A ritual vase, the hampi, is placed in the center of the Musée de plein air de la République du Niger in Niamey, during a ritual ceremony featuring possession dances. With this film, Jean Rouch continues his ethnological and cinematographic study of Songhay ritual objects. He demonstrates that, in a particular context, the transfer of a hampi vase to a museum requires the organization of a ritual ceremony to obtain the gods' approval. At the time, however, reservations about filming a possession dance for the opening of a shrine in a museum made the move "questionable from a museological point of view".
This documentary started as part of a photography project about the indigenous Ainu population in no...
In the Darhat valley in northern Mongolia, the horses of nomadic tribes are stolen by bandits who th...
The people of Unamenshipu (La Romaine), an Innu community in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, are see...
Remember the culture clash in THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY? This time it's real. One of the most ancient c...
Estonia's first ethnographic film. Made by Johannes Pääsuke in 1913 on his expedition to Setomaa, th...
The young goat herders from the cliff of Bandiagara practice on the stone drums of their ancestors. ...
A collage of daily life in Aq Kupruk builds from the single voice that calls the townspeople to pray...
This intimate ethnographic study of Voudoun dances and rituals was shot by Maya Deren during her yea...
Forest of Bliss is an unsparing yet redemptive account of the inevitable griefs, religious passions ...
Shigeki, one of the Ainu people of northern Japan, follows the traditions of his ancestors and teach...
Robert J. Flaherty’s follow-up to Nanook of the North shifts from the Arctic to the South Seas, port...
As retailers, wholesalers, and negotiators, Asante women of Ghana dominate the huge Kumasi Central M...
A synaesthetic portrait made between French Polynesia and Brittany, Color-blind follows the restless...
An account of the journey that King Alfonso XIII of Spain made to the impoverished shire of Las Hurd...
Portrays the Nuer, Nilotic herdsmen of the Nile basin. Shows how their daily lives revolve about the...
David and Judith MacDougall are exploring the marriage rituals and roles of Turkana women in this et...
A unique 'direct cinema' feature length documentary (no narration or interviews) originally filmed i...
The story of a poor girl who leaves her starving family and sheep for a more prosperous village. Her...
At dawn a nomad caravan descends on Aq Kupruk from the foothills of the Hindu Kush. In their camp, a...