Lightning struck the hut of a Fulani shepherd near a village of settled fishermen, Ganghel, in Niger. A yenendi, a purification ceremony to obtain "water from the sky but not fire from the sky", is organized, with Sorko priests, ritual musicians and dancers, and the faithful from Niamey. The musicians call on Dongo, god of storms, and his brother Kirey, god of lightning. To the rhythm of the orchestra, a man goes into a trance, becoming Dongo's horse and at the same time the riding genie. Then a woman is possessed by Kirey. When the riding gods have mastered their horses, the gods visit the men. Dongo purifies the lightning-struck land and the oldest fisherman prepares the purification vessel, addressing Dongo.
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...
This documentary started as part of a photography project about the indigenous Ainu population in no...
This intimate ethnographic study of Voudoun dances and rituals was shot by Maya Deren during her yea...
A collage of daily life in Aq Kupruk builds from the single voice that calls the townspeople to pray...
Founding father of Anthropology, Bronislaw Malinowski's work raises powerful and disturbing question...
The people of Unamenshipu (La Romaine), an Innu community in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, are see...
Forest of Bliss is an unsparing yet redemptive account of the inevitable griefs, religious passions ...
Robert J. Flaherty's South Seas follow-up to Nanook of the North is a Gauguin idyll moved by "pride ...
Portrays the Nuer, Nilotic herdsmen of the Nile basin. Shows how their daily lives revolve about the...
Yirrkala is an Aboriginal township on the Gove Peninsula in Northeast Arnhem Land. It was establishe...
As retailers, wholesalers, and negotiators, Asante women of Ghana dominate the huge Kumasi Central M...
Shigeki, one of the Ainu people of northern Japan, follows the traditions of his ancestors and teach...
A musical documentary woven around the endangered musical culture of the Rangdani Rabhas from Manikg...
The Greek shadow puppetry began 130 years ago. A student of Greek shadow puppetry travels to China, ...
Remember the culture clash in THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY? This time it's real. One of the most ancient c...
AMIN portrays Qashqai musician Amin Aghaie, a young modern nomad and his family who despite facing s...
In Sangha, through the window of her house, Germaine greets Djamgouno, her main informant. He then t...