Movies: Anthropology

March 2008. The renowned journal ‘Science’ publishes an article confirming that the human bones discovered in 2004 on the island of Flores in Indonesia are indeed those of a new species of man. These tiny men lived there just a few thousand years ago...

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A three-act film-essay about memory and the historical-cultural ties of the Finno- Ugric peoples. The first chapter is dedicated to ancient Bearese of memory, such as Karelian cliff drawings, Kalevala runo song and Khanty bear feast rituals. the s...

Scientist Mark Plotkin races against time to save the ancient healing knowledge of Indian tribes from extinction....

Women from three separate Ju/'hoan bands have gathered at a mangetti grove at !O to play an intense game in which under-tones of social and personal tensions become apparent....

Terence McKenna gives us a detailed description of his TimeWave concept and a demonstration of the software Terence originated in his early exploratory period of deep study with the I Ching, the ancient oracular Chinese Book of Changes. He proudly ta...

Five stories about dignity in the capital of Peru. A local leader looking for someone to leave the post of her complex work, a tourist guide who is a patron of the architectural heritage and Creole music, an ex-delinquent rescued by the Evangelical C...

A young anthropologist reflects on her late grandmother's religious background....

An anthropologist investigates the origins of human evolution. She had suffered a mental trauma during her childhood when her father, a submarine captain, died during the war. This trauma periodically destabilizes her condition. The ghosts of a prehi...

The film follows Ongka's struggles to accumulate huge numbers of pigs and other items of value to present at a Moka ceremony to another tribe....

Sequel to the "The Waterfowl People". The author interprets the kinship, linguistic and cultural relationships of the Finno-Ugric peoples. Finns, Vepsians, Votes, Setos, Erzya-Mordvinians, Mansi, Hungarians, Sami, Nganasans, and Estonians appear in ...

About the "concheros", dancers in México City that keep aztec traditions alive....

Denton, an anthropologist of note, meets by accident a new neighbor, an attractive girl, whose father insists upon her marriage to a man whom he favors because of his wealth. Denton and the girl are mutually attracted and to Denton comes a vague but ...

As retailers, wholesalers, and negotiators, Asante women of Ghana dominate the huge Kumasi Central Market amid the laughter, argument, colour and music. The crew of this `Disappearing World' film have jumped into the fray, explored, and tried to expl...

Tchai is the word used by Ju/'hoansi to describe getting together to dance and sing; n/um can be translated as medicine, or supernatural potency. In the 1950's, when this film was shot, Ju/'hoansi gathered for "medicine dances" often, usually at nigh...

Mr. Burbridge's party slew three giant gorillas, one weighing something like 450 pounds. Two of these were sent to the Belgian Government and one to the Smithsonian Institution. The explorer also brought away with him three young gorillas, one of whi...

This film depicts a moment of flirtation between N!ai, the young wife of /Gunda, and her great-uncle /Ti!kay. The two share a "joking relationship," a Ju/'hoan kin relationship which provides opportunities for casual intimacy, emotional release, and ...

Ju/'hoan women often share an intimate sociability and spend many hours together discussing their lives, enjoying each other's company and children. In this short film, Ju/'hoan women rest, talk and nurse their babies while lying in the shade of a ba...

“The barbaric negro inhabitants of an African village are shown in their various forms of activity, the first view being a photograph of a number of children of all sizes, shapes and degrees of African beauty. Following this is a match between two gi...

"Tubabs" is a nickname for foreigners, especially white ones, in the West African country of Gambia. In this documentary filmed by Mary Flannery, a group of college students from St. Mary's College of Maryland travel to Gambia as part of an anthropol...