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...

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...

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

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

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

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

The Greek shadow puppetry began 130 years ago. A student of Greek shadow puppetry travels to China, ...

Shigeki, one of the Ainu people of northern Japan, follows the traditions of his ancestors and teach...

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

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

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

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

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

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 ...