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.
Rites and operation of the circumcision of thirty Songhai children on the Niger. Material of this fi...

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

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

The people of Unamenshipu (La Romaine), an Innu community in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, are see...

In the Darhat valley in northern Mongolia, the horses of nomadic tribes are stolen by bandits who th...

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

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

Robert J. Flaherty’s follow-up to Nanook of the North shifts from the Arctic to the South Seas, port...

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

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

On the night of 3 August 1996 a school of striped dolphins ran ashore near the village of Tuo on Nga...

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

Remember the culture clash in THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY? This time it's real. One of the most ancient c...

As retailers, wholesalers, and negotiators, Asante women of Ghana dominate the huge Kumasi Central M...

Estonia's first ethnographic film. Made by Johannes Pääsuke in 1913 on his expedition to Setomaa, th...

In February 1974, Pam Sambo Zima, the oldest of the priests of possession in Niamey, Niger, died at ...