Browse Titles - 4 results
Celebrating Semana Santa: Change, Conflict, and Continuity in Rural Honduras
directed by Sam Pack, fl. 1999-2012; produced by Sam Pack, fl. 1999-2012 (Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Media, 2012), 44 mins
This "superb, thought-provoking" ethnographic documentary explores the vitality and controversies surrounding a remarkable syncretic religious ceremony held in neighboring remote villages in rural Honduras during the Easter Holy Week. The ritual drama enacted in this ceremony resonates with persistent indigenous b...
Sample
directed by Sam Pack, fl. 1999-2012; produced by Sam Pack, fl. 1999-2012 (Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Media, 2012), 44 mins
Description
This "superb, thought-provoking" ethnographic documentary explores the vitality and controversies surrounding a remarkable syncretic religious ceremony held in neighboring remote villages in rural Honduras during the Easter Holy Week. The ritual drama enacted in this ceremony resonates with persistent indigenous beliefs although expressed within a familiar Catholic framework. During the week leading up to Semana Santa, the two villages are litera...
This "superb, thought-provoking" ethnographic documentary explores the vitality and controversies surrounding a remarkable syncretic religious ceremony held in neighboring remote villages in rural Honduras during the Easter Holy Week. The ritual drama enacted in this ceremony resonates with persistent indigenous beliefs although expressed within a familiar Catholic framework. During the week leading up to Semana Santa, the two villages are literally overrun by characters called "Judios" (Spanish for "Jews"), masked individuals who carry wooden swords, speak in a strange guttural manner, and generally cause mayhem by staging riotous mock sword fights. Not surprisingly, members of the local Catholic Church -- most notably the parish priest -- consider these indigenous celebrations to be sacrilegious and want them ended. Tensions between Church members and the celebration participants are high, and the conflict is further exacerbated because the opposing sides are not comfortable speaking directly to one another about the issues involved. However, by including the divergent perspectives of members of the various constituencies, one of the principal goals of the film itself is to facilitate a channel of communication between the opposing parties that will enable dialogue to take place between them. With that goal in mind, the filmmaker returned to Honduras to screen a preliminary version of the film in order to make this invaluable cultural heritage available to the very community to which it belongs. Community members with opposing views were asked for their reactions, which were then incorporated into a final version of Celebrating Semana Santa, thereby adding a unique reflexive component to the film. Celebrating Semana Santa powerfully illustrates how symbols from the past may be re-interpreted in modern contexts and not simply survive but thrive in those radically changed situations. In so doing, the film illuminates the varied ways that people craft their understanding of the present with reference to the past and their hopes for the future. The film will engage students and inspire thought and discussion in a wide variety of courses in Latin American studies, cultural anthropology and ethnography, and religious studies. It was produced and directed by Sam Pack, Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kenyon College. It is in Spanish with English subtitles.
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Date Written / Recorded
2012
Field of Study
Anthropology
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Sam Pack, fl. 1999-2012
Author / Creator
Sam Pack, fl. 1999-2012
Date Published / Released
2012
Publisher
Berkeley Media
Topic / Theme
Indigenous peoples, Holy Week, Religious differences, Religious rites and ceremonies, Hondurans
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2012 Berkeley Media
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Easter in Kandep
directed by Philip Gibbs, 1947-; produced by Philip Gibbs, 1947- (Privately Published, 2009), 30 mins
EASTER IN KANDEP 2009, 29 minutes - The blending of indigenous beliefs with Catholic Easter services relating to the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Sample
directed by Philip Gibbs, 1947-; produced by Philip Gibbs, 1947- (Privately Published, 2009), 30 mins
Description
EASTER IN KANDEP 2009, 29 minutes - The blending of indigenous beliefs with Catholic Easter services relating to the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Date Written / Recorded
2001
Field of Study
Anthropology
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Philip Gibbs, 1947-
Author / Creator
Philip Gibbs, 1947-
Date Published / Released
2009
Publisher
Privately Published
Topic / Theme
Religious rites and ceremonies, Catholicism, Easter, Holy Week, Papua New Guineans
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2009 Philip Gibbs
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Maya, Via Dolorosa (The Sorrowful Way)
written by Claudine Viallon, 1948- and Georges Payrastre, fl. 1990; directed by Georges Payrastre, fl. 1990 and Claudine Viallon, 1948-, in Maya (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 1978), 10 mins
Every year, in the colonial city of Antigua, Guatemala, the "sorrowful way" of Good Friday is recreated by a path of colored sawdust and flower petals. Along this road several hundred people take turns carrying a ponderous mahoganybier. Indians from the surrounding countryside come to observe the spectacle of town...
Sample
written by Claudine Viallon, 1948- and Georges Payrastre, fl. 1990; directed by Georges Payrastre, fl. 1990 and Claudine Viallon, 1948-, in Maya (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 1978), 10 mins
Description
Every year, in the colonial city of Antigua, Guatemala, the "sorrowful way" of Good Friday is recreated by a path of colored sawdust and flower petals. Along this road several hundred people take turns carrying a ponderous mahoganybier. Indians from the surrounding countryside come to observe the spectacle of townspeople garbed in Biblical and Roman military uniforms. Every year, in the colonial city of Antigua, Guatemala, the "sorrowful way" of...
Every year, in the colonial city of Antigua, Guatemala, the "sorrowful way" of Good Friday is recreated by a path of colored sawdust and flower petals. Along this road several hundred people take turns carrying a ponderous mahoganybier. Indians from the surrounding countryside come to observe the spectacle of townspeople garbed in Biblical and Roman military uniforms. Every year, in the colonial city of Antigua, Guatemala, the "sorrowful way" of Good Friday is recreated by a path of colored sawdust and flower petals. Along this road several hundred people take turns carrying a ponderous mahoganybier. Indians from the surrounding countryside come to observe the spectacle of townspeople garbed in Biblical and Roman military uniforms. although some elements from this kind of procession have been borrowed by the Maya villagers, the contrast between the Spanish formality of this urban Via Dolorosa and the syncretic, lively, Indian festivities such as those in Tajimoltik could not be more striking.
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Field of Study
Anthropology
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Claudine Viallon, 1948-, Georges Payrastre, fl. 1990, Don Toffaletto
Author / Creator
Claudine Viallon, 1948-, Georges Payrastre, fl. 1990
Date Published / Released
1978
Publisher
Documentary Educational Resources (DER)
Series
Maya
Speaker / Narrator
Don Toffaletto
Topic / Theme
Guatemalan, Maya, Religious rites and ceremonies, Holy Week, Catholicism, Ethnography, Guatemalans, Mayan
Copyright Message
© Documentary Educational Resources
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Semana Santa in Seville
written by Mary Flannery; directed by Mary Flannery; produced by Mary Flannery, Yellowcat Productions (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 1995), 53 mins
Semana Santa in Seville documents the Spanish city's annual celebration of Holy Week - a tradition that dates back more than five centuries. Lifelike images of Christ and the Virgin, and scenes of the Passion, are carried in procession through the city, escorted by long files of hooded penitents. Throngs of onlook...
Sample
written by Mary Flannery; directed by Mary Flannery; produced by Mary Flannery, Yellowcat Productions (Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources (DER), 1995), 53 mins
Description
Semana Santa in Seville documents the Spanish city's annual celebration of Holy Week - a tradition that dates back more than five centuries. Lifelike images of Christ and the Virgin, and scenes of the Passion, are carried in procession through the city, escorted by long files of hooded penitents. Throngs of onlookers from all over the world gather to view the spectacle. Semana Santa in Seville documents the Spanish city's annual celebration of Ho...
Semana Santa in Seville documents the Spanish city's annual celebration of Holy Week - a tradition that dates back more than five centuries. Lifelike images of Christ and the Virgin, and scenes of the Passion, are carried in procession through the city, escorted by long files of hooded penitents. Throngs of onlookers from all over the world gather to view the spectacle. Semana Santa in Seville documents the Spanish city's annual celebration of Holy Week - a tradition that dates back more than five centuries. Lifelike images of Christ and the Virgin, and scenes of the Passion, are carried in procession through the city, escorted by long files of hooded penitents. Throngs of onlookers from all over the world gather to view the spectacle. The program covers the history and art of the Semana Santa processions. Interviews with the participants and the people surrounding this fascinating ritual a priest, a penitent, a gypsy, a young girl donning her mantilla, a man who helps carry the heavy platforms, a sculptor, a saeta singer, and more, are juxtaposed with stunning images of baroque processions.
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Field of Study
Anthropology
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Mary Flannery, Yellowcat Productions, Iván Silva, Marcia Muller
Author / Creator
Mary Flannery
Date Published / Released
1995
Publisher
Documentary Educational Resources (DER)
Speaker / Narrator
Iván Silva, Marcia Muller
Topic / Theme
Spanish, Fine arts, Cultural change and history, Religious rites and ceremonies, Holy Week, Catholicism, Ethnography
Copyright Message
by Documentary Educational Resources
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