Pikisi kwaiyai! (pictures tonight!): The screening and reception of ethnographic film in the Trobriand Islands,Papua New Guinea

Ethnographic films hold great historical value for the communities in which they were filmed, yet people in source communities often lack access to them. Visitors engaging in ‘visual repatriation’ of ethnographic film can enrich both sides of the ethnographic exchange. I review my experiences screening ethnographic films with Trobriand Islanders, their reactions, and the various ways in which local communities regain ownership of these films, including re‐narration and renaming. My findings reiterate how source communities' reception of, and uses for, ethnographic film can sharply differ from the filmmakers' original agenda.     

From Documentation to Representation: Recovering the Films of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson

Although the seven films made by Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, based on footage shot in Bali and New Guinea during 1936–39, are identified as a landmark in various histories of ethnographic film, these films have been the subject of remarkably little analysis in the anthropological literature. In contrast, their photographic work has received much more extended commentary. Making a close reading of the films in their final edited form, this article aims to recover this aspect of Mead and Bateson's work from its relative neglect. We consider the circumstances under which the films were made, the theoretical ideas that informed them, and the methods employed in shooting and editing. Notwithstanding recent skepticism about both the theoretical ideas and the quality of the research on which Mead and Bateson's work in Bali was based, as well as the naiveté of some of the filmmaking ideas found in the films themselves, when considered as a group, they continue to be interesting examples of a particular transitional phase in the history of ethnographic film.     

From Vues to Ethnofiction: French Ethnographic Filmmaking in Africa before Jean Rouch

This article offers an overview of the very substantial body of films of ethnographic interest produced by French filmmakers working in Africa before Jean Rouch arrived on the scene. It identifies a number of genres. For the first two decades this work largely took the form of short films of reportage, mostly shot in North and West Africa by anonymous operators working for newsreel agencies. Then, in the 1920s, longer and technically more complex films based on transregional and even transcontinental expeditions began to appear. Films offering an inventory of cultural traditions in particular French colonies also emerged in this decade. Also to be considered are films based on extended field research, from the 1930s onwards. We conclude with a brief analysis of the originality of Jean Rouch as he developed a new form of ethnographic filmmaking in the late 1940s.     

Dead Birds Migrating: DVD Reinvigorates Classic Ethnographic Film

The DVD release of Robert Gardner's Dead Birds exemplifies the added value of extra features and the improvement in viewing quality when existing ethnographic films are distributed in this new medium. Whereas in the past, ethnographic films have been experienced as transitory performances, a nonlinear medium like DVD makes it possible to read a film the way one reads a book, stopping, reflecting, and reviewing. The inclusion of multiple soundtracks, additional sequences, and associated texts affords a density of content that has not previously been possible in either films or books.     

No Story Is Ever Just a Story

The 41 films at the 2004 Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival showcased a multiplicity of styles and approaches, thus widening the perspective of "what counts" as ethnographic film. The two main events—A Tribute to Jean Rouch and Native Voices—epitomized the festival's commitment to diversity and creative talent. Despite the festival's awkward location in the American Museum of Natural History, the films tackled challenging political subjects and directly addressed questions of representation. Postscreening musical performances, informational panels, and audience–director discussion sessions shaped the festival itself as an ethnographic experience, as well as being a venue for the year's best documentary films. Festival highlights were Raven Tales: How Raven Stole the Sun (2004), Mr. Patterns (2004), and Beauty Academy of Kabul (2004).     

The Last of the Great (Foot-Slogging) Explorers: Lewis Cotlow and the Ethnographic Imaginary in Popular Travel Film

This essay focuses on the popular travel films and books of Lewis Cotlow (1898-1987), an American explorer, author, filmmaker, insurance broker and amateur ethnographer who made photographic expeditions to Africa, South America, New Guinea, and the Arctic from the 1930s to the 1950s. This essay aims to uncover the shared historical practices and narratives in travel film and ethnographic film, examining scientific films in light of popular forms of anthropological cinema. In particular, the author examines the construction of an ethnographic imaginary and modes of ethnographic realism in the feature-length color film Jungle Headhunters [1950], shot during Cotlow's various expeditions to the Amazon during the 1940s.     

A Review of Hu Tai-li's Documentary Educational Resources Series

ABSTRACT  This review addresses six films made by Taiwan's most well respected ethnographic filmmaker, Hu Tai-li. The films were recently released as part of the Documentary Educational Resources series and cover Hu's most well-known works. The films in the series span two decades, beginning with her first film in 1985. Hu's films capture the everyday lives of the disenfranchised in Taiwan, ranging from aboriginal groups to working-class Taiwanese who have been displaced by shifting economic structures. Her films are especially important for Taiwan Studies, for they capture fading traditions as well as continued ethnic and class tensions within Taiwan. As such, the films are important for anyone who wants to come to a better understanding of Taiwan's past and present.     

Powering popular conceptions: The !Kung in the Marshall family expedition films of the 1950s

The paper develops a theoretical framework for the study of ethnographic film out‐takes in relation to material that is included in released ethnographic film, in this case, the films by John Marshall on the Kalahari San. The significance of what is included in relation to that which is excluded is called the theory of structured absences. This theory is then applied to the study of the 700,000 feet of 16 mm out‐takes not used by Marshall in his released films on the Ju/'hoansi.

The difficulties of analysing archival film are discussed, and issues of representation in relation to exposed footage, released films, and the director's own theory of documentary, are critically examined. The anthropological significance of Marshall's filmic contribution on the Kalahari San is assessed.     

Ecstasy,Choreography and Re-Enactment: Aesthetic and Political Dimensions of Filming States of Trance and Spirit Possession in Postwar Southern Italy

States of trance and spirit possession have inspired the modernist imagination perhaps more than anything else, as they typically exceed the limits of visual representation. This article investigates different approaches to coping with these challenges, focusing on the works of a group of Italian documentary filmmakers, including Luigi di Gianni, Cecilia Mangini, and Gianfranco Mingozzi, who used a novel set of audiovisual techniques to explore ecstatic religious expressions in southern Italy in the postwar years. I look into the processes through which trance and possession rituals (e.g. Apulian tarantism) themselves have inspired and initiated innovations in audiovisual documentation by means of combining—or blurring the boundaries between—ethnographic and experimental modes of cinematic practice. Through highly stylized image/sound compositions including high-contrast lighting, wood-cut like silhouettes, montage, abstract sound effects and poetic, partly fictionalized commentary, as well as by consciously making use of re-enactments and staged encounters, these films contest both the realist-observational narrative and the focus on individuals otherwise prevalent in ethnographic filmmaking. Reading the Italian films against the backdrop of the earlier and contemporaneous, yet much better-known trance films of Maya Deren and Jean Rouch, the article argues that their antirealist audiovisual aesthetic fabricates a social aesthetic that raises sensitivity to human experience and fosters a radically humanist stance.     

Anthropology and television: Ethnographic‐ethnological topics on German television

The following paper gives an overview of the various programs with ethnographic‐ethnological content shown on Channels I and III of ARD, a public broadcasting company in Germany, from 1965 until 1989. Research focused on ethnographic‐ethnological content of documentary films in general and thus also included television programs whose theme as a whole differed from this topic. Based on a review of the data of a total of 280 programs, 4 categories of program are classified: 1. Eth nographic television programs; 2. Television programs with ethnographic elements; 3. Television programs with an ethnological topic; and 4. Border‐line cases, i.e. programs which are remarkable from an anthropological point of view but which cannot directly be classed with one of the categories above. Most of the programs with ethnographic‐ethnological content are broadcast on Channel III which addresses target groups with specific interests. This aim was more visible during the first years of the existence of Channel III at the end of the Sixties and during the Seventies than it is nowadays. The change is reflected in the quality of programs containing ethnographic‐ethnological topics over the years. In general a shift can be noted from programs with an outstanding visual quality (although they always have been rare) to programs which derive from the journalistic tradition of television and put a major stress on commentary. Through the years a change in the topics presented becomes apparent. The Seventies were the period when the majority of programs shown were on tribal societies. From the end of that decade until the mid‐Eighties there was an increase in the number of programs covering other non‐tribal ethnic groups. Moreover, topics such as ethnic minorities, even in Europe, urban groups or the various daily life‐styles of people within a whole state or country, emerged, and more emphasis was given to social and political aspects. The research reveals that television as a medium is open to different programs with ethnographic‐ethnological content. Apart from the quality of the programs offered, the abundance and variety of programs available reflects a wide interest in foreign nations and cultures. Anthropologists should acknowledge that fact in order to make ethnological knowledge available to a wider audience.     

Anthropologists Working “at Home”: On the Range of Subjects and Forms of Representation in Film,and What Makes These Ethnographic

This discussion explores the meaning of ethnographic film with reference to films made by filmmakers “at home.” It is argued that ethnographicness in film is best conceptualized as a continuum, and that anthropology must embrace transnationalism and the changing nature of “homes” and “abroads” in order to present and represent peoples' voices in an era of increasing globalization. It is argued that the way that ethnographic film evolves, as a cultural product and process itself, should be embraced and celebrated for its ability to recognize universal humanity.     

The history of visual anthropology in India and the task ahead

This paper is a brief history of the earliest efforts of anthropological film making in India. It includes documentation of ethnographic films, the international body in India, and seminars at Delhi and Jodhpur. The filming of the rich cultural heritage of the country; stock‐taking; realistic fiction films; national, regional, and global networks; educational, archival, and research activities are explored. Additionally, the author looks to future tasks to be undertaken by visual anthropologists in India.     

Jean Rouch's ethnographic path

This article considers the multiple influences that have shaped Jean Rouch's ethnographic gaze upon the Songhay people of Niger. Marcel Griaule, Rouch's mentor, undoubtedly influenced his student's ethnographic approach to Songhay. But Rouch was equally influenced, I am convinced, by his direct and unforgettable confrontation with the mysteries of the Songhay world. After a discussion of the methodological and theoretical orientations of the Griaule school, I analyze Rouch's major ethnographic work, La Religion et la magie Songhay, focusing upon how Griaulian epistemology and Songhay realities molded the textual presentation. I then discuss several of Rouch's major films—Les Magiciens de Wanzerbé, The Lion Hunters, Les Maîtres Fous, and Tourou et Bitti, placing them within an ethnographic and epistemological context. This analysis leads to a consideration of Rouch's unrecognized contribution to anthropology.     

Jean Rouch and the Birth of Visual Anthropology: A Brief History of the Comité international du film ethnographique

The true scope of Jean Rouch's international activities for the advancement of visual anthropology is little known. Few in the field today are aware that he was for more than 10 years the driving force of the Comité international du film ethnographique, where he was secretary-general as of 1958. It is thanks to his initiative, backed by UNESCO, that the first anthropologist–filmmakers were able to present their films (and often see them hotly debated) in Paris, Brussels, Prague, Venice, Florence, and Locarno. He was, together with sociologist Edgar Morin (with whom he would produce the influential film Chronique d'un été), one of the collaborators of the Florence Festival dei Popoli, then entirely devoted to ethnographic and sociological films. Here Luc de Heusch, closely associated to Jean Rouch throughout those intrepid times, chronicles the seminal years of visual anthropology.     

Out of words: The æsthesodic cine‐eye of Robert Gardner: An Exegesis and Interview

Anthropological evaluations of the film work of Robert Gardner have been compromised by their reluctance to engage with it as art, and more broadly, to celebrate rather than vilify the aesthetic possibilities of the genre of ethnographic film. Even recent experiments with reflexivity have done little to challenge the realism that undergirds anthropological reception of non‐fiction film. By contrast, this article and interview considers Gardner's work as both anthropology and art. In particular, it addresses the evolving dialectic of the verbal and the visual in his films, from Bhinden Harbour (1951) to Passenger (1998). It also argues that recent efforts by anthropologists to rethink the concept of culture from a post‐semiotic perspective, foregrounding corporeal embodiment in the constitution of culture as much as the self, expand the theoretical boundaries of visual anthropology. In turn, it suggests that this reorientation towards sensation and perception should allow for a more approbatory understanding of Gardner's films.     

Dreaming a Narrative and Conjuring an Image: Collaborative Filmmaking with People and Spirits in Melanesia

This article explores long-term creative engagement, through filmmaking, with a community in Papua New Guinea. It examines the process and results of three feature film projects done in collaboration with Melanesian communities. The films discussed here have employed diverse methods to engage with people creatively. All three of these ethnographic films seek to privilege local epistemologies through their construction, narrative approaches and subjects. The article details the methodologies employed for promoting indigenous ways of knowing. It is suggested that filmmaking and creative engagement have helped generate a meaningful site for Lak communities to explore their traditional practices and identity.     

Palestinians in film: Representing and being represented in the cinematic struggle for national identity

The Israeli‐Palestinian conflict has frequently been the focus of Western‐produced documentary films, which seek to explain the core of the problem. Claims to a truthful representation of reality have traditionally been linked to a parallel assumption of ethnographic authority over Palestinians who, unlike Israelis, had until recently little access to filmic means of representation. Through a number of documentaries, produced by both Palestinians and non‐Palestinians, the paper analyzes the crucial impact of the Intifadah on the development of local media in the Occupied Territories. The paper argues that by taking up film and ethnographic techniques as they had been developed in the West, documentaries produced by Palestinians have successfully generated alternative views of the conflict.     

Genetic analysis of reactivity to humans in Goettingen minipigs

Goettingen minipigs are laboratory animals with an increasing demand over the last few years. At the moment, Goettingen minipigs are not selected for a low reactivity to humans and this trait is not included in the breeding programme. However, it is obvious that there is a need for genetically non-responding minipigs during handling to facilitate the treatment and restraint of the animals which is often needed in biomedical experiments. A first testing scheme was developed to evaluate the reactivity of Goettingen minipigs to humans and to analyse whether the trait reactivity to humans can be considered in the breeding programme. In this study temperament scores of this testing scheme for nine different traits from 10,033 animals collected from 2005 to 2008 were analysed. Temperament was subjectively scored on a scale from 1 to 5 while the pig is caught (C), held on the arms (A), standing in a box for weighing (W), standing on a table (T) and walking on the ground (G). The traits were a combination of these situations evaluated at three different ages (2, 4 and 6 months). Genetic parameters were estimated using bivariate models and different possible selection strategies were examined. Heritabilities were low to moderate with a range from 0.09 to 0.22 and phenotypic and genetic correlations between the nine traits were moderate to high with phenotypic correlations between 0.12 (W2 and G4) and 0.64 (W2 and A2) and genetic correlations between 0.44 (A4 and C6) and 1.00 (e.g. W2 and A4). It was shown that the highest genetic progress per year can be obtained when all nine traits are considered in the selection index. Under an economical point of view the selection on the basis of the two arm traits plus the trait W2 should be preferred.Based on a critical discussion of the explanatory power of the used scoring system a new evaluation scheme was developed. In this scheme the minipigs can be divided into responding and non-responding animals whereas the latter are desired for selection. The suggested scoring system offers better possibilities for statistical analyses. It is planned to include the selection for non-responding Goettingen minipigs in the routine breeding programme.