ways in which bereaved people remember and commemorate their deceased family members and friends, by visiting and tending their graves at a Victorian cemetery in London. It is a common belief in the West that the bereaved have to ‘let go’ and ‘get over the loss’ of their deceased kin, in order to return to a ‘normal’ life. In contrast to these cultural norms, many survivors maintain strong social relationships with their dead. “Cultivating Death” portrays some visitors of Kensal Green Cemetery in West-London, as they actively sustain these continuing bonds by arranging and tending the graves of their deceased, talking to them and bringing them gifts. They thereby speak frankly about this important aspect of their mourning for which the cemetery constitutes a unique environment.
Show more Show lessDaba / Na Shaman (Teacher's Edition)
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After more than a quarter of a century without any form of religious ceremony, the Na, an ethnic group living on the Himalayan plateau, began openly practising their religion again in the early 1990s. Their priests are called daba. Among the few old shamans who are still livin...
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After more than a quarter of a century without any form of religious ceremony, the Na, an ethnic group living on the Himalayan plateau, began openly practising their religion again in the early 1990s. Their priests are called daba. Among the few old shamans who are still living today, Dafa Luzo is the most remarkable. As the main character in the film, we see him looking after his farm and his family, as well...
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After more than a quarter of a century without any form of religious ceremony, the Na, an ethnic group living on the Himalayan plateau, began openly practising their religion again in the early 1990s. Their priests are called daba. Among the few old shamans who are still living today, Dafa Luzo is the most remarkable. As the main character in the film, we see him looking after his farm and his family, as well as performing rituals to expel all unclean spirits and demons and honour the ancestors. His main worry, and his greatest hope, is to make sure his knowledge is safely handed down to the next generation.
Show more Show lessDemocracía Indígena (Teacher's Edition)
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This film examines the indigenous rights revolution sweeping Mexico through the municipal elections in Huehuetla, Puebla. In 1989, the Huehuetla Totonacs formed the Organización Independiente Totonaca (OIT), and joined in an electoral alliance with the Partido de la Revoluci..
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This film examines the indigenous rights revolution sweeping Mexico through the municipal elections in Huehuetla, Puebla. In 1989, the Huehuetla Totonacs formed the Organización Independiente Totonaca (OIT), and joined in an electoral alliance with the Partido de la Revolución Democratica (PRD). For ten years the OIT and the PRD carried out a non-violent revolution. The visible signs of this Totonac renaiss...
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This film examines the indigenous rights revolution sweeping Mexico through the municipal elections in Huehuetla, Puebla. In 1989, the Huehuetla Totonacs formed the Organización Independiente Totonaca (OIT), and joined in an electoral alliance with the Partido de la Revolución Democratica (PRD). For ten years the OIT and the PRD carried out a non-violent revolution. The visible signs of this Totonac renaissance are the health clinics, schools, roads, drinking water and electricity. But the real change is in the new self-confidence and pride of the Totonacs themselves. The camera follows Cruz Garcia, an "expatriate" Totonac, as he returns to his community.
Show more Show lessDisappearing World, In search of cool ground, Part 1. The Mursi: The Mursi Trilogy (Teacher's Edition)
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What made this trilogy special was that, unlike most television reportage, it had a temporal dimension. That is to say, it offered not a brutal, intrusive and uncomprehending snapshot, but a sympathetic, well-informed and thoughtful history of ten difficult years in the life o...
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What made this trilogy special was that, unlike most television reportage, it had a temporal dimension. That is to say, it offered not a brutal, intrusive and uncomprehending snapshot, but a sympathetic, well-informed and thoughtful history of ten difficult years in the life of a tribe. Its insight derived from an anthropologist, David Turton, who has been studying the Mursi for years and who was able to prov...
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What made this trilogy special was that, unlike most television reportage, it had a temporal dimension. That is to say, it offered not a brutal, intrusive and uncomprehending snapshot, but a sympathetic, well-informed and thoughtful history of ten difficult years in the life of a tribe. Its insight derived from an anthropologist, David Turton, who has been studying the Mursi for years and who was able to provide the absolutely essential explanations of the mysterious events filmed by the Granada crew. This is the kind of illumination which is often provided by books or by personal experience, but almost never by television. John Naughton This is a trilogy about aspects of the culture of two groups of people, the Kwegu and the Mursi, in Ethiopia. The titles are: THE MURSI, THE KWEGU, THE MIGRANTS.
Show more Show lessDisappearing World, The Kawelka: Ongka’s Big Moka (Teacher's Edition)
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Ongka is a charismatic big-man of the Kawelka tribe who live scattered in the Western highlands, north of Mount Hagen, in New Guinea. The film focuses on the motivations and efforts involved in organising a big ceremonial gift-exchange or moka planned to take place sometime in...
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Ongka is a charismatic big-man of the Kawelka tribe who live scattered in the Western highlands, north of Mount Hagen, in New Guinea. The film focuses on the motivations and efforts involved in organising a big ceremonial gift-exchange or moka planned to take place sometime in 1974. Ongka has spent nearly five years preparing for this ceremonial exchange, using all his big-man skills of oratory and persuasion...
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Ongka is a charismatic big-man of the Kawelka tribe who live scattered in the Western highlands, north of Mount Hagen, in New Guinea. The film focuses on the motivations and efforts involved in organising a big ceremonial gift-exchange or moka planned to take place sometime in 1974. Ongka has spent nearly five years preparing for this ceremonial exchange, using all his big-man skills of oratory and persuasion in order to try to assemble what he hopes will be a huge gift of 600 pigs, some cows, some cassowaries, a motorcycle, a truck and £5,500 in cash. As an example of the big-man familiar from written texts, Ongka is memorable, and the film manages to convey through this main character the importance of pigs, of exchange and of prestige in the life of these Highlanders. The film-crew never in fact managed to film the big moka, as the conspiratorial and complex manoeuvres involved in setting the date thwarted their plans. But we are shown Ongka replacing tee-shirt and shorts with his ceremonial feathers and setting off to a little moka where he collects pigs he `invested' with his wife's father. The interview with Ongka's wife raises the issue of the sexual division of labour and the importance of the wife's labour in pig-rearing and moka preparation, as well as the role of women in the establishment of a big-man.
Show more Show lessDisappearing World, The Herders of Mongun-Taiga (Teacher's Edition)
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The Tuvinians live deep inside the Soviet Union, at the very centre of Asia-. Tuva is geographically closer to Beijing than to Moscow. It only entered the USSR in 1944 and was closed to foreigners until 1988. According to the film-makers the last known British visitors were me...
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The Tuvinians live deep inside the Soviet Union, at the very centre of Asia-. Tuva is geographically closer to Beijing than to Moscow. It only entered the USSR in 1944 and was closed to foreigners until 1988. According to the film-makers the last known British visitors were members of the Carruthers expedition in 1910-11. With `glasnost', the new openness, a Disappearing World film crew was given permission t...
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The Tuvinians live deep inside the Soviet Union, at the very centre of Asia-. Tuva is geographically closer to Beijing than to Moscow. It only entered the USSR in 1944 and was closed to foreigners until 1988. According to the film-makers the last known British visitors were members of the Carruthers expedition in 1910-11. With `glasnost', the new openness, a Disappearing World film crew was given permission to film the nomadic yak-herders of Mongun-Taiga, a rugged district on the border with Mongolia.Mongun-Taiga or `sacred wilderness' is, even at its lowest point, 6,000 feet above sea level. Two huge mountains dominate the landscape and provide a stunning backdrop for the film, accompanied at times on the film sound track by the traditional throat singing. Arable farming is impossible and the inhabitants are dependent on the nomadic herding of yak, sheep, goats and horses. Families live alone or in groups of two to three felt tents (yurts). Following the seasons and the pastures, they move camp several times each year. The film looks at the methods the herders use to protect their children from destructive spirits. A child, dressed in a traditional frock, is revealed in the film to be a boy. This cross-dressing of the sexes continues until a child is three or four, when it is believed that its soul is more firmly attached to its body and not so easily stolen by spirits. Shamanic beliefs continue, despite state disapproval, and include worship of the spirits of mountains, purification by the water of sacred springs, sacrifice, and the use of animals in exorcism, omens and divination. The opportunities for modern Soviet life which attract many young people are countered by the pull of an independent Mongolia, which is much closer to the Tuvinians in culture and way of life. Under Gorbachev, new systems of herding have been introduced which allow families to work for themselves as well as the state farms. The herders, however, still have reservations about the new ways. `How are you doing with perestroika?' asks the daughter of Chugluur-Ool, a herder. `Perestroika's doing all right,' he replies. Part of what makes this film interesting is the film-makers' admission of the material they were not able to obtain. Continually throughout the film, the narrator mentions the confusion and frustration the film-makers felt. This gives a refreshing honesty to the film as a whole.
Show more Show lessDisappearing World, The Kayapo: Out of the Forest (Teacher's Edition)
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Early in 1989 the Kayapo rallied other Brazilian Indians to attend a reunification of the tribes at Altamira-the proposed site of a massive hydro-electric dam that will flood large parts of the Xingu valley. The gathering also served as a media event as the Kayapo and their al...
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Early in 1989 the Kayapo rallied other Brazilian Indians to attend a reunification of the tribes at Altamira-the proposed site of a massive hydro-electric dam that will flood large parts of the Xingu valley. The gathering also served as a media event as the Kayapo and their allies demonstrated their case to the assembled international press. The film focuses on the Kayapo's ability to manipulate the media, in...
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Early in 1989 the Kayapo rallied other Brazilian Indians to attend a reunification of the tribes at Altamira-the proposed site of a massive hydro-electric dam that will flood large parts of the Xingu valley. The gathering also served as a media event as the Kayapo and their allies demonstrated their case to the assembled international press. The film focuses on the Kayapo's ability to manipulate the media, including Chief Rop-ni stage-managing his entrance to arrive with the pop-star Sting. However, much of the power of this film, made for Granada Television's Disappearing World series, comes from the tensions that revolve around the intricate planning behind the Altamira meeting. A Kayapo warrior, Payakan, brings together previously hostile and warring factions in a common cause. Tension mounts when, only days before the conference, he is rushed to hospital for major surgery, and must force himself from his hospital bed to ensure the survival of the alliance he has created.
Show more Show lessDisappearing World, We Are All Neighbours (Teacher's Edition)
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The effect of war on families in a racially mixed village outside Sarajevo, Bosnia, where Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Moslems have hitherto lived peacefully together. In January 1993, Disappearing World set out to make a film about how war affected families and friendships in a...
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The effect of war on families in a racially mixed village outside Sarajevo, Bosnia, where Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Moslems have hitherto lived peacefully together. In January 1993, Disappearing World set out to make a film about how war affected families and friendships in a village in Bosnia. Eight weeks after they finished filming, they heard that violence had erupted there. This is the programme they mad...
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The effect of war on families in a racially mixed village outside Sarajevo, Bosnia, where Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Moslems have hitherto lived peacefully together. In January 1993, Disappearing World set out to make a film about how war affected families and friendships in a village in Bosnia. Eight weeks after they finished filming, they heard that violence had erupted there. This is the programme they made earlier in the year, followed by the film of their return visit.
Show more Show lessForbidden Rites, Cannibalism (Teacher's Edition)
Drawing on a wide range of international examples, including ancient Britain and Papua New Guinea, this film investigates the history of cannibalism around the world. It encourages viewers to question what is and is not classifed as cannibalism. The film is part of ‘The Fo...
Drawing on a wide range of international examples, including ancient Britain and Papua New Guinea, this film investigates the history of cannibalism around the world. It encourages viewers to question what is and is not classifed as cannibalism. The film is part of ‘The Forbidden Rites‘ trilogy which explores cannibalism, headhunting and human sacrifce.
The film also explores cannibalism and its role in...
View Teaching Guide for this video.Drawing on a wide range of international examples, including ancient Britain and Papua New Guinea, this film investigates the history of cannibalism around the world. It encourages viewers to question what is and is not classifed as cannibalism. The film is part of ‘The Forbidden Rites‘ trilogy which explores cannibalism, headhunting and human sacrifce.
The film also explores cannibalism and its role in different cultures, from ancient Britain to Papua New Guinea. This series includes first-hand accounts, expert interviews, and rarely seen footage. It reveals the legends behind man-eating tribes, headhunters in jungles of Ecuador and sheds light on the link between human sacrifice and salvation.The series looks at rituals considered important and acceptable to one society but regarded, particularly in the West, as unacceptable and even abhorrent. The aim is to look at the differences and get explanations from practitioners in other societies as to why such rituals worked for them.
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