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.

The people of Unamenshipu (La Romaine), an Innu community in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, are see...
At dawn a nomad caravan descends on Aq Kupruk from the foothills of the Hindu Kush. In their camp, a...

AMIN portrays Qashqai musician Amin Aghaie, a young modern nomad and his family who despite facing s...

This intimate ethnographic study of Voudoun dances and rituals was shot by Maya Deren during her yea...

"Tourou et Bitti", an eight minute documentary concerning a ritual in Niger, is yet another example ...

A group of filmmakers travel to a Kolla community in Salta to film their folkways. We see all aspect...

How’s the Big Everything? Garba asks Nicole. For them, the “Big Everything” encompasses family, poli...

In the Darhat valley in northern Mongolia, the horses of nomadic tribes are stolen by bandits who th...
Rites and operation of the circumcision of thirty Songhai children on the Niger. Material of this fi...

Founding father of Anthropology, Bronislaw Malinowski's work raises powerful and disturbing question...

In front of Jean Rouch's camera, Germaine Dieterlen recalls her ethnographic itinerary, at the Musée...

Germaine Dierterlen talks about Dogon mythology at a conference on the Bandiagara cliffs. The Songo ...

In Sangha, through the window of her house, Germaine greets Djamgouno, her main informant. He then t...

This documentary offers an overview of French scientific research in Africa French scientific resear...

A ritual vase, the hampi, is placed in the center of the Musée de plein air de la République du Nige...

Forest of Bliss is an unsparing yet redemptive account of the inevitable griefs, religious passions ...

A portrait of Zomo, the second of Damouré Zika’s many children. Employed at the zoo of the National ...

Portrays the Nuer, Nilotic herdsmen of the Nile basin. Shows how their daily lives revolve about the...