Anthropology

60 MINUTES-BRAZIL (2011, 14 minutes)

Filmmaker(s): CBS Broadcasting
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Culture, politics, society, economics
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Airdate: 12/12/10 As the United States and most of the world's countries limp along after the crippling recession, Brazil is off and running with jobs, industry, and resources. As Steve Kroft reports, it's still famous for its samba dancing, Carnival, and the beaches of Ipanema, but Brazil is also poised to become the fifth largest economy in the world.

A BALINESE FAMILY (1951, 20 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Margaret Mead, Gregory Bateson
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Bali, Kinship, Social Life and Customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Study of a Balinese family and the ways in which the father and mother treat the three youngest children: lap baby, knee baby, and child nurse.

A JOURNEY INTO ONE OF THE ANCESTRAL HOMELANDS OF THE TAINOS: BORIKEN (1997)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Tainos
Format: VHS
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS

A PLACE CALLED CHIAPAS (1998, 89 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Nettie Wild
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Mexico, Sandinistas
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
On January 1, 1994, the Zapatista National Liberation Army--made up of impoverished Mayan Indians from the state of Chiapas--took over five towns and 500 ranches in southern Mexico. The government deployed its troops, and at least 145 people died in the ensuing battle. Fighting for indigenous Mexicans to regain control over their lives and the land, the Zapatistas and their charismatic leader, guerilla poet Subcomandante Marcos, began sending their message to the world via the Internet. The result was what THE NEW YORK TIMES called "the world’s first postmodern revolution." Years into the uprising, filmmaker Nettie Wild traveled to the jungle canyons of southern Mexico to film the elusive and fragile life of the rebellion. Her camera effectively and movingly captures the personal stories behind a very public clash of traditional culture and globalization.

A SANDPAINTER'S JOURNEY: AN INTRODUCTION TO A TAINO ARTIST - "MELANIO J. GONZALEZ-CAJIGAX XETI AON COAYBAY" (1997, 31 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s):
Format: DVD, VHS
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS

A WOMAN'S PLACE (1998, 57 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Maria Rose Nicolo
World Area(s): Asia, Africa, North America
Subject Area(s): Women Social conditions, Women Legal status, laws, etc, Women South Africa Social conditions, Women United States Social conditions, Women India Social conditions.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
This is an hour-long documentary about how women in different countries are using the law to transform their lives and change their communities. In this film are featured three countries-- South Africa, the United States, and India. All three nations are democracies, with constitutions and mixed societies, but with very different social and cultural norms and contexts. Narrator, Lynn Neary. Editor, Dena Mermelstein; director of photography, Eli Yonova. A Corporation for Public Broadcasting co-production. This is an hour-long documentary about how women in different countries are using the law to transform their lives and change their communities. In this film are featured three countries-- South Africa, the United States, and India. All three nations are democracies, with constitutions and mixed societies, but with very different social and cultural norms and contexts. Media/Video

AFGHAN NOMADS: THE MALDAR (2007, 21 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Herbert DiGioia, David Hancock
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Afghanistan, Religion, Politics
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
At dawn a nomad caravan descends on Aq Kupruk from the foothills of the Hindu Kush. In their camp, and in commerce with the townspeople, the Maldar reveal the mixture of faith and distrust that has kept nomads and sedentary people separate and interdependent over the centuries. The theme of the film focuses on political and religious beliefs. The film and accompanying instructor notes in this series embrace five different and complex units of analysis concerning how political change occurs; individual attitudes, ethnic identity, national loyalties, institutional affiliations, and ideological beliefs. The Faces of Change Collection examines 5 cultures selected for the diversity of their geographic location: starting with the China Coast at sea level and moving up to Taiwan, then to Afghanistan, Kenya and finally to the mountains of Bolivia. Each location is examined through 5 themes: Rural Society, Education, Rural Economy, Women, and Beliefs.

AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES (2006, 240 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Henry Louis Gates, William Grant, Peter W. Kunhardt
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): African Americans History, African American families History, African Americans Genealogy, DNA fingerprinting, Documentary television programs, Television programs for the hearing impaired.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A compelling combination of storytelling and science, this series uses genealogy, oral histories, family stories and DNA to trace roots of several accomplished African Americans down through American history and back to Africa. Host: Henry Louis Gates, Jr.; features Oprah Winfrey, Chris Tucker, Quincy Jones, Sara-Lawrence-Lightfoot, Mae Jemison, T.D. Jakes, Ben Carson, Whoopi Goldberg. Music, Michael Bacon. Originally broadcast as a four-part television series in 2006. Not rated. Listening to our past /producer and director, Jesse Sweet; editors, Eric Davis, Michael Weingrad -- The promise of freedom /producer and director, Leslie Asako Gladsjo; editors, Joanna Kiernan, Geeta Gandbhr -- Searching for our names /producer and director, Leslie D. Farrell; editors, Merril Stern, Kathryn Moore -- Beyond the middle passage /producer and director, Graham Judd; editors, Kate Hirson, Stefan Knerrich. Media/Video

ALL POINTS OF THE COMPASS (2006, 55 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Judy Rymer
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Vietnam, Refugees
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Tran Van Lam had the ill-fated destiny to be foreign minister of South Vietnam during the devastating war with the North. As the war intensified, he and his wife made provisions for his children to leave the country. The nine children were dispersed to Australia, France, the U.S. and Scotland. He was betrayed by the United States, his ally against the North. While he was a delegate to the Paris peace talks, Henry Kissinger secretly arranged the pull out with the North. Fortunate to be airlifted out at the fall of Saigon, he and his wife finally emigrated to Australia with one small bag, where they ultimately opened a coffee shop. The adult children, now in mid -career with families of their own, speak poignantly about their experience of dislocation. They each longed to be re-united as a family and had to struggle to forge a new identity in a foreign land. They were all deeply affected by their father's expectations to become accomplished and "give back." Each one feels "multicultural."

ALL UNDER HEAVEN: LIFE IN A CHINESE VILLAGE (1985, 58 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Carma Hinton, Richard Gordon
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): China Rural conditions, China Social life and customs 1976-, China Economic policy 1976-, Long Bow Village (China)
Format: DVD, VHS
Holdings: Anthropology Department, STL

SYNOPSIS
All Under Heaven is a compressed social history of Long Bow over the past few decades. Village elders recount tales of famine, drought, disease, and exploitation before explicating various shifts in the political line - from the land reforms of 1949 and the collectivization of the early 50s, through the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the current Four Modernizations. (The latest developments, encouraging household farming, are not universally appreciated: 'Now even if you sleep till noon no one will bug you - you'll just go hungry'). Replete with village rituals (including funerals, markets, and playing Ping-Pong on a round stone table with a brick 'net'), All Under Heaven gives you an appreciation for the successive waves of Chinese history. Carma Hinton. Cinematography, Richard Gordon; editor, David Carnochan. PBS air date: Sept. 8, 1987. English narration; some Chinese dialogue with either English voice-over or English subtitles. An intimate look at daily life in Long Bow, a village about 400 miles southwest of Beijing. Shows how traditional way of life has persisted and altered with political changes of the last 40 years, particularly collectivization and decollectivization. Media/Video

ALMOST BROTHERS (Quase Dois Irmãos) (2004, 102 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Quase Dois Irmãos
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Urban violence, history, dictatorship, Rio de Janeiro
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Switching back and forth in time between the 1970s and the 2000s, the film follows the friendship between a middle-class left-wing political activist and a criminal from Rio de Janeiro's favelas.

AMERICAN TONGUES: A FILM ABOUT THE WAY WE TALK (1987, 57 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Louis Alvarez, Andrew Kolker
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Linguistic anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
American Tongues is the classic award-winning film that examines the attitudes Americans have about the way they talk. Directed by award-winning filmmakers Louis Alvarez and Andrew Kolker, American Tongues goes to the streets and countryside to listen to American English in all its diversity and color. From Boston Brahmins to African-American teenagers, from Texas cowboys to urban professionals, American Tongues elicits funny, perceptive, sometimes shocking, and always telling comments about our diverse society.

AMERICA'S STONE AGE EXPLORERS (2004, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Gary Glassman, Nigel Levy
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): America, Archaeology, Human migration
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Ever since unusually ancient and deadly spear points were found near Clovis, New Mexico in the 1930s, many archeologists have believed that this type of weapon originated with the first settlers of the New World, who supposedly migrated from Asia at the end of the last ice age. In "America's Stone Age Explorers," NOVA reports new evidence that challenges this widely held view. The hunt for clues takes NOVA to sites of stunning discoveries in western Pennsylvania and southern Chile; to southern France, where Stone Age artifacts have been found that resemble the famous Clovis points; to the high arctic to learn the techniques that may have been used to cross the ice-encrusted Atlantic 17,000 years before Columbus; and to a remarkable find in central Texas that may hold the key to who invented the Clovis technology.

AN ARGUMENT ABOUT A MARRIAGE (1969, 18 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): John Marshall
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Marriage
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
In 1958, with assistance from the Marshalls, a group of Ju/'hoansi returned home to Nyae Nyae after several years as unpaid, captive laborers on a farm. One woman, whose husband had escaped the farm and left her behind, had a child with another man. Upon the group's return to Nyae Nyae, an angry argument broke out over the matter. An Argument About a Marriage raises questions about the impact of European farms on the economic and the social life of the Ju 'hoansi; about the complexities of marriage rules and bride-service in their traditional kinship system; and about the nature of conflict and its mediation among the Ju/'hoansi. Despite the interpersonal anger, we see how ≠oma's skillful intervention prevents this particular conflict from escalating to violence. Study Guide: http://der.org/films/resources/anargumentaboutmarriage.pdf

AN INITIATION KUT FOR A KOREAN SHAMAN (1991, 36 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Diana Lee
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Medical anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
In Korea, when things go wrong in the household, the housewife may consult a shaman to determine if the problem is caused by an angry god or an ancestor. The occupation of shaman is female dominated and hold a dual reputation in today's society. In one respect, they are considered lewd women who promote superstition; in another, they are seen as keeping alive the religious ideals of the past. Follows one woman's trials from when she felt destined to be a shaman through her two-day initiation ceremony. The emotional impact of the ceremony is apparent throughout.

ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE (2002, 25 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Shane Claiborne, Jamie Moffett
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): World Social Forum
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Volume 1: War. With tears and laughter, Shane Claiborne unveils the tragic realities of our fragile world and the incredible hope that "another world is possible." Shane graduated from Eastern University, and did graduate work at Princeton Seminary. His adventures have been wild everything from a 10-week stint working with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, to a year spent serving at the evangelical "mega-church" Willow Creek in verdant Chicago suburbs. Recently, Shane spent 3 weeks in Baghdad with the Iraq Peace Team (a project of Voices in the Wilderness and Christian Peacemaker Teams) where he was a witness to military bombardment of Baghdad. As a member of IPT, Shane took daily trips to sites where there had been bombings, visited hospitals and families, and attended worship services during the war. Shane is a founding partner of The Simple Way, a community of faith seeking to Love God, Love People, and Follow Jesus. The Simple Way has helped birth and connect grassroots Christian communities throughout the country, and has invited many people to consider the Gospel as a Way of life. Shane serves on the Board of Directors for the Christian Community Development Association, whose pillars are Reconciliation, Relocation, and Redistribution. Here you will find stories, songs, and reflections on the world of grace and bombs.

ANTHROPOLOGISTS AT WORK: CAREERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE (1993, 36 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s):
Subject Area(s): Careers
Format: DVD, VHS
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Instructional video on careers in Anthropology.

ANTHROPOLOGY LECTURE LAUNCHER (2003, 97 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): Global
Subject Area(s): Pedagogy
Format: DVD, VHS
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Compilation of 25 3-5 minute video clips intended to accompany the McGraw-Hill Anthropology texts including those by Kottak, Park, and Lenkeit.

ANTHROPOLOGY: REAL PEOPLE, REAL CAREERS (2006, 42 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): American Anthropological Association
World Area(s):
Subject Area(s): Careers
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
What can you do with a degree in anthropology?” This NEW product provides exciting information about the vast array of careers available to anthropologists. Whether students are considering an anthropology degree, a declared major or are simply curious about what kind of jobs are available to anthropologists, this is a valuable source of information! Anthropology: Real People, Real Careers is comprised of interviews with individuals working in ten different fields in applied anthropology. This DVD does not provide exhaustive information about careers in applied anthropology; however, it gives wonderful examples of anthropologists at work.

APE GENIUS: WHAT SEPARATES APES FROM HUMANS (2008, 54 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): John Rubin
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Documentary television programs, Nonfiction television programs, Television programs for the hearing impaired, Television programs for people with visual disabilities, Apes Psychology, Animal intelligence.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
At a research site in Fongoli, Senegal, a female chimpanzee breaks off a branch, chews the end to make it sharp, and then uses this rudimentary spear to skewer a tasty bush baby hiding inside a hollow tree. It’s an astonishing breakthrough for primate researchers—the first time anyone has documented a chimpanzee wielding a carefully prepared, preplanned weapon. But it's only the latest in a slew of extraordinary new findings about ape behavior. The more researchers learn about the great apes—chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans—the more evidence they find of creative intelligence. What, then, is the essential difference between them and us? "Ape Genius," a NOVA-National Geographic special, explores that provocative question and examines research that is illuminating the ape mind. Bit by bit, investigators are finding an explanation for why the non-human great apes never made the breakthrough into a human-style culture that builds on the achievements of previous generations. Originally broadcast on television as a NOVA/National Geographic special on Feb. 19, 2008. DVD; Dolby digital; anamorphic widescreen format. Special feature: teaching materials in PDF format. Culture club -- Copycats -- Getting along -- Impulse control -- Mind reading -- Shared goals. Camera, Neil Rettig et al.; editor, Jim Ohm; music, Robert Neufeld. Narrator, David Slavin. DVD; NTSC, region 1. Closed-captioned. Optional audio-described soundtrack. Media/Video

APPROACH OF DAWN: FORGING PEACE IN GUATEMALA (2003, 53 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Gayla Jamison
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Maya women Guatemala, Mayas Guatemala, Women human rights workers Guatemala, Human rights Guatemala, Women and peace Guatemala, Peace movements Guatemala, Guatemala History 1945-1985, Guatemala History 1985-
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department, STL

SYNOPSIS
Presents portraits of three Mayan women and their efforts on behalf of peace as a result of a 36-year civil war in Guatemala. Adela is a widow struggling to support her refugee family, Justina travels the countryside explaining the human rights movement, and Francesca, a Mayan priestess, reaffirms the cultural identity of her people. Originally issued in 1997 by Lightfoot Films, Inc. Also produced in 1998 as VHS by Films for the Humanities & Sciences. Editor, Amy Carey Linton; narrator, Liliana Del Rio; original music, Chip Epsten. Presents portraits of three Mayan women and their efforts on behalf of peace as a result of a 36-year civil war in Guatemala. Adela is a widow struggling to support her refugee family, Justina travels the countryside explaining the human rights movement, and Francesca, a Mayan priestess, reaffirms the cultural identity of her people. Media/Video

ARCHAEOLOGY: QUESTIONING THE PAST (1987, 26 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): David Reiss
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Archaeology, methodology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Designed for students in introductory archaeology classes. The production begins in the classroom with a review of the preparation that students need before they go out on a dig. Includes sequences of diggings at ancient Indian sites in northern California and near Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. Scenes shift between the classroom, the field, and the laboratory, illustrating the full range of archaeological inquiry.

ARGENTINA TURNING AROUND (2008, 37 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Mark Dworkin, Melissa Young
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Economics, global studies, sociology, Latin American studies, anthropology, government, IMF (international banking), social justice, labor, community development
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
In the 90s Argentina embraced globalization, but instead of making everyone rich the economy collapsed. The eyes of the world were on Argentina as a desperate people turned to each other for mutual support in a remarkable outpouring of grassroots organizing. Now, several years later, have there been fundamental changes, or is it business as usual? From the producers of Argentina: Hope in Hard Times, comes a new film that re-visits worker-run factories, and talks with journalists, economists, and unemployed workers. ARGENTINA: TURNING AROUND provides an intimate view of the new models of work, politics and community development that are now underway, as people re-invent their society to offer a better life for all.

AZTEC TEMPLE OF BLOOD (2004, 45 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): John Joseph
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Archaeology, Mexico City, Aztec, Religion, History, Discovery Channel
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Five hundred years ago, the Aztec people comprised the most powerful civilization in the Americas, a power exemplified by Templo Mayor, a 12-story pyramid where dutiful Aztecs worshipped their gods. It's also where the world's largest mass sacrifice reportedly took place. In a temple dedication in 1487, records tell of 20,000 people sacrificed over a 4-day period. But, could such a large-scale human sacrifice have been logistically possible? Through detailed examination of archaeological and forensic evidence, existing photographs, authentic artifacts, and carefully selected interviews from eyewitnesses and experts, events are reconstructed and historical questions are finally answered. First, a team of computer modelers rebuilds Templo Mayor in staggering detail. Using state of the art computer graphics, animators bring the glory of the Aztecs back to life brick-by-brick and provide the virtual setting for a modern-day recreation of the sacrifice. Then, Australia's Anatomical Surrogate Technologies builds a collection of artificial human torsos to exact specifications to simulate the sacrifice. Learn about the character and social position of the victims and discover what kind of person it took to man the sacrificial altars for hours on end. Expert testimony from surgeon Brendon Coventry wraps things up as he walks through the various intricacies of Aztec ritual and explains how long it took to perform a typical sacrifice.

BAHIA: AFRICA IN THE AMERICAS (1988, 58 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil, Afro-Brazilian culture
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Elements of African culture are powerfully expressed in the food, art, dance, and most importantly, the Candomble (Umbanda) religion of the Afro-Brazilian majority of the state of Bahia.

BALI: THE MYSTICAL LAND (1998, 56 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Bali, tourism
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This program provides a captivating overview of life on the beautiful island of Bali, focusing on the way in which its religion, Agama Tirtha, flows through each day's activities. A mixture of Hinduism, Buddhism, animism, and ancestor worship, Agama Tirtha is based on the vital importance of water both for ritual purification and in the irrigation of the steeply terraced rice fields. Funeral, birth, wedding, and harvest festivals are featured, as well as ceremonial plays and a pilgrimage to Bali's holy spring. Strongly united by their communal worship, the Balinese enjoy a high degree of social harmony.

BATHING BABIES IN THREE CULTURES (1952, 11 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Gregory Bateson, Margaret Mead
World Area(s):
Subject Area(s): Cultural anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Cross-cultural comparisons show the interplay during bathing between mother and child in three different settings: a Sepik River community in New Guinea, an American home, and a mountain village in Bali. From the Character Formation in Different Cultures series.

BEFORE STONEWALL: THE MAKING OF A GAY AND LESBIAN COMMUNITY (1994, 87 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Greta Schiller, Robert Rosenberg
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Homosexuality United States History, Gay liberation movement United States History, Stonewall Riot, New York, N.Y., 1969.
Format: DVD, VHS
Holdings: Anthropology Department, STL

SYNOPSIS
On June 27, 1969, police raided The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village. In a spontaneous show of support and frustration, the city's gay community rioted for three nights in the streets, an event that is considered the birth of the modern Gay Rights Movement. The award winning film Before Stonewall pries open the closet door, setting free the dramatic story of the sometimes horrifying public and private existences experienced by gay and lesbian Americans since the 1920s. Revealing and often humorous, this widely acclaimed film relives the emotionally-charged sparking of today's gay rights movement, from the events that led to the fevered 1969 riots to many other milestones in the brave fight for acceptance. Experience the fascinating and unforgettable, decade-by-decade history of homosexuality in America through eye-opening historical footage and amazing interviews with those who lived through an often brutal closeted history.

BETELNUT BISNIS (2004, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Chris Owen
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Narcotics
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Betelnut is one of the most widely used narcotics in the world. In the coastal areas of Papua New Guinea, where it is grown, it has been a socially acceptable stimulant since ancestral times. Many Highlanders have come to depend on betelnut, not only because of their addiction to the drug, but also for their livelihood, trading small quantities of the nut up from the coast to sell in their local markets. For many families, the betelnut trade is the only source of cash income to pay for such basic necessities as food, school fees and medicine.

BEYOND ELECTIONS: REDEFINING DEMOCRACY IN THE AMERICAS (2008, 104 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Michael Fox, Silvia Leindecker
World Area(s): North America, South America
Subject Area(s): politics, democracy, ideology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
What is democracy? Freedom, equality, participation? Everyone has his or her own definition. Across the world, 120 countries now have at least the minimum trappings of democracy - the freedom to vote for all citizens. But for many, this is just the beginning not the end. Following decades of US-backed dictatorships, civil wars and devastating structural adjustment policies in the South, and corporate control, electoral corruption, and fraud in the North, representative politics in the Americas is in crisis. Citizens are now choosing to redefine democracy under their own terms: local, direct, and participatory. Featuring interviews with: Eduardo Galeano, Amy Goodman, Emir Sader, Martha Harnecker, Ward Churchill, and Leonardo Avritzer.

BEYOND ETHNOGRAPHY: CORPORATE AND DESIGN ANTHROPOLOGY (2006, 25 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Emily Altimare
World Area(s):
Subject Area(s): Anthropology, Career guide
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Produced by Emily Altimare and co-produced and directed by Clinton Humphrey, the DVD provides insights on corporate and design anthropology by drawing on ethnographic research projects conducted at General Motors Corporation(GM). The stories and experiences of applied anthropologists working at GM highlight their challenges, objectives, and accomplishments as practicing anthropologists in a corporate setting. This film proves beneficial in exemplifying how corporate research initiatives are invigorated through the application of both anthropological theory and methodology.

BEYOND THE VEIL: ARE IRANIAN WOMEN REBELLING? (1997, 22 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Andrew Gregg
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Islam, gender, feminism
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
In this program, female reporter Anna Maria Tremonti dons the hijab—"modest dress"—and goes undercover to find out how Iranian women feel about the government-enforced dress code and about their diminished role in Iranian society. We watch teenage girls flaunt accepted behavioral codes, while morality police roam the streets of Teheran in search of offenders. Proponents of the hijab—Islamic scholars, a woman doctor, and a female student—discuss the practice within the context of Islamic religious tradition and the social benefits derived from it. Professional women and others discuss the broader issue of Islam’s right to subjugate women by shaping who they are and how they think.

BIOGRAPHY: FRANZ BOAS (1980, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): T.W. Timreck
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): anthropologist, Native American, pioneer, Pacific Northwest, biography, social history
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
A portrait of "the father of American anthropology," this film intercuts archival photographs and motion pictures, including work by photographer Edward Curts and film footage shot by Boas himself, with recent film from the Pacific Northwest. It was in the Pacific Northwest that Boas made repeated field trips at the turn of the century, to work among the Kwakiut'l. Reflections and anecdotes by scholars, former students of Boas, and the Kwakiut'l themselves are interwoven with Boas' own words, taken from journals, letters, and other writings, to tell the story of this remarkable man.

BLOSSOMS OF FIRE (2006, 74 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Maureen Gosling, Ellen Osborne
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Mexico, Women's studies, social life, customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Blossoms of Fire is a bright, amiable chronicle of the vivid lives of the women of Juchitán, a small, sun-soaked city on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, Mexico. Celebrated by artists like Miguel Covarrubias and Frida Kahlo, Tehuantepec women are already famous, or perhaps infamous for being very visible, hailed as the last practitioners of matriarchy. In reality, this culture features a highly pragmatic and mutually satisfactory partnership between men and women in a pre-industrial mercantile economy. Since there is no concrete division between the hearth and the community, women participate as visibly in the marketplace and in civic affairs and as they would in the home. In the ongoing struggle with modernization this egalitarian habit, along with the indigenous culture and language, may vanish.

BODY DETECTIVES: FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY AT THE BODY FARM (2000, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Forensic Anthropology, Body Farm
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
At the Body Farm, the dead speak. This clinical program travels to the world’s first open-air crime lab with founder Bill Bass, of The University of Tennessee, for a close-up look at how cadavers decay. As proxies for murder victims, these decomposing bodies are studied in the name of science and the cause of justice. Factors and biological markers that help pinpoint time since death, including wind and weather, insects and carnivores, fire damage, soft tissue leachate, mold, and bacteria, are addressed. Three homicide cases that hinged on data and expertise gained at the Farm are presented, and Ph.D. students are filmed doing fieldwork and body processing.

BOMBAY EUNUCH (2001, 71 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Alexandra Shiva, Sean MacDonald, Michelle Gucovsky
World Area(s): India
Subject Area(s): India, Gender, Sexuality, transgender, hijras
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Bombay Eunuch is an intimate, moving portrait of one eunuch family¹s struggle to survive in today¹s changing India. Long revered as divinity, the eunuchs- or hijras, as they are known ­ are now little more than relics in a rapidly modernizing world. Relegated to the fringes of society, their lives often plagued by poverty and hardship, the hijras are at once a powerful evocation of tradition and an inspiring parable about the human will to adapt. Through the voice of Meena, a 37 year old hijra and surrogate mother to a eunuch family of her own, Bombay Eunuch explores the challenges facing many in the eunuch community today, and offers a rare and insightful glimpse of the rewards that come with choosing to be true to oneself.

BRAZIL: AN INCONVENIENT HISTORY (2001, 47 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Phil Grabsky
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): History, slavery, Brazil
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
While everyone knows of the history of slavery in the USA, few people realize that Brazil was actually the largest participant in the slave trade. Forty percent of all slaves that survived the Atlantic crossing were destined for Brazil, while only 4 % were sent to the U.S. At one time half of the population of Brazil were slaves. It was the last country to officially abolish slavery (1888) and one of the ex-slaves is still alive today. This well- researched BBC production charts Brazil's history using original texts, letters, accounts and decrees. From these original sources, we learn firsthand about the brutality of the slave traders and slave owners, and the hardship of plantation life. With the Portuguese colony of Angola acting as a "factory" supplying Africans to Brazil, it was cheaper to replace any slave starved and worked to death than to extend his life by treating him humanely. Few plantation owners sent for their wives to live in this hot climate, so the softening effect of family life was absent among the rough white settlers.

BRAZIL IN BLACK AND WHITE (2008, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): PBS
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): History, slavery, Brazil, race, ethnicity
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
As one of the most racially diverse nations in the world, Brazil has long considered itself a colorblind “racial democracy.” But deep disparities in income, education and employment between lighter and darker-skinned Brazilians have prompted a civil rights movement advocating equal treatment of Afro-Brazilians. In Brazil, the last country in the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery, blacks today make up almost half of the total population — but nearly two-thirds of the nation’s poor. Institutions of higher education have typically been monopolized by Brazil’s wealthy and light-skinned elite, and illiteracy among black Brazilians is twice as high as among whites. Now, affirmative action programs are changing the rules of the game, with many colleges and universities reserving 20% of spots for Afro-Brazilians. But with national surveys identifying over 130 different categories of skin color, including “cinnamon,” “coffee with milk,” and “toasted,” who will be considered “black enough” to qualify for the new racial quotas? “Am I black or am I white?” Even before they ever set foot in a college classroom, many Brazilian university applicants must now confront a question with no easy answer. BRAZIL IN BLACK AND WHITE follows the lives of five young college hopefuls from diverse backgrounds as they compete to win a coveted spot at the elite University of Brasilia, where 20 percent of the incoming freshmen must qualify as Afro-Brazilian. Outside the university, WIDE ANGLE reports on the controversial racial debate roiling Brazil through profiles of civil right activists, opponents of affirmative action, and one of the country’s few black senators.

BYE, BYE BRAZIL (1980, 115 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Carlos Diegues
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil, feature film
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
A young man loses his heart to the Queen of the carnival, Salome, when Caravana Rolidei comes to town.

CANDOMBE (2002, 58 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Silvestre Jacobi
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Religion, Candomblé, Candomble
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
A sumptuously filmed documentary about Candombe, the music created by African slaves brought to Uruguay.

CANNIBAL TOURS (1988, 72 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Dennis O'Rourke
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Papua New Guinea, Cultural Anthropology, Tourism
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
CANNIBAL TOURS is two journeys. The first is that depicted - rich and bourgeois tourists on a luxury-cruise up the mysterious Sepik River, in the jungles of Papua New Guinea ... the packaged version of a 'heart of darkness'. The second journey (the real text of the film) is a metaphysical one. It is an attempt to discover the place of 'the Other' in the popular imagination. It affords a glimpse at the real (mostly unconsidered or misunderstood) reasons why 'civilized' people wish to encounter the 'primitive'. The situation is that shifting terminus of civilization, where modern mass-culture grates and pushes against those original, essential aspects of humanity; and where much of what passes for values in Western culture is exposed in stark relief as banal and fake.

CANNIBALISM IN THE CANYON (2000, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Larry Engel
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): cannibalism, history, Anasazi, American Southwest
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
What happened to the peaceful ancient Pueblo civilization of the American southwest? For 1000 years, the Anasazi--a democratic people with rich achievements in architecture, agriculture, astronomy and art--flourished in what is now New Mexico. Yet around 1200 AD something brought their utopia to a sudden and mysterious end. Paleoanthropologist Christy Turner has found what he believes are clear signs of cannibalism among the Anasazi ruins, but American Indian groups and other archaeologists are skeptical. And while the evidence is difficult to refute, the meaning of the findings is still open to debate. In the shadow of a debate both scientific and political questions remain: did the Anasazi culture become cannibalistic, or did cannibals from afar stumble across the perfect victims?

CANNIBALS (1999, 50 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): Global
Subject Area(s): cannibalism, history, documentary, ritual, religion
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
It is considered the most abhorrent of all taboos. et it has been a part of human culture since the dawn of time--and exists to this day. Some, caught in dire circumstances, have been forced to practice it to survive. For others, it has been a terrible compulsion. And most effectively of all, entire societies have embraced cannibalism as a way of life. This film travels from the jungles of New Guinea to the prison cell of reviled killers to shed light on this startling phenomenon. Explore its ancient origins and examine contemporary incidents--from the famous Donner Party tragedy to the murderous rampage of Jeffrey Dahmer.

CENTRAL STATION (1999, 106 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Walter Salles
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil, poverty, violence
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Inside Rio de Janeiro’s bustling Central Station, two very unlikely souls are about to become intrinsically linked.

CHILDREN OF RIO (1990, 48 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Thierry Michel
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil, Rio de Janeiro
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This documentary follows the lives of two Cariocas teenagers who have been left to their own devices all their lives and have survived by begging, stealing, and dealing in drugs. Unemployment, population explosion and the break-up of families are the root cause of the abandonment of such kids all over the Third World. This unique documentary was filmed despite the barriers put up by a government that does not want such images revealed...

CIDADE BAIXA (2005, 100 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Sergio Machado
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil, feature film, northeast
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Lifelong friends Deco and Naldinho share ownership of an old, rusting boat in Salvador, Brazil. A strong bond exists between the two men, transcending their racial differences. "No woman will come between us," Naldinho tells Deco, and Deco concurs: "All the women in the world couldn't come between us." That bond is tested after the men meet Karinna, a dancer and prostitute. Karinna needs a ride, and she offers the two men her "services" in exchange for transport on their boat and a little cash. The emotional entanglements that result from Karinna's "deal" are stronger than the trio expected. Deco and Naldinho develop a desire to possess Karinna. Karinna's desires are subtler, though it's clear that she feels both a sisterly affection and sexual attraction toward the two men.

COAL COUNTRY (2009, 85 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Phylis Geller
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Coal mines and mining United States, Coal mines and mining Environmental aspects United States, Mountaintop removal mining United States, Documentary films, Nonfiction films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
This film reveals the truth about modern coal mining. The story is told by the people directly involved, both working miners and activists who are battling the coal companies in Appalachia. Tensions are high. It's a 'new civil war,' as families and communities are deeply split over mountaintop removal mining (MTR). What does this mean for America and the rest of the World? The coal industry is spending millions to promote what it calls 'clean coal.' Is it achievable? At what cost? Executive producer, Mari-Lynn Evans; edited by Sam Green; original music by Charlie Barnett; cinematography by Jordan Freeman, Jay Johnson. This film reveals the truth about modern coal mining. The story is told by the people directly involved, both working miners and activists who are battling the coal companies in Appalachia. Tensions are high. It's a 'new civil war,' as families and communities are deeply split over mountaintop removal mining (MTR). What does this mean for America and the rest of the World? The coal industry is spending millions to promote what it calls 'clean coal.' Is it achievable? At what cost? Featuring interviews with environmental activist Kathy Selvage, coal mine company manager Randy Maggard and others. Media/Video

COFFEE: A SACK FULL OF POWER (1999, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Alexander Valenti
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Economics, globalization, global issues, Latin America, Caribbean
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Coffee ranks second only to oil as the most important raw material on the world market. It has shaped the economies, history and social structure of a large part of Latin America. Composed of archival photographs, old newsreels and penetrating interviews, this documentary takes a broad view of the influence of coffee through the ages. First introduced in the eighteenth century, coffee is now the most popular drink in the world after water. South America supplies 66% of the world production, although most of the profits go to traders and speculators outside the region. The film explains the difference between the Brazilian and Costa Rican system of production, and why the Brazilian system has led to such poverty. Mechanization of farms has thrown many rural laborers out of work, an explosive situation in a country where one percent of the population owns 46% of the land. Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias and economist Celso Furtado analyze the market forces that affect coffee prices. An important film for economics and Latin American studies.

CONTACT: THE YANOMAMI INDIANS OF BRAZIL (1990, 28 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Geoffrey O'Connor
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Yanomami, indigenous peoples, European contact
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This video is a documentary film about the Yanomami Indians, a group of indigenous people who live in the Brazilian Amazon. This area of Brazil is extremely secluded and remote and the Yanomami peoples survive with technology from the Stone Age, many making their living as miners in local gold mines. In the 1980s, more than 15 percent of Yanomami Indians died of various diseases, including malaria, and the mines have polluted local rivers and ground water, harming the entire population. The government of Brazil has tried to intervene, but the powerful mining companies have hindered their investigations.

CRAFT IN AMERICA: A JOURNEY TO THE ORIGINS, ARTISTS AND TECHNIQUES OF AMERICAN CRAFT (2007, 180 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Carol Sauvion
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Handicraft United States History 20th century, Handicraft United States History 21st century, Artists United States, Artisans United States, Decoration and ornament United States History 20th century, Decoration and ornament United States History 21st century, Documentary television programs.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Craft gives pleasure as well as function. It is inspirational as well as useful. It is the best representation of who we are as a culture. Craft is democratic. It is broad enough to accommodate anyone who makes something or appreciates the handmade. Craft is all around us. You’ll find it wherever you look – hiding in plain sight. Craft in America offers you a place to explore these connections and to inspire your own creativity. Episode 1: Memory: Sam Maloof (wood worker), Mary Jackson (basket weaver), Pat Courtney Gold (basket weaver), Garry Knox Bennett (furniture maker), Tom Joyce (blacksmith) Episode 2: Landscape: Jan Yager (artist), David Gurney (ceramist), Timberline Lodge (Mount Hood, Oregon), Kit Carson (jeweler, sculptor), Mira Nakashima (furniture designer), Richard Notkin (artist) Episode 3: Community: Mississippi Cultural Crossroads (Port Gibson, Mississippi), Penland School of Crafts, Sarah Jaeger (potter), Archie Bray Foundation, Pilchuk Glass School, Denise Wallace (jeweler), Sam Wallace (lapidary), Dona Look (artist), Ken Loeber (artist). Narrator, Randy Oglesby. Director, Nigel Noble; executive producers: Carol Sauvion, Kyra Thompson; written by Kyra Thompson; editor, Yaffa Lerea; director of photography, Don Lenzer; music by Laura Karpmann. Funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts. Media/Video

CRIME SCENE CREATURES (2006, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Nigel Marven, Paul Zenk
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Forensic Anthropology, crime, Entomology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
They are among the most reliable witnesses to a crime - expert in their testimony and bulletproof in their account. Yet they never utter a single word. They are the animals, plants, and insects that are being recruited by a special breed of forensic scientists to solve the most seemingly impenetrable of crimes. Within the United States and around the globe, biologists are joining the ranks of criminal investigative teams to interpret evidence offered by those with a “natural ability” to crack a case. How do ants nesting in a human skull help police to zero in on a suspect? Can microscopic pollen grains track the path of a killer and link him to the crime scene? Astonishing real-life cases illustrate the tactics employed by these super sleuthing scientists and their “wild” associates. We learn how maggots not only can clock the time of death but also are used to trace terrorist activities by revealing the explosives used in a bomb attack, and we meet a dog whose ultrasensitive nose effectively sniffs out a case of arson. For the investigators, reading the clues requires a strong stomach and a keen eye for the intricate workings of the natural world. A visit to The Body Farm, a forensic research facility in Knoxville, Tennessee, details the various factors in the decay of a human body and how to recognize the false evidence that wildlife may leave. In Vancouver, scientists dive in to explore the more complicated process of underwater decomposition. They are learning how the behavior of curious marine creatures such as enormous sun stars and octopi could taint the evidence.

CROSSING THE AMERICAN CRISES (2011, 68 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Sílvia Leindecker, Michael Fox
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): United States, U.S., politics, elections
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
From the makers of Beyond Elections, this new feature-length documentary takes us across the country amidst the economic collapse, to the grassroots solutions in the hands of the people. On September 15, 2008, the United States fell into the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The same day, we set out on a trip around the country to ask the “American” people what they had to say about it. In 2010, we went back to see how things had changed. The financial forecasters say the recession is over, but the reality is otherwise. Their stories reveal desperation, indignation, hope, dreams and a disastrous economic breakdown; chaos generated by a system of inequality. But the financial meltdown is just one of several human rights crises now shaking the United States—in housing, education, health care, etc. The solutions to “Crossing the American Crises” are in the hands of the people. Featuring the Vermont Worker’s Center; LA's Bus Rider's Union; Santa Fe's local business Alliance; Oakland's Green Jobs Now; Baltimore’s United Workers; and “American” workers, truck drivers, farmers, homeless, ex-felons, minorities, natural disaster survivors, indigenous, immigrants, and residents from coast to coast—covering nearly 40 states across the nation.

CURITIBA: A CITY OF THE FUTURE? (1992, 12 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil, urban planning
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Many cities in the developing world have been crippled by population growth and the influx of immigrants from the countryside. Ways to deal with urban problems in a cost effective manner have to be found. Curitiba, a city in Southern Brazil, has been finding success with new approaches and a number of ingenious schemes.

DADDY & PAPA (2002, 57 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Johnny Symons, Lindsay Sablosky
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): homosexuality, parenthood
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
What if your most controversial act turned out to be the most traditional thing in the world? Daddy & Papa explores the growing phenomenon of gay fatherhood and its impact on American culture. Through the stories of four different families, Daddy & Papa delves into some of the particular challenges facing gay men who decide to become dads. From surrogacy and interracial adoption, to the complexities of gay divorce, to the battle for full legal status as parents, Daddy & Papa presents a revealing look at some of the gay fathers who are breaking new ground in the ever-changing landscape of the American family.

DANI RECESS (1997, 23 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Karl G. Heider
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, New Guinea, Dani, Social Life and Customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Shows the play of Dani children.

DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST (2000, 113 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Julie Dash
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): African Americans Drama, African American women Drama, African American families Drama, Gullahs Drama, Sea Islands Drama.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Story of a large African-American family as they prepare to move North from the Sea Islands off the coast of Georgia at the dawn of the 20th century. Originally produced as a motion picture in 1991. Copyright date on container is 1999. "Deluxe ed., letterboxed version"--Container. Cast: Cora Lee Day, Barbara-O, Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Tommy Hicks, Kaycee Moore, Alva Rogers, Adisa Anderson, Geraldine Dunston, Vertamae Grosvenor. Music composed by John Barnes; editors, Amy Carey, Joseph Burton; director of photography, A. Jaffa Fielder; executive producer, Lindsay Law. Special features: Audio commentary by writer/director Julie Dash; "Touching our own spirit: the making of Daughters of the Dust," a new documentary featuring interviews and behind-the-scenes footage; never-before-seen footage from the preliminary version of the film; isolated musical score by John Barnes; excerpt of Spencer Williams' The Blood of Jesus (1941); an interview with historian Robert Farris Thompson; deleted scenes, theatrical trailer. Story of a large African-American family as they prepare to move North from the Sea Islands off the coast of Georgia at the dawn of the 20th century. Media/Video

DEAD BIRDS (1964, 83 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Robert Gardner
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Dani, New Guinea, Social life and Customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
A cinematographic interpretation of the life of a group of Grand Valley Dani, who are mountain Papuans in West New Guinea (Irian Barat, Indonesia), studied by the Harvard-Peabody Expedition (1961-1963). Gardner made this film in 1961, before the area was pacified by the Dutch government. The film focuses on Weyak, the farmer and warrior, and on Pua, the young swineherd, following them through the events of Dani life: sweet potato horticulture, pig keeping, salt winning, battles, raids, and ceremonies.

DESERT PEOPLE (1967, 56 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): David Lamelas
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Indigenous, aborigine
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Two Aboriginal families live like their ancestors have for centuries in this anthropological documentary. The gathering of food is the main focus as women harvest grass seeds to make a primitive flour for bread. Grubs, lizards, and fruit are also on the menu, with the only contact with the modern world being their trek to a government compound for much-needed drinking water.

DESTINATION: CAMEROON (1995, 21 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Meaghan R. Nelson, Sandra D. Radtke
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Cameroon, description, travel.
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A social and cultural tour of Cameroon, with a focus on the Peace Corps presence in that country. Producer, director, scriptwriter, videographer, and editor, Sandra D. Radtke. Shipping list no.: 97-0013-E. VHS. A social and cultural tour of Cameroon, with a focus on the Peace Corps presence in that country. "WWS 15V-92"--Container insert. Media/Video

DESTINATION: KYRGYZSTAN (1997, 22 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Alenah Dean Taylor, S. John Allen
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Kyrgyzstan, description, travel.
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A social and cultural tour of Kyrgyzstan, with a focus on the Peace Corps presence in that country. Producer, director, scriptwriter, videographer, and editor, John S. Allen. A social and cultural tour of Kyrgyzstan, with a focus on the Peace Corps presence in that country. VHS. Reference/US Docs CDROM

DESTINATION: LESOTHO (1995, 22 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Anthony Thomas-Miles, Sandra D. Radtke
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Lesotho Description and travel, Lesotho Social life and customs, Lesotho Social conditions, Lesotho Economic conditions.
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A social and cultural tour of Lesotho, with a focus on the Peace Corps presence in that country. Producer, director, scriptwriter, videographer, and editor, Sandra D. Radtke. Shipping list no.: 97-0013-E. VHS. A social and cultural tour of Lesotho, with a focus on the Peace Corps presence in that country. "WWS 19V-93"--Container insert. Media/Video

DESTINATION: NEPAL (1991, 10 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Meaghan Nelson, Kate Katras, Bill Strassberger
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Nepal, description, travel.
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A cultural and social tour of Nepal, with a focus on the Peace Corps presence in that country. Writer, Kate Katras; photographer, Bill Strassberger. A cultural and social tour of Nepal, with a focus on the Peace Corps presence in that country. VHS. Reference/US Docs CDROM

DESTINATION: SRI LANKA (1992, 15 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Meaghan Nelson, Sandra D. Radtke
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Sri Lanka, description, travel.
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A cultural and social tour of Sri Lanka. Producer, scriptwriter, and editor, Sandra D. Radtke. A cultural and social tour of Sri Lanka. VHS. Reference/US Docs CDROM

DESTINATION: THE MARSHALL ISLANDS (1995, 20 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Craig Lindvahl, Mike Nayak
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Marshall Islands Social life and customs, Marshall Islands Social conditions, Marshall Islands Description and travel, Volunteer workers in social service Marshall Islands, Volunteer workers in social service United States, Video recordings for the hearing impaired.
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A film made by high school students from Teutopolis, Illinois, describing the culture and geography of the Marshall Islands. Also includes interviews with Peace Corps workers returned from the Marshall Islands. Narrator: Mike Nayak. Camera, James Kimmons; editor, Alan Thursby; music, Craig Lindvahl. Shipping list no.: 97-0013-E. A film made by high school students from Teutopolis, Illinois, describing the culture and geography of the Marshall Islands. Also includes interviews with Peace Corps workers returned from the Marshall Islands. Media/Video

DINKA DIARIES (2005, 56 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Filmon Mebrahtu
World Area(s): North America, Africa
Subject Area(s): migration, Cultural Anthropology, African Studies, Urban Anthropology, refugee
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Dinka Diaries tells the story of some of America's most recent arrivals: Sudanese refugees who would have never dreamt a few years ago that they'd be living in America. Over the course of ten months, the film follows the lives of three Sudanese refugees who resettle in the Philadelphia area and adjust to the new American culture and way of life. Dinka Diaries represents an important attempt to empower refugees by giving them the opportunity to represent themselves and their experiences through film. Filmmaker Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edouT_vyBC4

DIVINE HORSEMEN: THE LIVING GODS OF HAITI (1985, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Maya Deren
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Haiti, Voodoo, Religion
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti (1985) is a black and white documentary film about dance and possession in Haitian voodoo that was shot by experimental filmmaker Maya Deren between 1947 and 1954 and edited and completed by Deren's third husband Teiji Ito and his wife Cherel Winett Ito (1947-1999) in 1981, twenty years after Deren's death. Most of the film consists of images of dancing and bodies in motion during rituals in Rada and Petro services. The film reflects Deren's increasing personal engagement with voodoo and its practitioners (Wilcken, 1986). While this ultimately resulted in Deren disregarding the guidelines of the fellowship, Deren was able to record scenes that probably would have been inaccessible to other filmmakers. Narration based off Maya Deren's book - Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti

DO YOU SPEAK AMERICAN? (3 PARTS) (2005, 60 minutes each)
Filmmaker(s): William Cran, Robert MacNeil
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Sociolinguistics, English language United States, English language Dialects United States, English language Variation United States, English language Social aspects United States, English language Spoken English United States, Documentary films, Video recordings for the hearing impaired.
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department, STL

SYNOPSIS
Examines sociolinguistic questions and the dynamic state of American English, a language rich in regional variety, strong in global impact, and steeped in cultural controversy. Episode one discusses linguistic dialect zones, the tension between prescriptivism and descriptivism, the impact of dialect on grapholect, the northern cities vowel shift, the roots of African-American English, minority linguistic profiling, biases against nonstandard speech, and the general perception of the U.S. Midland dialect as "normal American." Looks at hip-hop street talk, IM slang, Pittsburghese, and Gullah and Geechee. Episode two reviews Southern dialects and accents and the influences of French and Spanish on American English. Examines regional differences in vernacular, the steady displacement of Southern coastal dialect by inland dialect, the accents of JFK and LBJ, and the Texas border town of El Cenizo, where Spanish is the official language. Episode three looks at Spanglish, Chicano, Ebonics, and "Surfer Dude." Discusses the implications of voice-activation technology, opinions on the role of Spanish in the U.S., why teens create their own language, gay self-empowerment by redefining discriminatory terms, the oo-fronting sound shift, and whether technology will reinforce or weaken racial and regional stereotypes.

DOING THE RIGHT THING (2001, 27 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Hilary Sandison
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Citizenship, community, developing world, economics, geography, globalization, international relations, population, recycling
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Porto Alegre, capital of Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, was once a run-of-the-mill, dirty, Brazilian port city. But an amazing transformation has taken place: unemployment has fallen, public transportation is now excellent, and poor neighborhoods have improved dramatically. These changes are thanks to a process of direct democracy known as the 'Participatory Budget' scheme that's giving all Porte Alegre's citizens a say in how their city is run. The scheme devotes the bulk of the city's financial resources to renewing the infrastructure of the town's slum areas and improving living standards for its neediest residents. As a result, exceptional neighborhood leaders have sprung up. This program from the City Life series traces the experiences of two such women, both born in poor slum areas, whom have risen to make a difference in the community.

DREAMWORLDS 3: DESIRE, SEX & POWER IN MUSIC VIDEO (2007, 54 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Sut Jhally
World Area(s):
Subject Area(s): Sexuality, gender, music
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Dreamworlds 3, the highly anticipated update of Sut Jhally's groundbreaking Dreamworlds 2 (1995), examines the stories contemporary music videos tell about girls and women, and encourages viewers to consider how these narratives shape individual and cultural attitudes about sexuality. Illustrated with hundreds of up-to-date images, Dreamworlds 3 offers a unique and powerful tool for understanding both the continuing influence of music videos and how pop culture more generally filters the identities of young men and women through a dangerously narrow set of myths about sexuality and gender. In doing so, it inspires viewers to reflect critically on images that they might otherwise take for granted. Study Guide: http://www.mediaed.org/assets/products/223/studyguide_223.pdf

DRESS REHEARSAL: THE BRAVE HURR'S TA'ZIEH (2005, 64 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Nasser Taghvai
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Iran
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
From Nasser Taghvai (TALES OF KISH), one of the original filmmakers of the Iranian New Wave, comes his latest documentary, DRESS REHEARSAL: THE BRAVE HURR’S TA’ZIEH. This rare glimpse into Iranian culture chronicles the performance of a ta’zieh, an ancient and uniquely Iranian passion play that celebrates the glory of martyrdom for the sake of justice. Based on the life stories and fables of Islam’s prophet Mohammad, but influenced by Iranian folklore, the ta’zieh became the sole dramatic form in the world of Islam after the rise of the Shiite sect. The overall subject of any ta’zieh is the martyrdom Imam Hussein, grandson of the prophet Muhammad, in the desert of Karbala. Among the Imam’s comrades, each of whom is the subject of a specific ta’zieh, the story of the Brave Hurr assumes a singular place. Originally the enemy of the Imam, Hurr does an about-face after he meets the holy leader, and then joins forces to fight with him. Generally performed on the streets or in open venues, the ta’zieh "is the only original dramatic art of the Islamic world," proclaims director Taghvai.

DYING TO BE THIN (2004, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Larkin McPhee
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Eating disorders, Eating disorders Treatment, Eating disorders in children, Eating disorders in adolescence, Documentary television programs, Television programs for the hearing impaired.
Format: DVD, streaming
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Girls wage a deadly battle as they strive for impossible beauty. Go behind the shocking statistics of eating disorders and examine therapies that can help millions. Videodisc release of a 2000 television production. Editor, Steve Fischer; camera, Robert Hutchings, Michael Phillips; music, Michael Bacon; narrated by Susan Sarandon. MPAA rating: Not rated. YALSA selected video for young adults 2002. Special DVD ROM features: with web access can access PDF teaching materials online, and link to NOVA website. Media/Video

EDUARDO GALEANO (1995, 174 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Dan Griggs
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Authors, Uruguayan 20th century Interviews.
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A reading by the Uruguayan journalist, essayist, historian and political activist. Vol. 2 has title: Readings & conversations. Vol. 2 directed by Thunder Road Productions. Interviewers, Michael Silverblatt and Lawrence Weschler. Recorded on May 23, 1995 and April 22, 1999. A reading by the Uruguayan journalist, essayist, historian and political activist. VHS. Media/Video

EDUARDO THE HEALER (1978, 54 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Richard Cowan
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, South America, Peru, traditional medicine
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Eduardo the Healer was produced in 1979. The Drug Abuse Council of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare sponsored it. Eduardo is extremely well read and is educated as a healer in his small coastal Peruvian community near the city of Trujillo. The documentary is very interesting. It shows Eduardo diagnosing patients via a guinea pig. Guinea pigs are very plentiful in this region and are used frequently. Aside from interesting diagnostic practices, Eduardo is seen with his family, at the market buying materials for ritual healings, and treating patients in a unique ritual that is both supernatural and inspiring. Eduardo uses the San Pedro cactus, which has hallucinogenic properties. Both the patient and Eduardo ingest the cactus during the ritual healing. The film can appear quite dramatic to those unfamiliar with the understanding that illness and disease are culturally defined concepts. With that understanding, Eduardo the Healer is one of the most powerful documentaries from the field of Medical Anthropology to date. Second half of DVD, following "Kirghiz of Afghanistan"

EL SISTEMA: MUSIC TO CHANGE LIFE (2009, 100 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Paul Smaczny, Maria Stodtmeier
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Music Instruction and study Venezuela, Music and youth Venezuela, Music appreciation Venezuela, Children and violence Venezuela, Gangs Venezuela, Musical films
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A film by Paul Smaczny and Maria Stodtmeier. Venezuela's unique system of music education takes children from violent slums and turns some of them into world-class musicians. 'El Sistema' shows how Venezuelan visionary Jose Antonio Abreu has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of children over the past three decades. This lyrical and moving documentary takes us from the rubbish dumps and barrios of Caracas to the world's finest concert halls. Children from streets dominated by the gun battles of gang warfare are taken into music schools, given access to music, and taught through the model of the symphony orchestra how to build a better society. Paul Smaczny and Maria Stodtmeier's film finds hope and joy in unlikely places. Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, Caracas Children's Orchestra; conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. Editor, Steffen Herrmann; camera, Michael Boomers, Christian Schulz. DVD release of the 2009 documentary film. MPAA rating: Not rated. Special features: Auditions for the National Children's Orchestra of Venezuela. Media/Video

EVOLUTION (2001, 480 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s):
Subject Area(s): Documentary television programs, Evolution (Biology) History, Life Origin, Creation, Human evolution, Natural selection.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Evolution offers a groundbreaking and definitive view of the extraordinary impact the evolutionary process has had on our understanding of the world around us. Beginning with Darwin's revolutionary theory, this seven-part series explores all facets of evolution--the changes that spawned the tree of life, the power of sex, how evolution continues to affect us every day, and the perceived conflict between science and religion. Narrated by Liam Neeson. Videodisc release of the 7-part documentary originally produced for the PBS television series Nova and broadcast in September 2001. Closed-captioned for the hearing impaired. Reserve Collection

FACES OF CULTURE: AGE, COMMON INTEREST, AND STRATIFICATION (1983, 28 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Ira Abrams, Lisa Sonne
World Area(s): Global
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, age, common interest, social stratification, social organization
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Because human beings require interactions with one another, most large societies include groups formed on bases other than kinship, such as age, common interest, or social stratification. These groups help to organize and structure the larger culture and can serve either to preserve or change the existing society, depending on the values of the group and whether those values do or do not reflect the values of the larger society. Examples covered in the program include the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a group of African Americans formed around common interests and work-related goals.

FACES OF CULTURE: CULTURE CHANGE (1983, 28 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Ira Abrams, Lisa Sonne
World Area(s): Global
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, culture change, innovation, diffusion, colonialism, conservation
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Explores the impact of culture change on various indigenous people and cultures. It describes the various ways culture changes, specifically through innovation, diffusion, and colonialism. Introduces several anthropologists who have studied the effects of culture change on various groups. The dramatic effect of modern agricultural techniques on the traditional horticultural economy of Mali illustrates some consequences of poor planning. Uses the struggles of the !Kung in Africa to illustrate the idea of culture loss. Here, conservation and modernization have had a serious impact on the native populations of people and wildlife. In the northern regions of the Brazilian Amazon, the program shows that mining has had a tremendous influence on the native Yanomami Indians. Finally, some of the positive effects of modern technology and culture change are discussed through a look at the Mayan Indians of Mexico.

FACES OF CULTURE: KINSHIP & DESCENT (1983, 28 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Ira Abrams, Lisa Sonne
World Area(s): Global
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, kinship, descent
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Begins by defining the word kindred and looking at the role of kindred in food-foraging societies. It then examines how societies based on intensive agriculture or industrialization have developed such institutions as centralized government to assume the organizing functions handled by kinship and descent groups in other societies. Illustrative examples in the program include the kinship terms of the Baruya, the Navajo matrilineal villages organization and terminology, and the social patterns in Greek villages that reflect both patrilineal and matrilineal descent practices. Some of the six major systems of classifying kin are diagrammed and illustrated.

FACES OF CULTURE: PATTERNS OF SUBSISTENCE - FOOD PRODUCERS (1983, 30 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Ira Abrams, Lisa Sonne
World Area(s): Global
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, subsistence patterns, food producers
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Examines several different models of food production and various features of food-producing societies. Examples include the slash-and-burn technique of soil preparation employed by the Yucatec Maya; rituals associated with food production among Melanesian farmers, who practice a hazardous land-diving ritual originally intended to ensure a good yam harvest; and several examples of intensive agriculture, including that practiced by the Khmer in Angkor and by North Americans on the Great Plains. Other societies featured are the Taiwanese and Balinese.

FACES OF CULTURE: PSYCHOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY (1993, 30 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Ira Abrams, Lisa Sonne
World Area(s): Global
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Beginning with a definition of enculturation, this program describes the landmark efforts of Margaret Mead to document the influence of culture on individual personality by studying patterns of child rearing in several cultures, including Samoa. Explores the link between personality and culture and the concept of national character as it was studied by anthropologist Ruth Benedict and psychologist Eric Erikson. National character studies of Japan and Nazi Germany during the 1940s are described, along with criticism of these efforts. Examines how societies have ways of treating illness and individuals who deviate from accepted norms. Shamans in several societies are shown including ones from the Melemchi in Napalm, Bali, Laos and from the Yanomami Indians of Brazil. Describes how, through their treatments and rituals, shamans address the social ills of the group as a whole. NOTE: THIS DISC ALSO CONTAINS A PSYCH ANTHRO CASE STUDY (ALEJANDRO MAMANI) AND "FOOD PRODUCERS."

FACES OF CULTURE: POLITICAL ORGANIZATION (1983, 28 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Ira Abrams, Lisa Sonne
World Area(s): Global
Subject Area(s): !Kung (African people) Politics and government, Mendi (Papua New Guinean people) Politics and government, Kpelle (African people) Politics and government, Tribes, Tribal government, Chiefdoms, Theocracy.
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department, STL

SYNOPSIS
All societies need political organization--a system of leadership, authority, and cooperation--to operate successfully and survive. This program explores the four major types of political organizations existing today, how they developed, and the types of societies for which they are best suited. The !Kung, the Mendi, and the Kpelle provide examples of the band, the tribe, and the chiefdom, respectively, while an examination of the theocratic government of Tibet uncovers some of the complications inherent in the survival of the modern state, characterized by centralized power, a code of law, and the authority to use coercion to impose that law. Original program taped off air from satellite (PBS), December 14, 1994 and previously released as videocassette: New York: Distributed by Insight Media, 1994. Producers, Ira R. Abrams, John Bishop; executive producers, Sandee Harden, Leslie Purdy. Narrator, Kate Porter. Profiles the four major forms of political organizations: bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states. Groups studied are the Kung of southwestern Africa, the Mendi of New Guinea, the chiefdom of the Kpelle of Liberia, and the concept of a state as exemplified by the theocratic government of Tibet which is presently in exile in India. Sojourner Truth Library copy reproduced by SUNY New Paltz Instructional Media Services March 2009 with permission. Media/Video

FAVELAS (1989, 50 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Chico Teixeira
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil, urban life, poverty
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Takes viewers into the heart of the Brazilian favelas, the slums that spread uncontrollably through Sao Paulo, Brazil's wealthiest industrial center. Those who dwell there and by artists, philosophers, educators and sociologists examine the social reality of this cruel habitat.

FIGHTING FESTIVAL (1985, 30 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Keiko Ikeda
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Japan, religious life and customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Looks at the two-day festival celebrated after a year's preparation when the gods go to be worshipped at the mountain shrine at Nada in Japan. Shows how the seven surrounding villages compete with floats and massed display and tells how the festival ends in ritual violence.

FIRST CONTACT (1984, 55 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Bob Connolly, Robin Anderson
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, New Guinea, Documentary
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Recounts the discovery of a flourishing native population in the interior highlands of New Guinea in 1930 in what had been thought to be an uninhabited area. Inhabitants of the region and surviving members of the Leahy brothers' gold prospecting party recount their astonishment at this unforeseen meeting. Includes still photographs taken by a member of the expedition and contemporary footage of the island's terrain.

FIRST FOOTSTEPS (1989, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Robert Raymond
World Area(s): Asia, North America
Subject Area(s): Biological Anthropology, human migrations, Asia, Pacific Area
Format: DVD, VHS
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This episode explores the arrival of the first humans to reach the Pacific Ocean and their transformation into the earliest modern people of the area. The film describes how the first Australians reached their island continent Part 1 of a 12-part series

FISHING AT THE STONE WEIR (2007, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Quentin Brown
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Netsilik, Canada, social life, customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
These films reveal the live reality of traditional Eskimo life before the European acculturation. The Netsilik Eskimos of the Pelly Bay region in the Canadian Arctic had long lived apart from other people and had depended entirely on the land and their own ingenuity to sustain life through the rigors of the Arctic year. Fishing at the Stone Weir is a part of the Netsilik Eskimo series which contains 21 half-hour parts. The following are the rest of the parts: At the Caribou Crossing Place At the Autumn River Camp, At the Winter Sea Ice Camp, Jigging for Lake Trout At the Spring Sea Ice Camp, Group Hunting on the Spring Ice, Stalking Seal on the Spring Ice, and Building a Kayak.

FOLLOWING ANTIGONE: FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY AND HUMAN RIGHTS INVESTIGATIONS (2002, 37 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): Latin America, Africa
Subject Area(s): human rights, Forensic Anthropology, EAAF
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This film offers insight into the application of forensic sciences in the investigation of international human rights abuses. The Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), an international NGO, took footage of forensic investigations they carried out in Argentina, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, and East Timor from over the past 18 years. Sequences of exhumations and reburials document the heavy emotional toll being taken upon survivors and their families.

FREE TO DANCE VOL. 1: WHAT DO YOU DANCE? (2001, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Madison Davis Lacy
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Aesthetic culture
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
What Do You Dance? begins the story of the evolution of a uniquely American form of movement with African slaves on a southern plantation hunched low to the ground, feet pounding the earth with rhythmic intensity as they hum, clap, sing, and dance the "Ring Shout" -- one of the dances writer Ralph Ellison called America's first choreography. As the dominant strain in a cultural synthesis of Irish clogs, Scottish jigs, English reels, Spanish fandangos, Caribbean rhythms, and more, African dances left an indelible imprint on American dance. The story of their influence unfolds against the backdrop of American history, tracing Africans through slavery, the Great Migration north, the culturally rich Harlem Renaissance, racial segregation, and the Great Depression. For many Americans, African dance, from the plantation "Ring Shout "and "Cakewalk" to the Jazz Age "Charleston," "Black Bottom," and tap, was a liberating force from the rigid restrictions of European dance and culture. And in the early 1900s, when American choreographers Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, and Ruth St. Denis created a revolutionary alternative to Europe's classical ballet, African-American dancers played a role in this "aesthetic dance" movement.

FREE TO DANCE VOL. 2: STEPS OF THE GODS (2001, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Madison Davis Lacy
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Aesthetic culture
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Katherine Dunham's year in the Caribbean, during the 1930s was both an anthropological field trip and a journey in search of her own roots. She experienced dance that was a powerful echo of African culture and an integral part of spiritual and secular life. After completing her master's thesis, "The Dances of Haiti," Dunham turned to the concert stage -- a bold move at a time when black dancers were confined to roles as sensual exotica in cabaret chorus lines or comic relief in minstrel shows and vaudeville. To accomplish her mission, Dunham had to mold dancers who could perform what she called "the steps of the Gods." She crafted a movement system that fused the isolations and polyrhythmic syncopations of African-derived dance from the Caribbean with European ballet. The Dunham Technique, along with those created by Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, and Jose Limon, was one of modern dance's seminal movement systems. Showcased in "L'Ag'Ya," a piece based on dances she studied in Martinique, and in a class taught by former Dunham dancer Walter Nicks, it is also visible in Dunham's performance in the motion picture version of the Broadway musical on which she collaborated with New York City Ballet's George Balanchine, "Cabin in the Sky."

FROM HONEY TO ASHES (2006, 47 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Lucas Bessire
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Foragers, religion, NGOs, South America, Amazon, native populations
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
In March 2004, one of the world's last voluntarily isolated groups of hunter-gatherers walked out of the forest in northern Paraguay, fleeing ranchers' bulldozers. They formed a new village with their more settled relatives, where they confronted the complexities of learning how to become "Ayoreo Indians" and more critically, how to survive in a rapidly changing world. This documentary provides an intimate portrait of a divided community four months after this historical event, and their efforts to chart a collective future in a context shaped by deforestation, NGO activity, anthropologists and evangelical Christianity. Self-consciously engaging a history of ethnographic representations and tropes of "first contact," the reflexive video uses the filmmaker's narration to reflect on the experiences and confusions of a process that remains ultimately opaque for the "new people," for their relatives, and for the anthropologist. This film contributes to the visual anthropology of lowland South America by putting a human face to critical questions about "contact," "indigeneity" and the ways certain narrow ideas of "modernity" continue to be presented as the only options for Native peoples in the Gran Chaco and beyond.

FUNERAL CHANTS FROM THE GEORGIAN CAUCASUS (2009, 21 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Hugo Zemp
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Dirges Georgia (Republic) Svanetia, Funeral music Georgia (Republic) Svanetia, Chants Georgia (Republic) Svanetia, Svanetians Music, Folk music Georgia (Republic) Svanetia, Funeral rites and ceremonies Georgia (Republic) Svanetia, Documentary films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
The villages of the Svaneti province are located in north-western Georgia, in the valleys that lie between the mountains of the Caucasus. The Svans represent about 1% of the Georgian population. Their language differs from the Georgian language, and their religion is a syncretism of Orthodox Christian faith and pre-Christian beliefs. The polyphony of the Svans appears as one of the major styles of the Georgian vocal art. It consists of two soloist voices and the bass of the choir. In their funeral rituals, the Svans combine three vocal expressions which are rarely found nowadays in other parts of the world: women's individual laments punctuated by collective wails like in Ancient Greece, men's individual laments, and polyphonic chants by male choirs. While the individual laments are aimed at the deceased and the souls of departed people, the men's polyphonic chants use no words but a series of syllables which follow a set pattern. With chords partly dissonant to a Western European ear, and without any cries other than musically stylized ones, these collective chants of great intensity manage to convey the helplessness and inexpressible grief of Man faced with death. Funeral chants of the Svans of northwestern Georgia. Most of the chants are polyphonic chants by male choirs with no words. Chiefly polyphonic chants with no words. DVD (NTSC, multiple regions) "This film was shot in 1991 as part of the research work carried out by the CNRS Ethnomusicology Laboratory, Museé de l'Homme, Paris"--Closing credits. Media/Video

GARBAGE: THE REVOLUTION STARTS AT HOME (2007, 76 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Andrew Nisker
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Recycling (Waste, etc.) Citizen participation, Recycling (Waste, etc.), Refuse and refuse disposal, Documentary films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A feature documentary about how the family household has become one of the most ferocious environmental predators of our time ... The momentum for change will continue online at www.garbagerevolution.com. Visitors will be encouraged to become involved in changing their own community by sharing stories through video, pictures, and blogs and by reaching out to the global community for advice and help. Alternative eco-friendly products and new methods for living green will be introduced that will show visitors how to make changes at home, where the revolution is born.

GEFILTE FISH (1984, 14 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Karen Silverstein
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Cooking, Traditions
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Part instructional, part allegorical this is a chronicle of Jewish-American life. Filmmaker Karen Silverstein captures three generations of women talking about, and demonstrating how they make gefilte fish. Made for generations by Eastern European Jews, gefilte fish was a delicacy reserved for holidays and special occasions. Because many were poor, the foods these Jews tended to make were simple and consisted of inexpensive ingredients. In this short documentary, the recipes and traditions are explained by women of different generations, who, despite varying degrees of technology and tradition, see family and heritage as central to their lives.

GENDERNAUTS: A JOURNEY THROUGH SHIFTING IDENTITIES (1999, 87 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Monika Treut
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Gender, sexuality, masculinity
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
A look at San Francisco's transgender, cross-gender, non-gender community. A number of people in varying states of gender introduce their lives, their choices, and their perspectives on gender -- its creation, reconstruction, definition, redefinition, and "natural" state. There are "women" becoming "men", "men" becoming "women", and "" remaining "". An Army veteran, a video artist, a Penthouse model and nightclub performer, a porn star, musicians, and writers are portrayed sympathetically (indeed, many scenes play almost as home movies among friends) and without sensationalism. The ins and outs of hormone treatments and surgical modification are discussed.

GHOSTS OF RWANDA (2005, 120 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Greg Barker, Darren Kemp
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Genocide Rwanda History 20th century, Rwanda Ethnic relations History 20th century, Rwanda History Civil War, 1994 Atrocities, Rwanda History Civil War, 1994 Personal narratives, Tutsi (African people) Crimes against Rwanda History 20th century, Hutu (African people) Rwanda Politics and government 20th century, Documentary television programs, Nonfiction television programs, Television programs for the hearing impaired.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Frontline marks the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide with a documentary chronicling one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century. Illustrated are the failures that enabled the slaughter of 800,000 people to occur unchallenged by the world. Correspondent, Fergal Keane. Editor, Paul Carlin; photography, Frank Lehmann, Ray Brislin, Fred Scott; narrator, Will Lyman; music, Dan Jones. Widescreen. Originally broadcast as a segment of the television program Frontline, April 1, 2004. DVD release date: May 10, 2005. MPAA rating: Not rated. Media/Video

GLIMPSES OF AFRICA'S CHANGING PAST: HUNTERS AND GATHERERS (, 59 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Laurence Salomon
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Hunter and Gatherers, Human Evolution
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This film discusses hunter-gatherers as well as briefly touching upon human evolution. This film is composed of still images and narration. There is no video.

GOD GREW TIRED OF US (2007, 90 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Christopher Quinn
World Area(s): North America, Africa
Subject Area(s): Sudan History Civil War, 1983-2005, Sudan Politics and government 1985-, Refugees Sudan, Refugees United States, Documentary films, Biographical films, Video recordings for the hearing impaired.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Explores the indomitable spirit of three "Lost Boys" from the Sudan who are forced to leave their homeland due to a tumultuous civil war. Chronicles their triumph over seemingly insurmountable adversities and a relocation to the United States, where the Lost Boys build active and fulfilling new lives but remain deeply committed to helping friends and family they have left behind. Recorded in Dolby digital 5.1. Widescreen (1.85:1) presentation. DVD format. English dialogue with optional English or Spanish subtitles. Closed-captioned for the hearing impaired. MPAA rating: PG; thematic elements and some disturbing images. Narrator, Nicole Kidman. Featuring, Panther Bior, John Bul Dau, Daniel Abol Pach. Cinematography, Paul Daley; editors, Johanna Giebelhaus, Geoffrey Richman; original music, Jamie Saft, Mark Nelson, Mark McAdam. Special features: commentary with the director and Lost Boys; finding the Lost Boys. Media/Video

GRANDMA HAS A VIDEO CAMERA (2007, 56 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Tania Cypriano
World Area(s): North America, Latin America
Subject Area(s): migration, immigration, identity
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Grandma Has a Video Camera is a documentary about the use of home video by a family of Brazilian immigrants, chronicling their lives in the United States for over 20 years. From enchantment to disillusionment, from idealization to conformity, first-hand images and voices depict how recently arriving immigrants see their new world, and struggle to settle down in their adopted homeland. It explores the parallel stories of the family's immigration, and how the video camera registers their lives. These video diaries examine issues of identity, social dynamics within immigrant families and their community, the conditions of transnationality and the conflicts of loyalty to a single country.

GUARDIANS OF THE FLUTE (1994, 55 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Paul Reddish
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Gender, sexuality, masculinity
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Documentary about male sexuality in the Sambia people of Papua New Guinea. Boys as young as seven years old are taken away from their mothers and introduced to sexual practices by their male warrior elders, who lead a separate, bisexual existence until they father a child, which is proof of their masculinity.

GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL (2005, 165 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Jared M. Diamond, James Gold, Simon Greenwood
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Social evolution, Civilization History, Ethnology, Human beings Effect of environment on, Ecology Effect of human beings on, Culture diffusion, Documentary television programs, Television programs for the hearing impaired.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
An epic detective story that offers a gripping expose on why the world is so unequal. Professor Jared Diamond traveled the globe for over 30 years trying to answer this question. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book. Why did Eurasians conquer, displace, or decimate Native Americans, Australians, and Africans, instead of the reverse? Diamond dismantles racially based theories of human history by revealing the environmental factors actually responsible for history's broadest patterns. Disc. 1. episode 1. Out of Eden /produced & directed by Tim Lambert; ep. 2. Conquest /produced & directed by Tim Lambert Disc 2. ep. 3. Into the tropics /director, Cassian Harrison Host and consultant, Jared Diamond. Editor, James Gold, Simon Greenwood; cinematography, Pieter de Vries, Steve Gray; music, Moving Image Music; narrator, Peter Coyote. Videodisc release of a 2004 television program. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book. MPAA rating: Not rated. Special features: Interactive maps; timelines; photo gallery. Media/Video

HACKING DEMOCRACY (2007, 81 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Simon Ardizzone
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Elections Corrupt practices United States, Electronic voting United States, Electronic voting Security measures United States, Voting-machines United States Reliability, Elections United States Data processing, Documentary films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Hacking Democracy is a 2006 documentary film by Russell Michaels, Simon Ardizzone, and Robert Carrillo Cohen, shown on HBO. Filmed over three years it documents American citizens investigating anomalies and irregularities with 'e-voting' (electronic voting) systems that occurred during America's 2000 and 2004 elections, especially in Volusia County, Florida. The film investigates the flawed integrity of electronic voting machines, particularly those made by Diebold Election Systems, and the film culminates dramatically in the on-camera hacking of the in-use /working Diebold election system in Leon County, Florida. Narrator: James Naughton. Editor, Sasha Olswang; music composed by Tuomas Kantelinen, Wayne Kramer; camera, Simon Ardizzone, Robert Carrillo Cohen. Originally produced as a documentary film in 2006. Special features: original trailer, 4 deleted scenes (33 min.); filmmaker biographies (Simon Ardizzone, Russell Michaels). Media/Video

HAIL UMBANDA (1986, 46 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): José Araújo
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Umbanda, religion, cultural anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
José Araújo’s documentary focuses on a unique cultural and religious experience from Brazil, called Umbanda or Macumba, a blending of Catholicism, African and indigenous Indian religions, and spiritualism. It offers an insider’s view of this Afro-Brazilian region, which is characterized by ritualistic sacrifices, offerings, and states of possession.

HAITI: A PAINTED HISTORY (2000, 56 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Jean-Marie Drot
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Haiti, history, Latin America
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Jean-Marie Drot's vivid documentary tells the story of Haiti's violent and troubled past, from the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1942, to the overthrow of the elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in 1992. Haitian artists recently traced this five hundred year history in an exhibition of paintings. Their colorful, figurative, and sometimes naive expressions form the main focus of the program. The West Indian island remains one of the poorest places in the world, but in simple undistorted images the paintings reveal the rich, ethnic, political and cultural heritage of its people, and the natural beauty of its landscapes. Despite the tragedies that Haiti has seen what remains most striking about the painter's scenes is their optimism. Their vitality and beauty transfigure the horrifying iniquities to which they bear silent witness.

HAITIAN WOMEN PILLARS OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY: POTO MITAN (2009, 50 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Renée Bergan, Mark Schuller, Edwidge Danticat, Productions Tet Ansanm, Pictures Renegade, Santa Barbara University of California, Resources Documentary Educational
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Women Haiti Social conditions, Women Haiti Economic conditions, Women Haiti Interviews.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Told through compelling lives of five courageous Haitian women workers, Poto Mitan gives the global economy a human face. Each woman's personal story explains neoliberal globalization, how it is gendered, and how it impacts Haiti: inhumane working/living conditions, violence, poverty, lack of education, and poor health care. While Poto Mitan offers in-depth understanding of Haiti, its focus on women's subjugation, worker exploitation, poverty, and resistance demonstrates these are global struggles. Finally, through their collective activism, these women demonstrate that despite monumental obstacles in a poor country like Haiti, collective action makes change possible. Narrator, Edwidge Danticat. Cinematography and editing, Renée Bergan. Include extra clips: Chandel; Fonkoze; KOVAVIV; Lambi Fund; Ministry; director's commentary. Told through compelling lives of five courageous Haitian women workers, Poto Mitan gives the global economy a human face. Each woman's personal story explains neoliberal globalization, how it is gendered, and how it impacts Haiti: inhumane working/living conditions, violence, poverty, lack of education, and poor health care. While Poto Mitan offers in-depth understanding of Haiti, its focus on women's subjugation, worker exploitation, poverty, and resistance demonstrates these are global struggles. Finally, through their collective activism, these women demonstrate that despite monumental obstacles in a poor country like Haiti, collective action makes change possible. Media/Video

HAWAII'S LAST QUEEN (1997, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Vivian Ducat
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Hawaii History Overthrow of the Monarchy, 1893, Hawaii Queens Biography, Documentary television programs, Biographical television programs.
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
ili'uokalani, who ruled Hawaii in the late 1800 moved easily between two worlds. Although deeply rooted in Hawaiian tradition, the queen dined at the White House and visited with European royalty. But as the American business community in Hawaii grew stronger, Lili'uokalani found herself trapped between the two worlds and witnessed the monarchy slip away. Originally broadcast by PBS as a segment of: The American experience. Cinematography, Robert Hanna; editor, Susan Fanshel; music, Brian Keane; narrator, Anna Deavere Smith. David McCullough, host. VHS. Media/Video

HE SAID, SHE SAID: GENDER, LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION (2001, 50 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Deborah Tannen
World Area(s):
Subject Area(s): Gender, communication, language
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Tannen takes your students on an intellectual journey to the core of how men and women use language, and why communication between the sexes so often goes awry. Taking a linguistic approach that sheds light on psychology, Tannen uses everything from scholarly research to familiar examples from everyday life as her canvas. In this illuminating and entertaining presentation, Tannen draws a road map through the complex maze of why we speak the way we do, and why others so frequently don't hear what we mean. From patterns formed in childhood, to the "conversational rituals" of adulthood, Tannen reveals how "conversational style" lies at the core of myths, stereotypes, and miscommunication between the sexes. From why HE won't stop and ask for directions, to why SHE thinks he's not listening (even when he is), Deborah Tannen's extraordinary and challenging presentation will inspire your students to discuss, debate, and rethink the nature of communication and gender. Study Guide: http://www.classroommedia.com/docs/Hesaidshesaidinstr.guide.pdf

HEALERS OF GHANA (1996, 58 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): J Scott Dodds, Dennis Warren
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): medicine, anthropology, ritual
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This program explores the traditional medical practices of the Bono people of central Ghana and how their healers are accommodating the conflict between the arrival of Western medicine and their religious beliefs. Traditionally, Bono tribal priests undergo a painful spiritual possession, during which deities reveal to them the causes of illnesses, which plants to use to treat them, who is perpetrating witchcraft, and which villagers might be endangering society through improper behavior. The program features vibrant dance and possession ceremonies, set against the backdrop of the Bono villages, which are awash with color.

HISATSINOM: THE ANCIENT ONES (1984, 24 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Tim Radford
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Indians of North America, Anasazi, Cultural Anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
From the time of Christ, the Ancient Pueblo Indians lived in the Four Corners Country--that Southwestern region of the United States where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona come together and then they mysteriously vanished. What they left behind are massive stone cities crouched low on mesa tops, nestled in natural caves and along shear canyon walls. These are some of the oldest, largest and most beautiful prehistoric ruins in North America. This splendid National Park Service film captures the serene, awesome, legendary spirit of the Indian dwellings at Chaco Canyon, Betatakin, Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly, Aztec, and other exciting sites in the San Juan system. Other titles: Anasazi, Ancient Ones

HOLY GHOST PEOPLE (1999, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Peter Adair
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Documentary, North America, religion, cults
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Presents beliefs and religious practices of a Pentecostal congregation in rural West Virginia, through interviews with church members and scenes from a worship service. Shows mass prayer, spontaneous expressions of religious fervor, and testimonies. The service ends with the handling of poisonous snakes. Includes singing and instrumental music by members of the congregation.

HOW TO BE A MAN: INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROPER MALE BEHAVIOR (2009, 183 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Bret Wood, Skip Elsheimer
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Child rearing United States, Boys United States, Boys Conduct of life, Boys Sexual behavior United States, Boys United States Psychology, Boys Education United States, Educational films, Short films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
For centuries, parents have struggled to usher their children through the magical and often treacherous journey to adult-hood. In America, a new form of tutelage was engineered: the classroom film. Suddenly, the prickly issues of sexual development and juvenile delinquency could by addressed. These films helped to deal with the subtleties of behavior and the importance of fitting in. Topics covered include coping with failure and teasing. Curated by Skip Elsheimer. Moment of decision narrated by Timothy Farrell. Fears of children /International Film Foundation (1951; b&w; 27 min.) -- Am I trustworthy? /Coronet (1950; b&w; 10 min.) -- Act your age /Coronet (1949; b&w; 12 min.) -- The other fellow's feelings /Centron (1951; b&w; 8 min.) -- Your body during adolescence /McGraw-Hill (1954; b&w; 11 min.) -- The show-off /Centron (1954; b&w; 11 min.) -- Planning for success /Coronet (1950; b&w; 10 min.) -- Moment of decision /Sid Davis Prods. (1961; col.; 10 min.) -- Car theft /Bray-Mar (1956; b&w; 14 min.) -- Dance, little children /Centron (1961; col. 25 min.) -- The decision is yours /Calvin Productions (1970; col.; 30 min.). Special features: Bonus film: From rugs to riches (Thomas Craven Prods.; col.; 15 min. - a training film for the adult man, starring Jonathan Winters); interview with A/V Geeks founder Skip Elsheimer. Media/Video

HOW TO BE A WOMAN: INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROPER FEMALE BEHAVIOR (2009, 195 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Bret Wood, Skip Elsheimer
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Child rearing United States, Girls United States, Girls Conduct of life, Girls United States Psychology, Girls Education United States, Educational films, Short films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
As the daughters of the baby boom reached adolescence, the American school system struggled to educate them on matters of sexual and social development. For teachers, classroom films about such topics were considered a godsend. They depicted the reproductive system in anatomical detail or through puzzling symbolism. Beyond sex education, classroom films addressed a wide array of social issues, from the importance of cooking skills to self-defense and how to appear more pleasing to others. Title from container. Curated by Skip Elsheimer. You're growing up /Bailey Films (1955; col.; 10 min.) -- The wonders of reproduction Moody Institute (1958; col.; 11 min.) -- Let's make a sandwich /American Gas Assoc. (1950; col.; 4 min.) -- Why study home economics? /Centron (1955; b&w; 10 min.) -- As others see us /Social Science Films (1953; col.; 10 min.) -- Growing girls /Film Producers Guild (1949; b&w; 12 min.) -- Improve your personality /Coronet (1951; b&w; 10 min.) -- Pattern for smartness /Hartley Productions (1948; col.; 18 min.) -- Girls are better than ever /Douglas Film Ind. (1967; col.; 13 min.) -- You're the judge /Crisco (1960s; col.; 18 min.) -- Worth waiting for /Brigham Young University (1962; col.; 27 min.) -- Saying no: a few words to young women about sex /Crommie & Crommie (1982; col.; 16 min.) -- Attack /Taft Broadcasting (1966; b&w; 14 min.). Special features: Bonus films: Redbook--Eighteen to thirty-four! (J.E.G. Hess; 1977; col.; 9 min.); The joy of living with fragrance (Avon; circa 1960s; col.; 13 min.); interview with A/V Geeks founder Skip Elsheimer. Media/Video

ICE MUMMIES: FROZEN IN HEAVEN (1998, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Julia Cort, Tim Haines
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Andes Mountains, Iceman
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This television documentary follows researcher Johan Reinhard and his team as they travel up Sara Sara, a giant volcano located in the Andes mountains, in search of answers about the way that the ancient Inca people lived. They investigate the Inca ceremony called capa cocha. This was a mysterious ritual in which the Incas sacrificed their children to the mountain gods. This ritual was always presented by Spanish chronicles as bloody. One of these children was found frozen in 1954. The 500-year-old body is preserved and studied in a museum in Chile. Later examples bring into question how the children were sacrificed. Much of what they are searching for was destroyed by Spanish Catholic monks hundreds of years ago in an attempt to rid Peru of their past religious ways. At an elevation of 18,000 feet, the team must dig through six feet of 500-year-old frozen gravel.

ICE MUMMIES: RETURN OF THE ICEMAN (1998, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Tim Haines, Joseph McMaster
World Area(s): Europe
Subject Area(s): Alps, Iceman, Otzi
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Nova accompanies archaeologists on a historic mission as they explore the life and times of a 5,300-year-old mummy. Nicknamed Otzi after the Alps in which he was found, the Stone Age iceman smashed previously held conceptions about that time period. To begin with, he had traces of copper in his hair. Until then, scientists thought medal production came centuries later. After a thorough examination including a CAT scan, x-rays, and biopsies, a picture began to emerge of Otzi's world. Living to a ripe old age of 45, the iceman carried an axe, waterproof cape, and a quiver full of arrows. He probably had lifelong medical problems and died with a few broken ribs. To top it all off, Otzi sported over 50 tattoos, many of which were thought to have healing powers. Nova provides a stunning and humanizing look at a time long past.

ILÉ AIYÉ (1989, 51 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): David Byrne
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil, Afro-Brazilian culture
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Ile Aiye explores the ways in which Candomble has influenced the daily life and culture of the people of Brazil through music, art, religion, theater, food, dance, poetry, and more. The rhythms of the sacred drums and bells, a dance of spiritual ecstasy, offerings and sacrifices, divination and the visitation of the Orishas (deities) through trance are all part of the color and life of Canomble.

IN DEPTH (2001, 25 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Deborah Tannen
World Area(s):
Subject Area(s): Gender, communication, language, nature/nurture
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
In-Depth is the companion DVD to He Said, She Said. In this additional 25-minute presentation, sit down with Deborah Tannen as she goes in-depth, addressing key issues, implications, and criticisms about He Said, She Said, including: The nature/nurture question: are conversational styles born or made? Is gender the most important factor affecting conversational interaction? Are these patterns cross-cultural? What about power and dominance? How are linguistic and psychological approaches different? And much more! Companion DVD to "He said, she said".

IN SEARCH OF THE MAYAS (, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Mayans, history
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Deep in the rainforest of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula are the lost Mayan cities of Chichen Itzá and Palenque. Discover their magic and learn about the Mayan culture while exploring some of the region’s most exquisite examples of Pre-Hispanic American architecture.

INCA MUMMIES: SECRETS OF A LOST WORLD (2003, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Allison Argo
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Inca, mummies
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Their empire stretched from Ecuador all the way to Chile. Only 40,000 strong, they ruled ten million subjects and created one of history's greatest civilizations. But with one quick blow, the Spanish brought this mighty empire to its knees. it is one of the most dramatic and poignant stories in history. Unfortunately, the drama unfolding today is as disturbing as that which played out 500 years ago. As archaeologists struggle to understand and preserve what remains of a great culture, tomb looters and the forces of "progress" are pushing it ever closer to extinction. Across Peru, the past is colliding with the future as the demands of a growing population threaten to destroy its precious heritage. From high atop remote Andean peaks to just below a dusty shantytown on the outskirts of Lima, archaeologists are racing against time to preserve the legacy left by their ancestors.

INSIDE NORTH KOREA (2007, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Lisa Ling
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Korea (North) Social life and customs, Korea (North) Politics and government, Korean Demilitarized Zone (Korea), Documentary television programs, Television programs for the hearing impaired.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Explorer offers a comprehensive look at the most reclusive member of the Axis of Evil, from the tense world of the Demilitarized Zone to the surreal life of the Dear Leader Kim Jong II. DVD release of an episode of National Geographic Explorer originally broadcast in 2006. Host, Lisa Ling. Special features: Photo gallery. Media/Video

JAGUAR (1967, 93 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Jean Rouch
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Film reflexivity, Ghana
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Three young men from the Savannah of Niger leave their homeland to seek wealth and adventure on the coast and in the cities of Ghana. This film is the story of their travels, their encounters along the way, their experiences in Accra and Kumasi, and, after three months, their return to their families and friends at home. The film is part documentary, part fiction, and part reflective commentary. There was no portable sound synchronized equipment in the early 1950s when Jaguar was shot. Instead, Rouch had the main characters (his friends and "accomplices") improvise a narrative while they viewed the film, which was itself improvised along the way. The resulting soundtrack consists of remembered dialogue, of joking and exclamations, of questions and explanations about the action on the screen.

JESUS CAMP (2006, 84 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Heidi E. Ewing, Rachel Grady
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Evangelicalism United States, Church camps North Dakota Devils Lake, Children Religious life United States, Documentary films, Video recordings for the hearing impaired.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A growing number of Evangelical Christians believe there is a revival underway in America that requires Christian youth to assume leadership roles in advocating the causes of their religious movement. Jesus Camp follows Levi, Rachael, and Tory to Pastor Becky Fischer's 'Kids on Fire' summer camp in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, where kids as young as 6 years-old are taught to become dedicated soldiers in 'God's army'. The film follows these children as they hone their 'prophetic gifts' and are schooled in how to 'take back America for Christ'". The film is an intense training ground that recruits born-again Christian children to become an active part of America's political future. Cinematography, Mira Chang and Jenna Rosher; editor, Enat Sidi; original music, Force Theory. Originally released as a documentary film in 2006. Special features: optional audio commentary by Ewing & Grady; 15 deleted scenes. MPAA rating: PG-13; for some discussions of mature subject matter. "Follows Levi, Rachael, and Tory to Pastor Becky Fischer's 'Kids on Fire' summer camp in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, where kids as young as 6 years-old are taught to become dedicated soldiers in 'God's army'. The film follows these children as they hone their 'prophetic gifts' and are schooled in how to 'take back America for Christ'"--Container. Media/Video

JOHN COLLIER, JR.: A VISUAL JOURNEY (1993, 27 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Maria Luiza Aboim-Ingles
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Visual anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
JOHN COLLIER, JR: A VISUAL JOURNEY provides an intimate portrait of the life, the stunning photographic work, and the unique humanitarian insights of one of this century's greatest teachers. When he was eight, John Collier was hit by a car and suffered severe brain trauma that left him with learning disabilities and speech and hearing impairments. As a result, he never finished grammar school, yet he went on to become an internationally renowned photographer, anthropologist, educator, and one of the founders of the field of visual anthropology.

JOURNEY WITH THE REVOLUTION (2004, 61 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Finn Arden, Nina Lopez
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): political activism, homosexuality, women's rights
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
A journey into the heart of the Venezuelan revolution. Meet the midwives, nurses, doctors, housewives, teachers, gay and disability activists, who are transforming Venezuela. Visit health clinics, soup kitchens, land committees, education and micro-credit programs… The excitement of the revolution is contagious.

JUAN PERÓN (1993, 13 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): VISNEWS
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Peronism, Argentina Politics and government 1943-1955, Argentina Politics and government 1955-1983.
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Discusses the rise of Juan Peron and his impact on the history of Argentina. Discusses the rise of Juan Peron and his impact on the history of Argentina. VHS format. Media/Video

JUDGMENT DAY: INTELLIGENT DESIGN ON TRIAL (2008, 112 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Gary Johnstone, Joseph McMaster
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): USA, education, evolution, Biological Anthropology, Intelligent Design
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Judgment day: intelligent design on trial" captures the turmoil that tore apart the community of Dover, Pennsylvania, in a landmark battle over the teaching of evolution in public schools. In 2004, the Dover school board ordered science teachers to read a statement to high school biology students about an alternative to Darwin's theory of evolution called intelligent design--the idea that life is too complex to have evolved naturally and so must have been designed by an intelligent agent. The teachers refused to comply, and both parents and teachers filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the school board of violating the constitutional separation of church and state. ... Featuring trial reenactments based on court transcripts and interviews with key participants and expert scientists, this program presents the case of Kitzmiller v. Dover School District.

KEEP THE RIVER ON YOUR RIGHT: A MODERN CANNIBAL TALE (2000, 94 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): David Shapiro, Laurie Shapiro
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): cannibalism, Peru, Tobias Schneebaum, Indians of South America
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
In 1955, while a Fulbright scholar, a Manhattan painter named Tobias Schneebaum spent seven months in the Amazon basin with the Harakambut. When he returned to the US, he could no longer paint. What happened? Nearly 45 years later, filmmakers want Tobias, now 78 and suffering from Parkinson's, to return to Peru. He refuses but allows that he will revisit the Asmat in New Guinea where he spent an idyllic time years before. That trip goes well, including a serendipitous meeting with Aipit, an aging native and once Tobias' friend and lover. Tobias then agrees to go to Peru to look for the people whom he joined on a murderous raiding party. The scars of war remain as does fear.

KENYA BORAN II (1974, 33 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): James Blue, David MacDougall
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Africa, Kenya, Education
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The film focuses on the life of Peter Boru, a sixteen-year-old former herdsboy who has become a boarding school student. Peter's life is juxtaposed to a traditional herdsboy, Dokata. The question, "Education for what?" is posed when both tradition and modern forces common to developing areas make the economic outlook bleak for young people, even if they are able to complete local educational requirements. Kenya Boran Part II was made to show the complex set of educational problems facing young people and governments in a typical Third World setting. It has special relevance in courses that focus on comparative education, socialization and learning. CD contains part 2 of 2 part program.

KEY TO THE LAND OF SILENCE (1981, 30 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Anna Benson Gyles
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Ancient Egypt, hieroglyphics
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The discovery of the Rosetta Stone in Egypt by Napoleon's team of French scholars was key to the translation of hieroglyphics. This program reveals how the stone came to the British Museum and its importance for understanding both the ancient Egyptian language and Egypt's culture. Dating from the Greek period of rule in Egypt (330 to 30BC), the stone offers a translation of ancient Egyptian through its carved text in three different scripts: hieroglyphs, demotic Egyptian and Greek. This film provides a look at how Egyptian antiquities are keys to present day understanding of life in ancient Egypt. Second half of DVD, following "Cree hunters of Mistassini"

KIRGHIZ OF AFGHANISTAN (1991, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Charlie Nairn
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Afghanistan, Kirghiz, Social life, customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The Kirghiz, who are skilled at herd management, have adapted well to a cold and difficult environment on the "Roof of the World." In working, celebrating, interacting with each other, and adapting to new ways in a new environment, the Kirghiz demonstrate the dignity and purpose of their lives. Since this film was made the Kirghiz were forced to flee to Pakistan, where they were air lifted to Turkey

LADYBOYS (1992, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Jeremy Marre
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Gender, sexuality, Thailand
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Ladyboys is a 1992 documentary film about the struggle of two teenage kathoey, or Thai male-to-female transgender persons, to leave the rural countryside and become famous transvestite performers in the glamorous cabarets of Pattaya.

LAS CHINAMPAS (1983, 31 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Carmen de la Vina
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Mexico, history
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The video employs Diego Rivera murals, colorful graphics, live action, and commentary by Chinampa farmers to show how the phenomenally productive Chinampa system works and to trace its long history. It also demonstrates how the population growth and increasing pollution problems of Mexico City now threaten the survival of the remaining chinampa farmers -- most of whom are Zochimilca Indians, whose ancestors developed the Chinampas long before the arrival of the Aztecs.

LAS MADRES: THE MOTHERS OF PLAZA DE MAYO (1985, 64 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Susana Muñoz, Lourdes Portillo
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Disappeared persons Argentina, Missing persons Argentina, State-sponsored terrorism Argentina, Human rights Argentina, Argentina Politics and government 1955-1983, Documentary films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department, STL

SYNOPSIS
This Academy award-nominated documentary about the Argentinean mothers’ movement to demand to know the fate of 30,000 “disappeared” sons and daughters remains as extraordinarily powerful as when it was first released. As well as giving an understanding of Argentinean history in the ‘70s and ‘80s, LAS MADRES shows the empowerment of women in a society where women are expected to be silent. LAS MADRES provides a banner of hope in the international struggle for human rights. Cinematography, Michael Anderson; editing, Susana Muñoz, Irving Saraf, Yasha Aginsky; music, Astor Piazzola, Mark Adler. Narrator: Carmen Zapata. Narration in English. Primarily in Spanish with English subtitles. DVD. Mothers who believe that their children were abducted by the Argentine government banded together in 1977 to protest in the Plaza de Mayo, publicizing the plight of disappeared persons and demanding information on their fate. Media/Video

LES MAITRES FOUS (MAD MASTERS) (1954, 35 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Jean Rouch
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Hauka, Africa, religion
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Les Maitres Fous is about the ceremony of a religious sect, the Hauka, which was widespread in West Africa from the 1920s to the 1950s. Hauka participants were usually rural migrants from Niger who came to cities such as Accra in Ghana (then Gold Coast), where they found work as laborers in the city's lumber yards, as stevedores at the docks, or in the mines. There were at least 30,000 practicing Hauka in Accra in 1954 when Jean Rouch was asked by a small group to film their annual ceremony During this ritual, which took place on a farm a few hours from the city, the Hauka entered trance and were possessed by various spirits associated with the Western colonial powers: the governor-general, the engineer, the doctor's wife, the wicked major, and the corporal of the guard. Second half of DVD, following "Summer of the Loucheux: Portrait of a northern Indian family " in Anthropology Department.

LEVI-STRAUSS: IN HIS OWN WORDS (2008, 93 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Pierre-Andre Boutang, Annie Chevallay
World Area(s):
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, theory, structuralism
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This film recounts the extraordinary career path of Claude Levi-Strauss, the father of structural anthropology, whose theories made an impact on anthropology, linguistics, mythology, and even pop culture studies. Author of A World on the Wane (Tristes Tropiques) and The Savage Mind, Levi-Strauss is a man curious about the nature of man, a confirmed ecologist, and a fierce defender of the diversity of cultures and people. A profound intellectual with the temperament of an artist or poet, Levi-Strauss still dominates the landscape of Western thinking.

LORANG'S WAY (1980, 70 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Africa, Turkana, Kinship, Social life and Customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
An ethnographic study of a Turkana family filmed in northwestern Kenya in the early 1970s. Lorang, his family and friends relate their experiences and feelings directly to the camera.

LOST CITIES OF THE ANCIENTS: CURSED VALLEY OF THE PYRAMIDS (2006, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Aidan Laverty
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Tucume, mass grave
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Looking back at the Lambayeque civilization, which based their culture around a strong belief that building pyramids was essential to their survival - as was human sacrifice. Archaeologists in northern Peru found mass graves near the lost city of Tucume, revealing a bloody secret while gaining more attention.

LOVE MAN, LOVE WOMAN: THE STORY OF MASTER DU'C (2007, 53 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Nguyen Trinh Thi
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Vietnam
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Through the story of a master spirit medium in Hanoi, LOVE MAN LOVE WOMAN explores how effeminate and gay men in highly conformist Vietnam have traditionally found community and expression in the country’s popular Mother Goddess Religion, Dao Mau. It also examines the impacts of globalization on the lifestyle and identities of gay people in Vietnam’s urban areas. In this documentary, the filmmaker follows Master Luu Ngoc Duc, one of the most prominent spirit mediums in Hanoi, and his vibrant community through their rituals and everyday life. These men are called ‘dong co’ - meaning ‘princess spirit’s mediums’ - a term originated from the indigenous religion that has come to be used generally in Vietnam to refer to effeminate and gay men. In a country like Vietnam where homosexuality is still a social stigma, this centuries-old religion has been the one place where gay people are accepted and viewed as equals. Both in and outside of the religion, being gay, however, is still perceived as a curse and a ‘disease’ – even by the men themselves. On the other hand, as Vietnam has opened its doors to the world in recent years, globalization and Western influence have now started to be felt - a virtual gay community is emerging on the Internet, and the identity and lifestyle of gay people in Vietnam are changing, starting from the big cities.

LUCY AND THE FIRST FAMILY (1981, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Milton B. Hoffman
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Biological Anthropology, human evolution, Africa
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Tells of the 1974 discovery in Ethiopia of the oldest, most complete skeleton of human ancestry and the discovery in 1975 of the remains of thirteen persons believed to be three million years old. Curator of physical anthropology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and American leader of the exploration team, Donald C. Johanson, discusses the significance of the discovery.

LUZÍA (1988, 112 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Fabio Barreto
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil, feature film
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Set on the vast and beautiful plains of central Brazil, Luzía is a movie in the tradition of the American western, with Claudia Ohana as a cowgirl caught in a clash between squatters and the powerful ranch owners.

MAASAI WOMEN (2003, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Chris Curling
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Africa, Maasai, social life, customs, Women's studies
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This documentary is part of a series on so called primitive cultures of the world, and the wisdom to be found in them. The focus of this segment is the Maasai tribe of Africa. The Maasai are a herding culture, and live in the highlands near the Kenya and Tanzania border. They do not grow crops of any kind; nor do they hunt. Cattle are the center of the Maasai culture and wealth system. The Maasai women cannot own cattle, and must depend on the favor of their men to support them. Within the constraints of their society, the powerful Masai women have fashioned workable lives for themselves. This film explores the successful adaptation of these remarkable women to what seems, to the Western eye, a totally oppressive system. The presentation of their triumph and dignity is informative and inspiring.

MACHO (2000, 26 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Lucinda Broadbent
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Men Nicaragua Attitudes, Machismo Nicaragua, Family violence Nicaragua, Nicaragua Social conditions 1979-, Documentary films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A report about the 'Men Against Violence' group of Nicaragua, who create new ways to confront male violence and machismo. The Nicaraguan men's innovations on how to change violent men unfold in one of the poorest countries of Latin America, and against a backdrop of an explosive Presidential sex abuse scandal. Camera, Frank Pineda; editor, Cassandra McGrogan; music, Engel Ortega. Narrator, Charles Hamilton. A report about the 'Men Against Violence' group of Nicaragua, who create new ways to confront male violence and machismo. The Nicaraguan men's innovations on how to change violent men unfold in one of the poorest countries of Latin America, and against a backdrop of an explosive Presidential sex abuse scandal. Media/Video

MAGIC IN THE SKY (1981, 57 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Peter Raymont
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Canada, Indigenous Media, Inuit
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Magic in the Sky investigates the impact of television on the Inuit people of the Canadian Arctic. The film also documents the establishment of the first Inuit-language television network, called Inukshuk, which began broadcasting to six Inuit communities in December 1980. The Inuit's efforts to create an indigenous television network mirrors the struggle of any culture trying to preserve its unique identity. Second half of DVD, following "Lorang's way"

MAHATMA GANDHI: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A MODERN LEGEND (2008, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Ferruccio Valerio
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Nationalists India Biography, Statesmen India Biography, India Politics and government 1919-1947, Documentary films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Through peaceful civil disobedience, Mahatma Gandhi fought to alleviate poverty, liberate women, end discrimination and free India from British rule. This documentary explores Gandhi's impressive life and his important message of nonviolence. Gandhi's tremendous leadership and noble acts of passive resistance helped India achieve its independence in 1947, one year before he was tragically assassinated. Original text in Italian by Ferruccio Valerio. Media/Video

MARGARET MEAD: A PORTRAIT BY A FRIEND (2007, 30 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Jean Rouch
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Margaret Mead, Biography, Anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
French filmmaker Jean Rouch interviews AMNH anthropologist Margaret Mead. Mead speaks about her personal history, her family, her influences and mentors, and her field work in Bali, New Guinea, and Manus (also known as Great Admiralty Island). Mead and Rouch walk through the AMNH Hall of Pacific Peoples, and she discusses her theories about museum exhibits. They also visit the Dept. of Anthropology specimen storage area. Towards the conclusion of her interview, Mead considers the history of anthropology and speculates on its future role in building new cultures.

MARGARET MEAD: TAKING NOTES (2003, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Ann Peck
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Anthropology, Margaret Mead, biography
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
When Margaret Mead died in 1978 she was probably one of American anthropology's most popular and public figures. This filmed portrait interweaves her personal history and intellectual contributions, based on interviews held shortly before her death, on old family and field photographs, and on conversations with a variety of her friends, family, and former students. Born in 1901 in Philadelphia, Mead was first drawn to anthropology as a student at Barnard, where she was influenced by Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict. In 1925 she undertook her first field trip to Samoa. This was the first of five field trips to eight different societies, from Bali to New Guinea, which she made in a span of fourteen years. With anthropologist Gregory Bateson, her third husband, she experimented with the use of still photography and film on Bali, in one of the first serious attempts to explore visual anthropology in the field. A now classic film, Trance and Dance in Bali, originated from this research. Finally, this film traces her growing involvement in applied anthropology and problems of contemporary American life, particularly her concern about the atomic bomb, representing civilization's self-destructive capacity in a changed world.

MASTERS OF THE BALAFON: FUNERAL FESTIVITIES (2001, 80 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Hugo Zemp
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Funerals
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Among the Senufo people of northern Côte d'Ivoire, the balafon (xylophone with calabash resonators) is an emblematic musical instrument. This film shows balafon orchestras playing in five villages during the two principal days of funeral festivities, celebrations that include the most important rites, ceremonies and rejoicings in the life of the Senufo. During dialogues with Sikaman, a young musician who acted as research assistant for this film series, the master balafonist Nahoua gives the key to understanding how this marvelous music comes into being, and what it means.

MAYA LORDS OF THE JUNGLE (1981, 58 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): John Angier
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Archaeology, Mayans, religion, social life, customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The great Maya civilization of Central America has long intrigued archaeologists, who have investigated its economic, social, and political bases, and its mysterious collapse around 900 A.D. Until recently, archaeologists theorized that the ancient Maya peoples practiced slash-and-burn agriculture that required great tracts of forest land, and that as population grew the dwindling forest resources could no longer support the civilization. It was thought that a small, centralized, priestly elite was supported by an undifferentiated mass of people in the countryside, which surrounded temple complexes. This film takes another look at older theories and recent archaeological advances, and suggests an interpretation of Maya society in which a flourishing trade in salt was complemented by a form of intensive agriculture based on artificially raised fields on swampy land. This economic base could have sustained the large population while necessitating the more elaborate social hierarchies and political structures that are suggested by recent excavations. A link between the ecological system and political power is found in stone: the water lily, carved on glyphs that symbolized the powers of the king, apparently also played a significant ecological function in the system of swamp-raised agriculture.

MAYAN: A HISTORY OF THE MAYAS (1994, 45 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Leo Linder
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Mayans, history
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This in depth look at ancient Mayan artifacts and temples reveals the rituals and traditions that have puzzled archaeologists for years.

MEMORIA DEL SAQUEO (2004, 113 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Fernando Solanas
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Argentina, violence, economic crisis
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Argentina had been devastated by a new type of aggression, silent and systematic, that left more dead people than the terrorism of the war in the Falklands. In name of the globalization and the free commerce, the economic prescriptions of international agencies finished in the social genocide and the financial asset stripping of Argentina. This film recontextualizes the images of that time and brings alive what was borne during the three decades beginning with Videla's dictatorship to the popular rebellion of December 19-20, 2001, that finished with the government of the Alliance.

MENDING WAYS: THE CANELA INDIANS OF BRAZIL (2003, 50 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil, indigenous, healing, medical anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
For the Canela, peace is more important than justice, and sharing—especially of sexual partners—means survival and prosperity. By putting the good of the tribe first, the Canela have retained their tribal identity for centuries, thanks both to the bonding that occurs through ritualized, extramarital, multiple-partner sex and to their ability to maintain communal harmony via their intricate family relationships. But can they survive the outside influences of sexual monogamy and materialism, which have finally infiltrated the tribe? This program, based on the research of Smithsonian Institution anthropologist Dr. William H. Crocker, documents the unique Canela way of life, focusing on their extraordinary bonding rituals and their conflict resolution skills they call "mending ways."

MICKEY MOUSE MONOPOLY (2001, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Miguel Picker
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Disney, race, gender, class
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Mickey Mouse Monopoly takes a close and critical look at the world these films create and the stories they tell about race, gender and class and reaches disturbing conclusions about the values propagated under the guise of innocence and fun. This daring new video insightfully analyzes Disney's cultural pedagogy, examines its corporate power, and explores its vast influence on our global culture. Including interviews with cultural critics, media scholars, child psychologists, kindergarten teachers, multicultural educators, college students and children, Mickey Mouse Monopoly will provoke audiences to confront comfortable assumptions about an American institution that is virtually synonymous with childhood pleasure. Study Guide: http://www.mediaed.org/assets/products/112/studyguide_112.pdf

MIND IF I CALL YOU SIR? (2004, 34 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Mary Guzman, Karla Rosales
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): homosexuality, Latin Americans
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
As a femme-identified Latina lesbian and community scholar, Karla E. Rosales has devoted her academic and artistic pursuits to issues of gender identity in the Latina community. Her research led her to uncover a growing rift between the ‘old school’ Butch Lesbian community and the rapidly growing FTM community, whose numbers are increasing. Rosales recognized that there was a need for dialogue between the two communities. Combining personal narratives with round table discussions, Rosales and director Mary Guzmàn have created a video document of individuals from both communities. Mind If I Call You Sir? explores their individual gender identities, as well as each group’s intricate relationships to each other in the larger social context. In research, stories and other material on the multiplicity of gender expression, the discussion of race/ethnicity is often missing, as well as how socio-economics and class status affects Queer and Transgendered People of Color. Mind If I Call You Sir? is one attempt to bring the underrepresented into the mainstream.

MINED TO DEATH (2006, 41 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Regina Harrison
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, mining, indigenous people, Andes
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Mined to Death provides an illuminating case study of suffering and hardship that is common among indigenous peoples in the developing, post-colonial world. Its dramatic visuals and forthright testimony will engage students and inspire discussion in a variety of courses in cultural anthropology, Latin American and Andean studies, development studies, tourist studies, and human rights.

THE MISSION (1986, 126 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Roland Joffé
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): History, colonialism, indigenous people
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
18th century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South American Indian tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal. Two DVDs - feature and extras

MORIR POR AMOR (1998, 47 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Marta Noemi Bautis
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): AIDS (Disease) in women Latin America, AIDS (Disease) in women United States, AIDS (Disease) in women Drama, AIDS (Disease) in women Prevention Latin America, AIDS (Disease) in women Prevention United States, AIDS (Disease) in women Prevention Drama, Hispanic American women Health and hygiene, Hispanic American women Health and hygiene Drama.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Maria suspects that her husband is being unfaithful. 'And have you thought about AIDS?, ' her friends warn her. The development of the story is juxtaposed by documentary elements filmed in Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic, and the United States. Morir por amor: Latinas and AIDS is a story of hope in the middle of the threat by the increase of AIDS among women. It doesn't present women as victims, but as a active agents in the transformation of their lives. Originally produced in 1998. Research collaborators, Suzana Atkin, Mireya Cruz, Alicia Dorrego, Ana Lamarche; editor, Marta N. Bautis. Narrator, Marta N. Bautis. "Maria suspects that her husband is being unfaithful. 'And have you thought about AIDS?, ' her friends warn her. The development of the story is juxtaposed by documentary elements filmed in Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic, and the United States. Morir por amor: Latinas and AIDS is a story of hope in the middle of the threat by the increase of AIDS among women. It doesn't present women as victims, but as a active agents in the transformation of their lives."--www.twn.org. Media/Video

MUMMIES: TALES FROM THE EGYPTIAN CRYPTS, VOL. 1 - THE GREAT PYRAMIDS (1996, 54 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Lisa Bourgoujian
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Egypt, pyramids, mummies
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Recounts the ancients’ views of the afterlife, provides an in-depth description of the process for preserving bodies, and discusses the construction and function of the pyramids. Study Guide: http://www.aetv.com/class/admin/study_guide/archives/aetv_guide.0390.html

MUMMIES: TALES FROM THE EGYPTIAN CRYPTS, VOL. 2 - THE SPHINX (1996, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Lisa Bourgoujian
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Sphinx, ancient Egypt
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The secrets behind the Sphinx origin, its purpose, its methodology in Egyptian culture – why is it so important? – is revealed. Journey back to the rich and fantastic world of ancient Egypt – a world where magic and fantasy were believed to be an everyday occurrence

MUMMIES: TALES FROM THE EGYPTIAN CRYPTS, VOL. 3 - THE HIEROGLYPHICS (1996, 54 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Lisa Bourgoujian
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): writing, hieroglyphics, ancient Egypt
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This film provides a detailed discussion of the complex process of designing and inscribing hieroglyphs on the walls of a tomb or monument.

MUMMIES: TALES FROM THE EGYPTIAN CRYPTS, VOL. 4 - TUTANKHAMEN (1996, 50 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Lisa Bourgoujian
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): King Tut, mummy, artifacts, curation
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This History Channel series introduces some of the mummies and wonders of ancient Egypt. This video explores the crypt of the ancient Egyptian boy king Tutankhamen, from the original making of the mummy to the discovery of the intact tomb in 1922 - and the curse rumored to follow the discovery. A brief description of KV-5, the tomb complex of the sons of Ramses the Great, is also presented.

MUXE'S: AUTHENTIC, INTREPID SEEKERS OF DANGER (2005, 103 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Alejandra Islas
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Gender, sexuality, masculinity, transgender, Mexico
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Portrait of a group of Mexican indigenous and mestizo homosexuals who defend their diversity and who seek to preserve their identity as Zapotec Indians. The Muxe's confront acceptance and rejection, partying and loneliness, love and its reversal, all with a transgressive attitude, intensely celebrating life.

MYSTERIOUS MUMMIES OF CHINA (1998, 54 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Howard Reid
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): mummies
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Preserved in peat bogs, frozen in ice, embalmed on the banks of the Nile—find out how mummies across the ages came to be preserved.

N!AI: THE STORY OF A !KUNG WOMAN (1980, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): John Marshall, Adrienne Miesmer
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Hunter gatherers, gender, globalization
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This film provides a broad overview of Ju/'hoan life, both past and present, and an intimate portrait of N!ai, a Ju/'hoan woman who in 1978 was in her mid-thirties. N!ai tells her own story, and in so doing, the story of Ju/'hoan life over a thirty year period. "Before the white people came we did what we wanted," N!ai recalls, describing the life she remembers as a child: following her mother to pick berries, roots, and nuts as the season changed; the division of giraffe meat; the kinds of rain; her resistance to her marriage to /Gunda at the age of eight; and her changing feelings about her husband when he becomes a healer. As N!ai speaks, the film presents scenes from the 1950's that show her as a young girl and a young wife. The uniqueness of N!ai may lie in its tight integration of ethnography and history. While it portrays the changes in Ju/'hoan society over thirty years, it never loses sight of the individual, N!ai.

NAIM AND JABAR (2007, 50 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Herbert DiGioia, David Hancock
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Afghanistan, Education, Kinship
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The hopes, fears, and aspirations of adolescence are expressed in the close friendship of two Afghan boys. As their acceptance of the filmmakers leads them to express their feelings more and more openly, the film grows rich in fact and themes of universal concern. Filmed in the Balkh Province, an area inhabited by Tajik and other Central Asian peoples. The town of Aq Kupruk is approximately 320 miles northwest of Kabul. The theme of the film focuses on education and socialization. The film and accompanying instructor notes examine formal and informal learning systems, and how they are changing. Particular attention is paid to the lives of one or two young people in the educational system, to their family and kinship structure, and more broadly to educational policies in the developing world. The Faces of Change Collection examines 5 cultures selected for the diversity of their geographic location: starting with the China Coast at sea level and moving up to Taiwan, then to Afghanistan, Kenya and finally to the mountains of Bolivia. Each location is examined through 5 themes: Rural Society, Education, Rural Economy, Women, and Beliefs.

NALINI BY DAY, NANCY BY NIGHT (2005, 27 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Sonali Gulati
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Labor Studies, India, USA
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
A documentary about the outsourcing of American jobs to India. From the perspective of an Indian immigrant living in the United States, using humor and satire to capture the lives of Indian telemarketers who undergo voice and accent training to speak to US customers with an American accent. A complex look at life as per Eastern Standard Time in India.

NANOOK OF THE NORTH (1998, 79 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Robert Flaherty
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Eskimos Québec (Province), Inuit Québec (Province), Documentary films, Silent films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Presents a documentary on the life of an Eskimo family pitting their strength against a vast and inhospitable Arctic. Juxtaposes their struggle for survival against the elements with the warmth of the little family as they go about their daily affairs. Originally produced in 1922 as a silent motion picture. Based on the book: My Eskimo friends /by Robert Flaherty. Digital transfer, remastered at the visually correct speed; orchestral score by silent film music specialist Timothy Brock; excerpts from the 1958 documentary: Flaherty and film: Mrs. Frances Flaherty remembers Nanook of the North (8 min.); stills gallery of Flaherty's life in the Arctic. Reserve Collection

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: AFRICA (2001, 487 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Andrew Jackson, Joe Morton
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Africa Description and travel, Africa Social conditions, Africa Economic conditions, Nature television programs, Documentary television programs.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
From National Geographic Television and Thirteen/WNET New York, Africa is a groundbreaking eight-hour series captured over two years of filming in 11 countries. This epic series presents Africa through the eyes of its people, conveying the diversity and beauty of the land and the compelling personal stories of the people who shape its future. Experience the skills needed to survive, not only the climate, but the social and economic conditions as well. Narrator: Joe Morton. Directors: Graham Booth, Harvey Lilley, Matthew Thompson. Letterbox format. Originally produced for television broadcast on the program Nature. Special features: includes bonus program "The making of Africa." Vol. 1. (episode 1) Savanna and (episode 2) Deserts -- [Vol. 2.] (episode 3) Rainforest and (episode 4) Mountains -- [Vol. 3.] (episode 5) Sahel and (episode 6) Great Lakes -- [Vol. 4.] (episode 7) Coasts and (episode 8) Southern Africa. A look at the continent of Africa as seen through the eyes of the African people. Experience the skills needed to survive, not only the climate, but the social and economic conditions as well. Not rated by MPAA. Media/Video

NATIONALISM: BLOOD AND BELONGING - THE ROAD TO NOWHERE (2003, 50 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Michael Ignatieff
World Area(s): Europe
Subject Area(s): Documentary films, Nationalism Yugoslavia, Nationalism Germany, Nationalism Ukraine, Nationalism Northern Ireland, Nationalism Quebec (Province), Nationalism Kurdistan, Ethnic relations, Ethnicity.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
The Highway of Brotherhood and Unity, the first major roadway in Yugoslavia, is symbolic of the chaos and general unrest of the region. The road is completely impassable, and illustrates the frustrations of the Serbian and Croatian peoples. Nationalism -- Blood and Belonging: The Road to Nowhere -- Yugoslavia gives a history of the road, which began in the days of Tito, and studies the forces which have ruled the region since that time. This series dissects the role of warlords in the quest for nationalism, and their attempts to protect their followers. Videodisc release of a 1993 production. Title on container: Nationalism, blood and belonging. v. 1. The road to nowhere [Yugoslavia] -- v. 2. Dreaming a nation [the Kurds] -- v. 3. A nation returns [Germany] -- v. 4. Lifting the yoke [Ukraine] -- v. 5. Mirror, mirror [Northern Ireland] -- v. 6. Reconquering the conquest [Quebec]. Producer, Tim Lambert; writer/presenter, Michael Ignatieff. Presents the presenter's perception of nationalist tendencies in Yugoslavia, among the Kurds, in Germany, Ukraine, Northern Ireland, and Quebec. DVD. Media/Video

NATIVE SPIRIT AND THE SUN DANCE WAY (2007, 3 hrs/15 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Native American Indians, first nation, religion, spirituality
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
In Native Spirit, Cree Indian actress Tantoo Cardinal (Dances with Wolves), transports the viewer to the days of Red Cloud when, "Our old men talked with spirits and made good medicine. Our young men herded the horses and made love to the girls. In this way we lived and were happy". The voices of Plenty Coup, Fools Crow, Black Elk and other great leaders of their day, convey the heartbreaking story of their people’s oppression and their ultimate triumph of the spirit. In The Sun Dance Way, the words of Thomas Yellowtail, a revered Sun Dance chief of the Crow Indian tribe, are brought to life by the internationally known Cree Indian actor, Gordon Tootoosis (Legends of the Fall). Unique photographs and video footage of sun dances, from as far back as 1903, reveal the symbolism and mystical beauty of the ancient ceremony which remains at the center of the Plains Indians’ lives today. “Once you know about these things, you will also love them, because you will see that without a sense of the sacred, you are less than a man.” - Thomas Yellowtail

NORTH OF THE SUN (1970, 80 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Gordon Eastman
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Eskimo, hunting
Format: VHS
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
North of the Sun is one of the few, if not the only photographic record of a way of life that is vanishing forever. For the Eskimo, in a most sacred tradition, survival means hunting. In "North of the Sun" you'll learn how Gordon Eastman nearly lost his life to become one of the few white men in history allowed to hunt the 120,000 lb. Bowhead Whale with an all-Eskimo crew. "North of the Sun" is a truly dramatic adventure film classic for the whole family.

ONGKA'S BIG MOKA (1974, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Charlie Nairn
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Papua New Guinea, Kawelka, Reciprocity
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
In Papua New Guinea, status is earned by giving things away rather than acquiring them. Explores the Moka, a ceremony in which people give gifts to members of other tribes. The larger the gift, the greater the victory over the recipient. Follows Ongka as he prepares for the giving of his Moka.

ORGASM, INC. (2009, 78 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Liz Canner
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Women Sexual behavior, Drugs Research, Drugs Testing, Documentary films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
In the shocking and hilarious documentary ORGASM INC., filmmaker Liz Canner takes a job editing erotic videos for a drug trial for a pharmaceutical company. Her employer is developing what they hope will be the first Viagra drug for women that wins FDA approval to treat a new disease: Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD). Liz gains permission to film the company for her own documentary. Initially, she plans to create a movie about science and pleasure but she soon begins to suspect that her employer, along with a cadre of other medical companies, might be trying to take advantage of women (and potentially endanger their health) in pursuit of billion dollar profits. ORGASM INC. is a powerful look inside the medical industry and the marketing campaigns that are literally and figuratively reshaping our everyday lives around health, illness, desire — and that ultimate moment: orgasm. Subtitle on supplementary material: The strange science of female pleasure. Producer, director, editor, camera, Liz Canner; executive producers, Julie Parker Benello, Wendy Ettinger, Judith Helfand, Marc Weiss; editors, Sandra Christie, Jeremiah Zagar. A documentary about female sexual pleasure and the quest by pharmaceutical companies to create a Viagra-like drug to treat female sexual dysfunction. Media/Video

OSAKA STORY (1996, 84 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Toichi Nakata
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Kinship, Japan
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
An autobiographical look at the cultural and generational clashes within Nakata's Korean-Japanese family. Also discuses the filmmaker and his conflicts about whether he should return to Japan and fill the role of eldest son or if he should tell his family about his homosexuality and go his own way.

OTHER PEOPLE'S GARBAGE (1988, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Ann Peck
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): United States of America, Archaeology, social life, customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Although written documents record more than 350 years of events in North America, they reveal little about what everyday life was like. The three segments of this magazine-format film explore the current work of historical archaeologists at three sites across the United States. Details of peoples' lives are revealed in excavations at slave quarters on St. Simon Island, slag heaps in northern California mining towns occupied between 1859-1902, and subway construction in Cambridge, MA, where urban archaeologists devise new methods to discover artifacts in land still used. Second half of DVD, following "Onka's big Moka".

OWNERS OF THE WATER: CONFLICT AND COLLABORATION OVER RIVERS (2009, 34 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Laura Graham, David Hernández Palmar, Caimi Waiassé
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Amazon, indigenous people, anthropology, water, commons, Venezuela
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A unique collaboration between two indigenous filmmakers and an anthropologist, Owners of the Water is a compelling documentary with groundbreaking ethnographic imagery. A central Brazilian Xavante, a Wayuu from Venezuela, and a US anthropologist explore an indigenous campaign to protect a river from devastating effects of uncontrolled Amazonian soy cultivation. Xavante and Wayuu are nationally and internationally prominent political actors and both face challenges over water. Owners highlights a civic protest showing strategic use of culture to bring attention to deforestation and excessive use of agritoxins in unregulated soy cultivation. The film features a diversity of Xavante opinions and evidence that non-indigenous members of the local population both support and oppose indigenous demands. The film showcases indigenous efforts to build networks among different native peoples and across nations. The film results from long collaboration between anthropologist Laura Graham and Xavante and more recent collaboration with Wayuu. The Association Xavante Warã, a Xavante organization that promotes indigenous knowledge and ways of living in the central Brazilian cerrado (a spiritually and materially integrated space that Xavante know as 'ro) and conservation of this unique environment, invited Graham to tell the story of its campaign to save the Rio das Mortes. David Hernández Palmar, a Wayuu (Iipuana clan) from Venezuela, accompanied Graham to meet the Xavante and learn about their struggles over water. After the trip the Xavante and Wayuu filmmakers and the anthropologist made this film based on the ethnographic footage of their intercultural encounters.

PALENQUE: THE WALLS OF MAYAN HISTORY (1991, 29 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Gonzalo Infante
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Guatemala, ruins, Mayans, history
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Using the first known major settlement of the Mayan culture as a setting, this program illuminates several important rites and rituals of the Mayans who lived there through the interpretations of the many inscriptions found on the walls of its main buildings. The life and death of significant rulers such as Halach Vinic, the Solar Prince, and Kuk Quetzl, the last lord of Palenque, are examined. Rituals that are explained and reenacted include the daily blood ritual, at which Mayan warriors, slicing into their own flesh, hoped to secure everlasting life and perpetuate the seasonal corn crop essential to the culture’s existence. The concept of humankind as a sacred bridge between the heavens and the "slithering earth" reveals the significance of human sacrifice in religious rituals, a point clearly reinforced through interpretations of inscriptions indicating the sacrifice and burial of Mayan children in the tomb of Halach Vinic in AD 693.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA (1999, 50 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Mark Soldner
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Papua New Guinea, Travel
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The last frontier for the intrepid traveler, Papua New Guinea is home to a myriad of cultures. Jonathan Atherton explores the rivers, volcanoes and beaches of this country, which was an Australian territory until 1975. This is a travel log, not an ethnographic film.

PARADISE BENT: BOYS WILL BE GIRLS IN SAMOA (2002, 51 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Heather Croall
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Gender, sexuality, masculinity, Samoa
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Short documentary on Australian Aboriginal men who have chosen to live as women in a culture where they are not at all accepted. Paradise Bent was a moving and enlightening piece, but the combination really made me think a lot about how the dominant male paradigm affects those who live outside of those limitations. When you add Bombay Eunuch to this pair you really step out of our western male chauvinist universe - and appreciate how lucky we are here in so many ways, and how much we need to fight for the gender freedom of the next generation.

PASSING GIRL; RIVERSIDE: AN ESSAY ON CAMERAWORK (1998, 30 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Kwame Braun
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Visual anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
At a street festival in West Africa, a young girl is delighted to discover a video camera trained on her. But her exuberant display is quickly cut short when she recognizes that the cameraman has already lost interest in her. But all is well: he has a document of the moment. Video has tipped the balance in another human interaction, and turned it into a curio. This experimental video essay probes the complexities of video as a tool for cross-cultural research and representation: it examines, in effect, the politics of its own production. How does the intrusion of this expensive technology distort relationships? What are the ethnographic filmmaker's responsibilities towards his "subjects?", yet perhaps these concerns are themselves distortions, preoccupations that obscure a more balanced encounter, in which human accommodation can flow in both directions. Transcription: http://www.wac.ucla.edu/bishop/articles/riverside.pdf

PEOPLE OF THE FOREST: THE CHIMPS OF GOMBE (1991, 90 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Hugo Van Lawick
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Biological Anthropology, Animal Behavior, Primates
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Wildlife photographer Hugo van Lawick follows a tribe of chimpanzees living in the deep forests surrounding Lake Tanganyika. Filmed over twenty years, he captures the emotion and drama among the chimps in the wild.

PEOPLE OF THE SEAL: ESKIMO WINTER (1971, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Robert Young, Quentin Brown
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Netsilik Eskimos, Canada
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The second of two co-productions by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the National Film Board of Canada, People of the Seal, Part 2: Eskimo Winter is compiled from some of the most vivid footage ever filmed of the life of the Netsilik Inuit in the Pelly Bay region of the Canadian Arctic. Together, the two films provide insight and understanding of a culture now almost vanished, as they show the incredible resourcefulness of the Netsilik (People of the Seal) who have adapted to one of the world's harshest environments. Part 2: Eskimo Winter shows how Inuit families gather in communities on the sea ice to harpoon seal as they come up through breathing holes in the ice. Also seen is the mid-winter season, a time of intense socializing in the communal igloo, with games, contests and ceremonial activities.

PEOPLES AND CULTURES OF THE WORLD (2004, 720 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Edward F Fischer
World Area(s):
Subject Area(s): Anthropology, Ethnology.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
In this course of lectures Prof. Fischer surveys anthropology, the study of human societies and comparative customs with a special emphasis on pre-capitalist societies and the things which pre-capitalist societies and modern societies have in common: Part. 1, disc 1: 1. The study of humanity; 2. The four fields of anthropology; 3. Culture and relativity; 4. Fieldwork and the anthropological method; 5. Nature, nurture, and human behavior; 6. Languages, dialects, and social categories Part. 1, disc 2: 7. Language and thought; 8. Constructing emotions and identities; 9. Magic, religion, and codes of conduct; 10. Rites of passage; 11. Family, marriage, and incest; 12. Multiple spouses and matrilineality Part. 2, disc 3: 13. Gatherers and hunters; 14. Headmen and horticulturists; 15. Cannibalism and violence; 16. The role of reciprocity; 17. Chiefdoms and redistribution; 18. Cultural contact and colonialism Part. 2, disc 4: 19. Cultures of capitalism; 20. Is economics rational?; 21. Late capitalism: from Ford to Disney; 22. The Maya, ancient and modern; 23. Maya resurgence in Guatemala and Mexico; 24. The Janus face of globalization. Lecturer: Edward Fischer, Vanderbilt University. Course no. 4617 (discs). In this course of lectures Prof. Fischer surveys anthropology, the study of human societies and comparative customs with a special emphasis on pre-capitalist societies and the things which pre-capitalist societies and modern societies have in common. Media/Video

PERU'S MASS GRAVE (2009, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Noel Dockstader
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Graves, burial practices
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
High in the cloud forests of Peru the stone walls of a mysterious mountaintop fortress rise out of the jungle. These 60-foot walls are filled with the bones of vanished people called the Chachapoya, or the Cloud Warriors. Now, we join a team of archaeologists led by Alfredo Narvaez as they uncover some startling evidence about this mysterious civilization. They find over eighty bodies piled at one end of Kuelap, stacked between houses, lying where they fell not carefully buried like all of the other bones that have been excavated at Kuelap. These people were killed when no one was left to bury them. Alfredo and his team have uncovered the largest mass grave in Peru and believe they may have finally found the secret to Kuelap's last stand. Once the bodies are carefully removed from Kuelap, well join physical anthropologist Marla Toyne. Shell be studying the up to 16,000 bones found at Kuelap to try and determine how these last citizens of Kuelap died whether by disease, sacrifice, war, or conquest by the Inca or the Spanish. It's an elaborate puzzle of bones, but what we find could solve the mystery of one of the South America's most mysterious ancient civilizations and massive monuments.

PIERRE VERGER: MESSENGER BETWEEN TWO WORLDS (1998, 90 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Luiz Buarque de Hollanda
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil, visual anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This sumptuously filmed documentary retraces the adventurous life of photographer Pierre Verger, a French ethnographer who devoted his life to the study of the reciprocal cultural influences between Bahia, Brazil and the Benin regions of Africa. The originality of his work lies in his demonstration that not only were cultural traditions brought from Africa to Brazil by slaves, but former slaves who returned to their native continent brought back Brazilian influences as well. The film is narrated by renowned musician Gilberto Gil and includes Verger's very last interview, one day before his death at 93. Companion film: Nomad Eyes

PROCESSIONE: A SICILIAN EASTER (1989, 35 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Susan Caperna Lloyd
World Area(s): Europe
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Italy, Religion, rites and ceremonies
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The annual "Procession of the Mysteries" in Trapani, Sicily, is a 400-year-old ritual brought to Sicily by its Spanish colonizers of the 15th century. The procession begins at 3:00 p.m. on Good Friday and continues for 24 hours. In the procession, townsmen called portatori carry one-ton statues (ceti) depicting the Stations of the Cross through Old Trapani's labyrinth of streets. The last statue in the procession is that of the Madonna (known as "'Addolorata), who "searches" for her lost son, Christ, until she "returns" to the town church on Holy Saturday. According the people of Trapani, whether she finds him or not is the "everlasting mystery." The absorbing film explores the psychology of ritual - the reasons why a community has for centuries staged a religious celebration as a public theater of grief and communally shared mourning. Second half of DVD, following "Gefilte fish".

PUTTING YOUR COURSE ONLINE: A HOW-TO FOR FACULTY (1997, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Bob Crook, David Franks, Shelley Kofler
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Internet in education, Computer-assisted instruction, Telecommunication in higher education, Education, Higher Effect of technological innovations on, Distance education.
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Panelists discuss the main issues involved in deciding whether or not a college course can be taught over the internet. The panel members talk about how to set up and administer an online course and share their personal online teaching experiences. Taped from a live satellite conference on November 13, 1997 with licensing rights through PBS Adult Learning Satellite Service. Cameras, Emilie Aronson, Mary Beth Boehm, John England. Host: John McCaa; panelists: Gemmy Allen, Vernon Smith, Patsy Blankenship, Kenneth Foote. Media/Video

QUILOMBO COUNTRY (2006, 73 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Leonard Abrams
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Quilombos, Blacks Brazil History, Blacks Brazil Social conditions, Slavery Brazil, Quilombos Social life and customs, Documentary films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Provides a portrait of rural communities in Brazil that were either founded by runaway slaves or began from abandoned plantations. This type of community is known as a "Quilombo", from an Angolan word that means "encampment." As many as 2,000 quilombos exist today. Narrator: Chuck D. Written, directed, photographed, and edited by Leonard Abrams. "Institutional copy." Provides a portrait of rural communities in Brazil that were either founded by runaway slaves or began from abandoned plantations. This type of community is known as a "Quilombo", from an Angolan word that means "encampment." As many as 2,000 quilombos exist today. Media/Video

RAIZES FORTES (STRONG ROOTS) (2001, 41 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Aline Sasahara, Maisa Mendonça
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Land reform Brazil, Documentary films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department, STL

SYNOPSIS
“Strong Roots", or “Raíz Forte" in Portuguese, is a documentary that highlights the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST) by introducing members of the movement - their struggles and their dedication. The video explains how land occupations bring new life to people without hope. It also begins to explain how the MST pressures the Brazilian government to implement agrarian reform in order to improve the lives of the 4.8 million landless families. Camera, Alexandre Lucato; editor, Estevão Nunes Tutu; music, Mauricio Pereira. The Landless Movement, MST, started in 1985 in response to the unequal distribution of land in Brazil, where 46% of all agricultural land is controlled by 1% of the people. The MST has won 16 million hectares of land for 300,000 families. It has built thousands of food production cooperatives and schools. The MST struggle is grounded in Constitutional law, which decrees that land must fulfill a social function. Today, 100,000 families prepare to occupy land in order to feed themselves. They live in plastic tents, waiting for the chance to work their piece of Brazilian soil. Media/Video

RAPTOR FORCE (2008, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Liev Schreiber
World Area(s):
Subject Area(s): Biology, Birds of Prey, Aircraft Technology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Humans have had a unique relationship with raptors, nature’s aerial killing machines, for more than four thousand years, first through the ancient sport of falconry, and, more recently, as scientists and engineers have turned to these mighty birds — from golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, and turkey vultures, to great gray owls and the peregrine falcon — as the inspiration for the latest in aircraft design. Using the tricks and tactics of raptors as their model, engineers have devised fighter jets with unprecedented maneuverability and stealth. In Raptor Force, you’ll learn the secrets of these astonishing aerialists, and how they’ve mastered, more than any other type of bird, the art of soaring. And with the help of engineer and falconer Rob MacIntyre’s ingenious miniature television station — a camera, transmitter, and battery small enough to be harnessed onto the backs of raptors — you’ll see for yourself what it’s like to fly with these deadly aces. Second half of DVD, following "America's stone age explorers"

REGRET TO INFORM (1998, 70 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Babara Sonneborn
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): War, violence
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
In 1968, on her 24th birthday, Barbara Sonneborn received word that a mortar had killed her husband, Jeff, in Vietnam. "We Regret to Inform," the telegram began. Twenty years later, Sonneborn, a photographer and visual artist, embarked on a journey in search of the truth about war and its legacy, eloquently chronicled in her debut documentary, Regret to Inform. Framed as an odyssey through Vietnam to Que Son, where Jeff was killed, Sonneborn weaves together the stories of widows from both sides of the American-Vietnam war. The result is a profoundly moving examination of the impact of war over time. Regret to Inform weaves together the stories of widows from all side of the America-Vietnam War, providing a unique vantage point for teachers and students to explore the impact of war over time. The themes addressed in Regret to Inform are suitable for many disciplines, including English, history, social studies, civic and art. Study Guide: http://www.regrettoinform.org/education/guide.pdf

RETHINK AFGHANISTAN (2009, 62 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Robert Greenwald
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): politics, war, political activism
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This full-length documentary campaign features experts from Afghanistan, the U.S., and Russia among others discussing critical issues like military escalation, how escalation will affect Pakistan and the surrounding region, the cost of war, civilian casualties, and the rights of Afghan women. As part of the filmmaking process, director Robert Greenwald traveled to Afghanistan to meet with and interview members of Afghanistan's parliament, bloggers, women's rights organizations, and groups committed to the peace movement. The ultimate goal of this documentary campaign is to raise the level of public discourse, compel people to ask key questions about the war, and urge Congress to vote NO for any the escalation of U.S. troops in the war in Afghanistan.

ROOTS (1977, 645 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Marvin J. Chomsky, John Erman, David Greene, Gilbert Moses
World Area(s): Africa, North America
Subject Area(s): African American families Drama, Slavery United States Drama, Slaveholders Southern States Drama, African Americans History To 1863 Drama, Southern States History Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 Drama, Southern States History Revolution, 1775-1783 Drama, Confederate States of America History Drama, Television programs for the hearing impaired, Biographical television programs, Historical films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Follows several generations in the lives of a slave family. The saga begins with Kunta Kinte, a West African youth captured by slave raiders and shipped to America in the 1700s. The family is depicted up until the Civil War, when Kunte Kinte's grandson gains his emancipation. Maya Angelou, LeVar Burton, Edward Asner, O.J. Simpson, Ralph Waite, Louis Gossett Jr., Robert Reed, Lorne Green, Lynda Day George, Vic Morrow, John Amos, Sandy Duncan, Leslie Uggams, George Hamilton, Richard Roundtree, Ben Vereen, Lloyd Bridges, Georg Stanford Brown, Cicely Tyson. Cinematography, Stevan Larner, Joseph M. Wilcots; editors, James T. Heckert, Peter Kirby, Neil Travis; original music, Gerald Fried, Quincy Jones; costume designer, Jack Martell. Based on the novel by Alex Haley. DVD release of the original ABC television broadcast, January, 1977. Not rated. Special features: Disc 4: "Crossing over: how Roots captivated an entire nation" newly created featurette; "Roots: one year later" documentary; audio commentary from key cast members including LeVar Burton, Cicely Tyson, and Ed Asner. Golden Globes (USA), 1978: Best TV-Series - Drama. Emmy Awards, 1977: Outstanding Achievement in Film Sound Editing for a Series; Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore); Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series; Outstanding Film Editing in a Drama Series; Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series ; Outstanding Limited Series; Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Series; Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Series; Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series. Media/Video

SANDPAINTING: A NAVAJO TRADITION (1900, 37 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Sandpaintings, Navajo art.
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
The Navajo word for sandpaintings means "place where the gods come and go." The sandpainting has been used for centuries in religious rituals, including healing ceremonies performed by Navajo medicine men. A sandpainting for a ceremony is made on the ground in the ceremonial hogan and destroyed at the end of the ritual. In order to preserve this long-standing tradition, in the late 1940's Navajos began to create permanent sandpaintings, changing the design slightly to protect the religious significance when these paintings were shown publicly. Pictorial sandpaintings which reflect the Navajo environment and lifestyle are also made. Today sandpaintings are made by slowly trickling sand through the hand onto epoxy-covered particle boards, using sand made from naturally colored crushed rock, stone, and minerals for the different shades and colors. The sandpainting is intended to be hung within a frame or by attaching picture hangers to the back of the board.

SCIENCE OR SACRILEGE: NATIVE AMERICANS, ARCHAEOLOGY & THE LAW (1996, 57 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Nicholas Nicastro
World Area(s): United States
Subject Area(s): Archaeology, ethics, burial practices
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Well into the 20th century, Native American physical remains were frequently harvested like trophies, and ritual objects and artwork often reached museums under questionable circumstances. Such glaring offenses of “imperial archaeology” ultimately motivated Congress to pass the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in 1990. This provocative, in-depth documentary examines the Act’s underlying moral and political issues, its practical consequences, and the prospects for science in the post-NAGPRA world. Some (though not all) archaeologists and scientists claim that NAGPRA will prevent important study and research. Native Americans say that no one has the right to dig up and examine their ancestors’ remains.

SCREENING ROOM WITH ROBERT GARDNER - JEAN ROUCH (1980, 64 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Robert Gardner
World Area(s):
Subject Area(s): Visual Anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
In the early 1970s a group of idealistic artists, lawyers, doctors and teachers saw an opportunity to change commercial television in Boston and the surrounding area. It would require years of litigation up to and including the Supreme Court, but the case was won and the Channel 5 license was given to WCVB-TV. Screening Room was one of several programs offered in an effort to provide alternative television viewing. The idea behind Screening Room was to give independent filmmakers an opportunity to discuss their work and show it to a large urban audience. Nearly 100 ninety-minute programs were produced and aired between 1973 and 1980.

SECRETS OF JERUSALEM'S HOLIEST SITES (2007, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): James Barrat
World Area(s): Middle East
Subject Area(s): Religion, Judaism, Islam, Israel
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Secrets of Jerusalem's Holiest Sites takes us on a journey into one of the most sacred places on Earth dating back to biblical times. It is the most hotly contested piece of real estate on the planet and its name alone is enough to spark riots across the Middle East. Known as the Temple Mount to Jews and Christians and as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims, it is so sacred to all three religions that followers willingly die for it.

SECRETS OF THE TRIBE (2010, 98 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): José Padilha
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Amazon, indigenous people, anthropology, ethics, controversy
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The field of anthropology goes under the magnifying glass in this fiery investigation of the seminal research on Yanomami Indians. In the 1960s and '70s, a steady stream of anthropologists filed into the Amazon Basin to observe this "virgin" society untouched by modern life. Thirty years later, the events surrounding this infiltration have become a scandalous tale of academic ethics and infighting.

SEEING ANTHROPOLOGY: CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY THROUGH FILM (1997, 16 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Karl G. Heider
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Horticulture, social life, customs, Dani, New Guinea
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Clips from Seeing Anthropology: Cultural Anthropology Through Film - Dani sweet potatoes: Follows the highly sophisticated process of sweet potato horticulture developed by the Grand Valley Dani in West New Guinea. Dani Recess: Shows Dani children at play Only 18 minutes of film, containing Dani sweet potatoes and Dani Recess

SEX UNKNOWN (2001, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Stephen Sweigart, Andrew Cohen
World Area(s): United States
Subject Area(s): Gender, Sexuality, sex reassignment, biomedicine
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This one-hour documentary that centers around the controversy over surgical treatment of intersex children.

SHAHSAVAN NOMADS OF IRAN (1984, 28 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Arlene Dallalfar, Fereydoun Safizadeh
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Iran, Shahsevan, social life, customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Documents the lives of the Shahsavan pastoral nomads during their centuries old seasonal migration in North West Iran. Their day-to-day lives and traditions are seen and experienced in both the winter and summer camps. The spirit of their nomadic life is captured through activities like cooking, herding, felt making and ceremonial gatherings. Accepted among Shahsavan women, filmmaker Dallalfar offers a rarely captured insight into women's daily lives in a sexually segregated society. Second half of DVD, following "To find the Baruya story: An anthropologist at work with a New Guinea tribe".

SHINTO: NATURE, GODS, AND MAN IN JAPAN (1984, 50 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Victor David Westphal
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Shinto, Shinto shrines Japan, Art, Shinto.
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Conveys some idea of the religious feeling which infuses the Japanese contemplation of nature and the gods or 'kami' the Japanese detect in landscapes, trees, waterfalls; and which prompts them to build simple Shinto or more complex, Buddhist-influenced shrines marked by a balance between natural and man-made space. Includes many views of the Japanese landscape, forests and woods, some rituals of purification, shrine carpenters, rice festivals and Shinto priests and Japanese people at their worship. The following shrines are depicted: Ise Grand Shrine, Izumo Grand Shrine, Kasuga Grand Shrine, Kitano Temmangu, Kumano Hyatama, Kumano Nachi, Munakata Shrine, Nishna Shinmei and Omiwa Shrine. The cinematography is gorgeous; the mood contemplative. Originally produced as motion picture in 1977. Director, David Westphal; writers, Peter Grilli, Christine Guth Kanda. Narrators, Hannah Gordon, Edward Blake. Media/Video

SIGNS AND SYMBOLS (1993, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Sheila Curran Bernard
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Archaeology, Mayans, Communication
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Symbolic communication is the most important single element of human culture. Writing is an invaluable aid to archaeologists in reconstructing the past. This program demonstrates how archaeologists detect whatever form of communication remains, then interpret symbolic meanings and reconstruct symbolic behavior. Also noted are how symbolic systems change through time, taking on new functions as social contexts change. Concentrates on carvings found at Maya sites, which enabled epigraphists to decipher hieroglyphs, and symbols that describe the history and political structure of the Maya.

SILENCE: IN SEARCH OF BLACK FEMALE SEXUALITY IN AMERICA (2004, 74 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Mya Baker
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): African American women Sexual behavior, African American women Psychology, African American women Interviews, Sex role United States.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Why have black women been ‘mute’ about their sexuality? What has prevented them from expressing their feelings about this important subject within their own families and with each other? In this provocative documentary, filmmaker Mya B. explores the reasons for sexual silence in the black community. She also aims to destroy misconceptions about black women and reveal the truth about their sexuality. Experts from the medical, academic, cultural, and religious communities weigh in on this “forbidden” topic, but more importantly, everyday women express uncensored views about what black female sexuality means to them. The filmmaker also examines the distorted depictions of black women--through film, media, popular culture, and marketing--which have contributed to their repression. Black women have been portrayed as shame-filled stoics or branded as sexual freaks. The video ’ho in the age of misogynist hip-hop, for instance, is addressed by two music video directors who discuss the impact of such stereotypes.

SPEAK OUT: I HAD AN ABORTION (2005, 55 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Gillian Aldrich, Jennifer Baumgardner
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Abortion United States, Documentary films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Each year in the US, 1.3 million abortions occur, but the topic is still so stigmatized it’s never discussed in polite company. Powerful, poignant, and fiercely honest, I HAD AN ABORTION tackles this taboo, featuring 10 women – including famed feminist Gloria Steinem – who candidly describe experiences spanning seven decades, from the years before Roe v. Wade to the present day. Filmmakers Jennifer Baumgardner (author of Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future) and Gillian Aldrich insightfully document how changing societal pressures have affected women’s choices and experiences. The film unfolds personal narratives with intimate interviews, archival footage, family photos and home movies. Arranged chronologically, the stories begin with Florence Rice, now 86, telling without regret about her abortion in the 1930s. Other women speaking out include Marion Banzhaf, who, inspired by both the Miss America protests and the Stonewall rebellion, fundraised on her campus to pay for her abortion, and Robin Ringleka-Kottke, who found herself pregnant as an 18-year-old pro-life Catholic. Captures the stories and experiences of several women, aged 21 to 85, who have had abortions. DVD. Media/Video

STRANGERS ABROAD - BRONISLAW MALINOWSKI: OFF THE VERANDAH (1985, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s):
Subject Area(s): Functionalism, anthropology, history
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Trobriand Islanders. Trobriand Rites and rituals. Bronislaw Malinowski was the anthropologist who really changed the way that field studies were carried out. A Pole who chose t live in England, he began to work on a remote group of Pacific islands--the Trobriands--and lived for long periods among the people he was studying. A brilliant linguist, he quickly learned their language and later published books which brought the islanders to life. In this way, he made their work and lives intelligible to the West. The idea that native peoples were primitive savages was altered for good with Malinowski's insight into their mastery of their world."

STRANGERS ABROAD - EDWARD EVANS-PRITCHARD: STRANGE BELIEFS (1990, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Cultural anthropology, belief systems
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Edward Evans-Pritchard was the first trained anthropologist to do work in Africa, where he lived among the Azande and studied their belief in witchcraft. Later, he worked with the Nuer tribe in the Sudan. His work on witchcraft caused philosophers to ask how rational thinking could be defined; his study of tribal organization intrigued political theorists; his attention to the sophisticated religious sentiments of so-called primitive peoples has strongly influenced theologians.

STRANGERS ABROAD - FRANZ BOAS: THE SHACKLES OF TRADITION (1990, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Cultural anthropology, race, ethnicity
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Franz Boas was the first distinguished social scientist in the United States to challenge the prevailing concept of racial inferiority. He actively campaigned on behalf of black people in America in the early part of the 20th century. Considered the founding father of American anthropology, Boas taught at Columbia University for fifty years, encouraging his students to follow his example by actually working in the field. Among those who did so was Margaret Mead.

STRANGERS ABROAD - SIR WALTER BALDWIN SPENCER: FIELDWORK (1985, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Fieldwork, methodology, cultural anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
In 1887, Sir Walter Baldwin Spencer left England to study Australian aborigines. Spencer began to work with Frank Gillen, the operator of a telegraph station and an initiated elder of the Aranda tribe—a remarkable man who was befriending aborigines at a time when most whites were persecuting them. Gillen’s special place in aboriginal society enabled both men to witness scenes that no white man had ever seen. The approach the two men used to study the aborigines has strongly influenced the way that other cultures have been studied since. Their method came to be known as fieldwork.

STRANGERS ABROAD - W.H. RIVERS: EVERYTHING IS RELATIVES (1990, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s):
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Kinship, cultural anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This presents a formative history of cultural anthropology. The series focuses on the shift from "armchair" anthropology to the practice of anthropological fieldwork, by spotlighting the work of a number of early influential anthropologists. William Rivers - Everything Is Relatives: William Rivers originally trained as a doctor. On a Cambridge University expedition to the Torres Straits north of Australia, his psychological tests on the islanders made him realize the unexpected importance of relatives in their society. His subsequent work as a pioneering psychologist in the First World War and his research into the workings of the nervous system and the action of drugs on the human body, enabled Rivers to bring something new to anthropology: a scientific approach. His field study with a hill tribe in southern India, the Todas, ultimately set the trend for anthropologists to go and visit the cultures in which they were interested, rather than staying at home and theorizing.

SUBTANGO: EL ESPÍRITU DEL TANGO (2000, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Sofía Vaccaro
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Argentina, dance, tango
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
It portrays the ways in which tango music, dance and song are an essential part of the emotional expression of regular people, featuring the gamblers, ramblers, barroom prophets and raconteurs of the Argentine night playing weather-beaten accordions and singing old tangos of heartbreak and resentment.

SUMMER OF THE LOUCHEUX: PORTRAIT OF A NORTHERN INDIAN FAMILY (1983, 28 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Graydon McCrea
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Indians of North America, Gwich'n, Social Life and Customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Leaving her city job every summer, a native girl returns home to go fishing with her family, renewing her relationship to the land. Mastering the skills of camp life, teaching her niece, and listening to her grandmother’s stories all contribute to her understanding of her culture and herself. Uses archival photos in reconstructing the recollections of her grandmother and provides an overall observation of Loucheux traditions.

SURVIVING COLUMBUS: THE STORY OF THE PUEBLO PEOPLE (1992, 120 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Diana Reyna
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Indians of North America, Historical Documentary, European Conquest
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Tells the other side of history --the story of the European conquest as viewed by America's Pueblo people, told in their voices, and seen through their eyes. Captured in beautiful images, dramatic words, and music.

TABOO: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (2004, 10 hours, 11 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Lori Butterfield
World Area(s):
Subject Area(s): Documentary television programs, Television programs for the hearing impaired, Manners and customs, Taboo.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Complex and controversial, this mesmerizing hit series offers an insider's view of closed worlds traditionally off-limits to outsiders. Witness stunning stories about rituals and traditions so shocking that you can't help but be attracted. v. 1, disc 1. Drugs; Healers; Food; Blood sports v. 1, disc 2. Evil spirits; Voodoo; Marriage; Witchcraft v. 2, disc 3. Sexuality; Death; Rites of passage v. 2, disc 4. Tests of faith; Tattoo. Title from container. Copyright date on credit frame: 2002; copyright date on container: 2004. DVD in two containers; Dolby digital, region 1. Complex and controversial, this mesmerizing hit series offers an insider's view of closed worlds traditionally off-limits to outsiders. Witness stunning stories about rituals and traditions so shocking that you can't help but be attracted. Not rated. DVD, region 1, full screen presentation; Dolby Digital. Closed-captioned. Media/Video

TABOO: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (2005, 611 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): John Mernit
World Area(s):
Subject Area(s): Taboo, Manners and customs, Documentary television programs, Video recordings for the hearing impaired.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Complex and controversial, this mesmerizing hit series offers an insider's view of closed worlds traditionally off-limits to outsiders. Witness stunning stories about rituals and traditions so shocking that you can't help but be attracted. v. 1 disc 1. Delicacies; Child rearing; After death; Justice v. 1 disc 2. Creature cures; Body perfect; Outcasts; Sacred pain v. 2 disc 3. Extreme entertainers; Blood bonds; Gross work; Marks of identity v. 2 disc 4. Initiation. Warner Home Video: G93006 (set); G75127 (vol. 1); G75128 (vol. 2). DVD; Dolby digital; region 1; standard format (1.33:1 aspect ratio). Closed-captioned. Title from container. Editor, Geoff Luck ... [et al.]; music, David Kane; videographers, Sean Fine ... [et al.]. Originally broadcast on television in 2004. Special features: Bonus program from Season 3 "Spirit worlds"; photo gallery. Complex and controversial, this mesmerizing hit series offers an insider's view of closed worlds traditionally off-limits to outsiders. Witness stunning stories about rituals and traditions so shocking that you can't help but be attracted. Media/Video

TA'ZIEH (2001, 75 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Parviz Jahed
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Ritual, Iran
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Ta'zieh is one of the oldest traditions of theater in Iran. It is a form that combines Islamic fact and fiction with ancient Iranian ritual. Ta'zieh resembles the ancient Iranian sacred mourning ritual that exalts mythological heroes. Over the centuries it has evolved into a passion play, featuring the life, tribulations, and death of Imam Hussein, a central figure in the country's Shiite history. Today, Ta'zieh is not merely an exercise in religious narration, but a performance that meshes didactic rhythmic schemes with theatrical props to visualize the passion of Imam Hussein for a lay audience. Therein they learn the virtues of Imam Hussein's life notions of right and wrong, and the power of heavenly justice

TAKARAZUKA DREAM GIRLS (1994, 50 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Kim Longinotto, Jano Williams
World Area(s): East Asia
Subject Area(s): Japan, performance, gender, sexuality, women
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This film is about Japanese women, escape, glamour and dreams. The Takarazuka Revue is an enormously successful spectacular where the all-women cast create fantasies of erotic love and sensitive men. It is also a world for young girls desperate to do something different with their lives. In return for living a highly disciplined and reclusive existence, they will be adored and envied by many thousands of Japanese women. They will look, act and behave like young men while having no real men in their lives. Dream Girls explores the nature of sexual identity and the contradictory tensions that face young women in Japan today.

TELENOVELAS: LOVE, TV, AND POWER (2003, 59 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Alexander Valenti
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Novelas, media
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This program examines the political and cultural impact of the Latin American telenovela--broadcast six days a week to more than 120 countries. Interviews with sociologists, media moguls and others examine its influence on Latin American power politics, along with generous clips from the programs "By These Streets," which closely parallels Venezuelan news events and the popular Brazilian romantic melodrama "Body and Soul."

THE AFRICANS (1986, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Ali Mazrui
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Africa
Format: DVD, VHS
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Hailed as "stimulating, challenging and superbly crafted," this journey into the soul of Africa is a poetic and political adventure, illustrated with stunning cinematography filmed on location in 16 African countries. The Africans asks hard questions as it examines the complexities of a continent influenced by it indigenous roots, Islam and European Christianity. Host and writer for the series is Dr. Ali Mazrui, former research professor at the University of Jos, Nigeria; Cornell University; and the University of Michigan. From the history of Egyptian pharaohs, matriarchal social systems and the slave trade to contemporary political crises, famine and apartheid, Dr. Mazrui discusses African developments from the perspective of its triple heritage.

THE AGE OF REASON (2004, 87 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): David MacDougall
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, India, Education
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This is the fifth and final film in ethnographic filmmaker David MacDougall's Doon School Quintet, his long-term study of India's most prestigious boys' boarding school. In this film he focuses on the life of one student whom he discovers at the school. The film explores the thoughts and feelings of Abhishek, a 12-year-old from Nepal, during his first days and weeks as a Doon student. Other films in this series are "Doon School Chronicles," "With Morning Hearts," "Karam in Jaipur," and "The New Boys." These films will stimulate thought and discussion in a wide range of classes in cultural anthropology, Asian and Indian studies, visual anthropology, education and childhood studies, and post-colonial studies.

THE ART OF REGRET (2006, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Judith MacDougall
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Photography, China, Visual Anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This brilliant and keenly observed documentary, by renowned ethnographic filmmaker Judith MacDougall, explores the digital revolution in China, where photography is known as the "art of regret." A profound and seminal meditation on the uses of photography and image making in a culture very much in flux, the film demonstrates that difficult choices about how to regard history, reality, and material culture face everyone in contemporary China. The Art of Regret incisively examines one of the most vexing and provocative questions surrounding photography today: do people want photography to be a medium of preservation and evidence, or of transformation and fantasy? While the Chinese cherish old photographs and the memories those photographic relics preserve, they also can -- and do -- visit computerized photo stalls in department stores and become transformed into movie stars.

THE ASMAT OF NEW GUINEA: A CASE STUDY IN RELIGION AND MAGIC (1983, 30 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Ira Abrams, Lisa Sonne
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): religion, trance, ceremony, Asmat
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The Asmat, a cannibalistic society of western New Guinea, use religion and magic as tools for survival in a world they perceive as hostile and threatening. They carve sacred bis poles from mangrove trees to release spirits of the dead and butcher and skin sago palms as if they were human to release the starch that is the mainstay of their diet. Games for children are designed to teach them skills of headhunting; during a feast, coconuts are consumed to symbolize eating the brains of one's enemy. This case study also considers how economic development and modernization, including the government's ban on headhunting, will affect the Asmats' religious beliefs and practices.

THE AX FIGHT (1975, 30 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Timothy Asch, Napoleon Chagnon
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Yanomamo, South America, social life, customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Large Yanomamo villages are volatile and the slightest provocation can spark a violent outburst. When a group of visitors from Ironasi-teri were visiting their relatives in Mishimishimabowei-teri tensions were high. The visitors refused to work in the garden and demanded to be fed. The fight started when one of the host women refused to share plantains with a visiting man and he beat her with a stick. Her brother and then her husband and his brother retaliated and within five minutes several men were fighting with clubs, machetes and axes. The fight continued until one man was knocked unconscious. Then elder men of influence stepped in and gradually people dispersed. Study Guide: http://der.org/resources/study-guides/the-ax-fight.pdf

THE BUDDHA: THE STORY OF SIDDHARTHA (2010, 120 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): David Grubin
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Buddhists India, Biographical television programs, Historical television programs, Documentary television programs, Nonfiction television programs, Video recordings for the hearing impaired, Video recordings for people with visual disabilities.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Two and a half millennia ago, a new religion was born in India, generated from the ideas of the Buddha, a mysterious Indian sage who gained enlightenment while he sat under a large, shapely fig tree. The Buddha never claimed to be God or his emissary on earth, only that he was a human being who had found a kind of serenity that others could find, too. This documentary tells the story of his life, a journey especially relevant in our own times. Cinematographer, James Callanan; editor, Deborah Peretz; music, Michael Bacon; narrators, Richard Gere, with Blair Brown.. "Produced in conjunction with the exhibition, Pilgrimage and Buddhist Art, organized by Asia Society Museum, New York"--End credits. Originally broadcast on PBS April 7, 2010. Special features: interview with David Grubin; interview with His Holiness the Dalai Lama; making animation for The Buddha; Buddhist pilgrimage sites. Not rated. Narrated by Richard Gere, with Blair Brown. Media/Video

THE BURNING SEASON (1994, 123 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): John Frankeneimer
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil, Amazon, activism, violence
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Spurred to action after a key organizer of the rain forest’s working poor is slain, Mendes stands firm against slash-and-burn deforestation.

THE CELLULOID CLOSET (1995, 102 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Homosexuality, media, Hollywood, LGBT
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
A documentary surveying the various Hollywood screen depictions of homosexuals and the attitudes behind them throughout the history of North American film.

THE CHACO LEGACY (1980, 59 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Graham Chedd
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Archaeology, Cultural Anthropology, Indians of North America, Chaco
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Examines archaeological theories about the rise and fall of Chacoan culture, which had a high level of technical development and flourished over 900 years ago in the area of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Shows their extensive water control system, the large network of roads they constructed and several mammoth structures they built. Includes a history of the different excavation projects.

THE CHARCOAL PEOPLE (1999, 65 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Nigel Noble
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil, Amazon, rainforest, labor
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
A documentary exploring the harsh life of the workers and the destruction of Brazil's rain forest in the development of the charcoal industry.

THE COUPLE IN THE CAGE: A GUATINAUI ODYSSEY (1993, 30 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Coco Fusco, Paula Heredia
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Indigenous
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The Couple in the Cage documents the travelling performance of Guillermo Gómez -Peña and Coco Fusco, in which they exhibited themselves as caged Amerindians from an imaginary island. While the artists’ intent was to create a satirical commentary on the notion of discovery, they soon realized that many of their viewers believed the fiction, and thought the artists were real “savages”. The record of their interactions with audiences in four countries dramatizes the dilemma of cross-cultural misunderstanding we continue to live with today. Their experiences are interwoven with archival footage of ethnographic displays from the past, giving an historical dimension to the artists’ social experiment. The Couple in the Cage is a powerful blend of comic fiction and poignant reflection on the morality of treating human beings as exotic curiosities.

THE CREE HUNTERS OF MISTASSINI (1974, 58 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Tony Ianzelo, Boyce Richardson
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Canada, Indians of North America, Cree, Social Life and Customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Shows how Indian hunters and trappers of the Mistassini area of Northern Quebec live with the land in a way that reflects their complex and subtle religious beliefs as well as ecological principles. Records the setting up of a winter camp where three families (16 people) share the long, hard winter months. Also shows scenes of Indian life in the bush: the hunt and its rituals, division of labor, preparation of food and animal skins, maintenance of the lodge, and the judicious mixture of communal living and family privacy.

THE FEAST (1970, 29 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Timothy Asch
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Yanomamo, reciprocity, social life, customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Yanomamo feasts are ceremonial, social, economic, and political events. They are occasions for men to adorn their bodies with paint and feathers, to display their strength in dance and ritualized aggression; for trading partnerships to be established or affirmed; and for the creation or testing of alliances. In the feast filmed in 1968, the Patanowa-teri had invited the Mahekodo-teri to their village. The two groups had been allies until a few years before this event, when they had fought over the abduction of a woman. They now hoped to renew their broken alliance, which they did successfully. Soon after the filmed feast, the two villages together raided a common enemy. A detailed discussion of this feast, and of the significance of feasting among the Yanomamo, is found in chapter 4 of Chagnon's Yanomamo: The Fierce People. The film's graphic representation of reciprocity and exchange may enrich (and be enriched by) a reading of Marcel Mauss' The Gift.

THE GOOD WOMEN OF BANGKOK (1991, 82 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Dennis O'Rourke
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Gender, Thailand
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The Good Woman of the story is Aoi. In Thai, her name means 'sugar cane' or 'sweet' - not her real name but the one she uses. She works as a prostitute, catering to the male tourists who crowd the girlie bars of Patpong. "They stayed at a seedy hotel in the red-light district. Much of the filming and video recording took place there, and in the months that followed he fell in love with her." "He paid and was her customer. She became the subject of his film." Starting from this worst possible condition, Aoi's life is described and their relationship is recorded: its evolution from fake sexual intimacy to collusion in the process of making the film, and finally to difficult friendship and a kind of love.

THE HEALING ORACLES OF LADAKH (2004, 28 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Elan Golomb
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Medical anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
As global villagers we are beginning to realize that Western concepts of health and disease are not universally recognized and often are not as effective in promoting well being as they could be. Careful observation and study of cultures that have practiced healing and ritual in traditions outside Western scientific medicine have become more important as we recognize the increasing influence of the spirit on our physical beings. In this video, we see Ladakh women who are shamans doing healing. The juncture of healing, mythology, religious and artistic traditions that portray important deities and spiritual concepts is an almost lost tradition of knowledge.

THE INCAS REMEMBERED (1986, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Lucy Jarvis, Peter Jarvis
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Incas, Incas History, Incas Architecture, Indians of South America Peru, Peru Antiquities.
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Centuries ago, they performed miraculously technical brain surgery, built modern irrigation canals, made agricultural discoveries still used by modern man, and were master builders...the stone village of Machu Picchu at 9,000 feet above sea level standing as the awe-inspiring monument to their genius. How did they get the stones up the mountain to construct this architectural marvel? They were the Incas, a wondrous people who once ruled half of South America before falling to the Spanish Conquistadors. Their miracles are presented in this engrossing special by award-winning filmmaker Lucy Jarvis in her fascinating exploration of "THE INCAS REMEMBERED." Executive producer, Lucy Jarvis; producer-director, Peter Jarvis; writer, David Carroll. Introduction by Edwin Newman with Lucy Jarvis. A look at the ancient Incan civilization from its beginnings to its demise at the hands of the invading Spanish conquistadors, focusing on its scientific and architectural achievements. Media/Video

THE JAPANESE VERSION (1991, 56 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Andrew Kolker, Louis Alvarez
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Japan Civilization American influences, Japan Social life and customs 1945-
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Producers Louis Alvarez and Andrew Kolker spent six months living in Tokyo in late 1988 and early 1989. They set out to study how Western and especially American culture undergoes a change when it arrives in Japan. "The Japanese Version", completed in 1991, is the result of that study. Presented as a personal journey through certain aspects of Japanese culture, "The Japanese Version" does not attempt to portray all of Japanese culture, nor does it pretend to be comprehensive about its chosen subject. Rather, through a series of close-up scenes, it tries both to complement already existing films and media portraits of Japan, and to present a side of Japanese culture that has not been widely seen abroad. Unfamiliar as many scenes may seem to an American audience, in many ways they can be considered "typical" of modern Japanese life. While "The Japanese Version" is completely accessible to the viewer who knows very little about Japanese culture, the film is a rewarding experience for more knowledgeable audiences as well, as they discern more subtle examples of cultural significance within individual scenes. Narrator, Andrew Kolker; consulting editor, Peri Muldofsky. Explores Japan's fascination with things American, pointing out that in borrowing from other cultures, there emerges a distinct Japanese slant on such things as American baseball, the 1950's, weddings, and "love hotels". Issued also in high school ed. (40 min.) VHS. Media/Video

THE KAYAPO: INDIANS OF THE BRAZILIAN RAIN FOREST (1987, 51 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Michael Beckham
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, social culture, government, rainforest, tradition, tribe, Brazil
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This documentary chronicles the cultural changes experienced by the Kayapo Indians of central Brazil. As the government worked to construct a damn at Altamira, demonstrations by the Kapot tribe succeed in halting construction. The Kapot tribe of the Kayapo Indians learned from the losses of the Gorotire, another tribe in the region. The Gorotire sold their land and watched as mining interests destroyed it. Included are traditional scenes of the Kapot bringing home tortoises from the hunt and the erection and dismantling of a hunting camp. The dichotomy of modern Indian life is evident as the tribe members are shown using radios and video equipment while still struggling to maintain their ancient way of life. Anthropologist Terry Turner narrates the documentary.

THE LAST OF HIS TRIBE (2004, 90 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Harry Hook
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Drama, Biography, Native Americans, Yahi, Ishi
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
A dramatization of the biography of Ishi, a lone survivor of California's Yahi tribe of Native-Americans. The story begins with Ishi's capture by ranchers, his early encounters with the academics who wish to study him, and the slow unveiling of his past to Dr. Alfred Kroeber, an anthropologist who is intent on knowing all of Ishi's secrets. Second half of DVD, following "Surviving Columbus: the story of the Pueblo people".

THE LEFT EYE OF GOD: CAODAISM TRAVELS FROM VIETNAM TO CALIFORNIA (2008, 58 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Janet Hoskins, Susan Hoskins
World Area(s): Asia, North America
Subject Area(s): Vietnam
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Caodaists worship the left eye as an Asian synthesis of eastern and western traditions. In this film, they tell their stories of exile, anti-colonial struggle, and building immigrant congregations in California. Footage of rituals and temples, and archival images combine to provide a personal perspective on a largely unknown mystical tradition. Older religious leaders tell how this new faith emerged in colonial Saigon in the 1920s and was then soon followed by one in four people in southern Vietnam. Incorporating European figures like Victor Hugo and Jeanne d'Arc, Caodaists tried to heal the wounds of colonialism, but suffered persecution from the French, the Diem government, and the communists. After 1975, new spirit mediums in California developed an innovative style of worship for a generation of followers facing the challenges of the American context and newly re-opened contact with religious centers in Vietnam. How independent can California congregations be from sacred authorities in the homeland?

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ROSIE THE RIVETER (2007, 65 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Connie Field
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): World War, 1939-1945 Women United States, World War, 1939-1945 Personal narratives, American, Women Employment United States History 20th century, Documentary films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Five women, who worked in the shipyards and defense plants during World War II, recount their experiences at work and offer comments on society's expectations of them during the war effort and after the war. Their narratives are interspersed with sequences from war department films, newsreels, and Hollywood movies made during that time which concerned women working outside the home. Lora Wex, Margaret Wright, Lyn Childs, Gladys Belcher, Wanita Allen. Cinematography, Cathy Zheutlin, ... [et al.]; editors, Lucy Massie Phenix, Connie Field. DVD release of 1980 motion picture, originally made for television. Five women, who worked in the shipyards and defense plants during World War II, recount their experiences at work and offer comments on society's expectations of them during the war effort and after the war. Their narratives are interspersed with sequences from war department films, newsreels, and Hollywood movies made during that time which concerned women working outside the home. Media/Video

THE MAYA: TEMPLES, TOMBS, & TIME (1994, 53 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Jean Pierre Lavigne, Marsh McCandless
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Mayas, Indians of Central America, Mexico Antiquities, Central America Antiquities.
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Using recent breakthroughs in deciphering Maya glyphs and archeological discoveries, we take a new look at the Maya, now widely considered to have been the most brilliant and advanced indigenous people of the Americas. Directed, produced and written by Jean Pierre Lavigne. Narrator, Marsh McCandless III. VHS format. Media/Video

THE MIDDLE OF THE WORLD (O CAMINHO DAS NUVENS) (2003, 85 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Vicente Amorim
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil, film, northeast
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A man and his family travel 3200km (1984 miles) by bicycle, from the State of Paraíba to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in search of a job.

THE MISSION (1986, 125 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Roland Joffé
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
18th century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South American Indian tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal. Comes with companion DVD with extras
Series:
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
URL:

THE MORMONS (2007, 240 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Helen Whitney, Jane Barnes
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Mormon Church United States History, Mormons United States History, Documentary television programs, Television programs for the hearing impaired.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Dig deep into the Mormon past to understand the church today. One of America's fastest-growing religions and, relative to its size, one of the richest. Church membership, now at twelve million and growing, sweeps the globe. From the moment of its founding in 1830, the church has been controversial. In the early years Mormons were hated, ridiculed, persecuted and feared. In the past several decades, the Mormon Church has transformed itself from a fringe sect into a thriving religion that embraces mainstream American values. Editor, Ted Winterburn. "Frontline is a production of WGBH Boston." "American experience is a production of WGBH Boston, series producer, Sharon Grimberg." Rating: TV-PG. Media/Video

THE NEW BOYS (2003, 100 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): David MacDougall
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, India, education
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This documentary is the fourth film in renowned ethnographic filmmaker David MacDougall's long-term study of childhood and adolescence at the Doon School in northern India. This film focuses on life in a school dormitory. A new group of 12-year-old students is arriving to start their lives at the school. The film follows them from their first day, exploring their emotional and intellectual lives as they experience homesickness, fights, classroom teaching, and the stirrings of group identity. Although these boys are the same age as those in the earlier "With Morning Hearts," the group dynamics captured here are very different from that film.

THE NUER (1971, 73 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Robert Gardner, Hilary Harris
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Nuer, Africa, Social life and Customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The people of Ciengach, where the film was made, are the Eastern Jikany, one of about a sixteen district tribes of Nuer. In 1945, E.E. Evans Pritchard estimated the total population of Nuer to be around a quarter of a million. Since then the number has undoubtedly dwindled considerably due to warfare, civil strife, sickness, drought and the general abandonment of traditional life-ways. However, those who still called themselves Naath did so with an extraordinarily vivid image of themselves as superior people living a superior life. Furthermore, it was impossible not to see that their lives were inextricably tied to their herds. Ciengach is a perfected plan for co-prosperity of cows and humans. It cannot be said that filming the Nuer was an easy task, but visually it was always absorbing. They were seldom resentful as was the rule with the Islamicized Afar in the Danakil Desert to the Northeast. On the contrary, the Nuer had a real, even exaggerated, sense of their importance. They considered themselves handsome and displayed their elegance with pride. Nuer existence has, consistent with life led on a flood plain, an almost tidal rhythm due largely to the movement of cattle into and out of the villages.

THE PERFECT CORPSE (2006, 56 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): John Hayes Fisher, Gary Glassman
World Area(s): Europe
Subject Area(s): Forensic anthropology, Bog bodies Ireland, Ireland History To 1172 Antiquities, Excavations (Archaeology) Ireland, Corpse removals Ireland, Iron age Ireland, Blood accusation Ireland, Video recordings for the hearing impaired, Video recordings for people with visual disabilities.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Central Ireland’s waterlogged landscape is no ordinary ground. Here, the moist earth halts decomposition, perfectly preserving stunning evidence of brutal ritualistic killings—corpses from the prehistoric Iron Age, over 2,000 years ago. Make no mistake, these are not skeletons or mummies, but the soft tissue and remains of people trapped in time. The perpetrators of this ancient violence are well beyond the reach of law, but there are still many fascinating secrets their victims will share if only modern science knows how to ask. NOVA is granted exclusive access to the investigation of two recently unearthed and exceedingly rare bog bodies. Enter the lab with the experts as they push archaeological forensics to its limits, aiming to enlighten how these people lived and establish how and why they died. Narrator, Neil Ross; featured experts, Eadaoin Campbell, Don Brothwell, Andrew Wilson, Tim Taylor, Ned Kelly, Miranda Aldhouse-Green. Editors, Cob Carlson and Tony Quinn; executive editor for Timewatch, John Ferren; senior science editor, Evan S. Hadingham; music, Ed Tomney. "Produced for Nova by Providence Pictures"--Container. "PBS." Originally produced as an episode of the television series: Nova. DVD; NTSC, Region 1; widescreen presentation; Dolby digital. "Not rated"--Container. Bog bodies -- Face to face with Clonycavan Man -- What did they eat? -- Execution or sacrifice. DVD-ROM features: Teaching materials (PDF) -- A link to the Nova Web site, pbs.org/nova. "WG40909"--Disc label. Media/Video

THE POTTERS OF MATA ORTIZ (1994, 47 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Barbara Goffin
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Mexico, pottery
Format: DVD, VHS
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The story of the pottery industry in Mata Ortiz, Mexico where over 300 potters now work. Consistent with the ancient tradition, the materials used to produce these exquisite pots are found in the natural environment. The artistic impulse is timeless. Juan Quezada and the first generation of potters are passing their knowledge on to their children, and for many of these second generation potters this is the only work they have ever known. It is interesting that after a 500-year hiatus, pottery is as important to the economy of Mata Ortiz as it was to Casas Grandes in ancient times. Perhaps this legacy will extend into future generations, and Mata Ortiz will flourish, much as Casas Grandes did long ago.

THE POWER OF COMMUNITY: HOW CUBA SURVIVED PEAK OIL (2006, 53 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Faith Morgan
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Cuba Economic conditions 1990-, Sustainable agriculture Cuba, Sustainable development Cuba, Energy conservation Cuba, Renewable energy sources Cuba, Energy consumption Cuba, Documentary films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba's economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens. It is an unusual look into the Cuban culture during this economic crisis, which they call "The Special Period." The film opens with a short history of Peak Oil, a term for the time in our history when world oil production will reach its all-time peak and begin to decline forever. Cuba, the only country that has faced such a crisis – the massive reduction of fossil fuels – is an example of options and hope. Interviewees: Jorge Mario, Rachel Bruhnke, Eugene 'Pat' Murphy, Megan Quinn, Matt Simmons, Richard Heinberg. Editor, Eric Johnson; narrated by Bruce Cromer; cinematography, Gregory Greene, Faith Morgan, Tom Blessing IV. Extras include student agriculture, ecovillage, rural solar energy, architecture. Media/Video

THE PRICE OF PLEASURE: PORNOGRAPHY, SEXUALITY, & RELATIONSHIPS (2008, 56 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Miguel Picker, Chyng-Feng Sun
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Pornography Social aspects United States, Pornography in popular culture Social aspects United States, Sex United States, Man-woman relationships United States.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Once relegated to the margins of society, pornography has emerged as one of the most visible and profitable sectors of the cultural industries, assuming an unprecedented role in the mainstream of our popular culture at the same time that its content has become more extreme and harsh, more overtly sexist and racist. This eye-opening and disturbing film places the voices of critics, produceres, and performers alongside the observations of men and women as they candidly discuss the role pornography has played in shaping their sexual imaginations and relationships. The Price of Pleasure movies beyond the liberal versus conservative debates so common in the culture to paint a myth-busting and nuanced portrait of how pleasure and pain, commerce and power, liberty and responsibility have become intertwined in the most intimate areas of our lives. Editor, Miguel Picker; writers, Chyng Sun & Robert Wosnitzer; director of photography, Miguel Picker; associate producer, Robert Wosnitzer; original music & sound design, Miguel Picker. Narrator, Matthew Tennie. Interviewees: Gail Dines, Robert Jensen, Richard Wolff, Ana Bridges, Ariel Levy, Pamela Paul, John Stagliano, Joanna Angel, Ernest Greene, Sarah Katherine Lewis, Noam Chomsky. Introduction -- Porn stars: myths and realities -- Just a fantasy? -- Empowered by porn? -- Harder and harder... -- An interview with Noam Chomsky -- Donkey punch -- Media Education Foundation trailers. Media/Video

THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED (2003, 74 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Kim Bartley, Donnacha O'Briain
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Latin America, South America, Venezuela, politics, coup, Hugo Chávez
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Hugo Chavez elected president of Venezuela in 1998, is a colorful, unpredictable folk hero, beloved by his nation's working class and a... Hugo Chavez elected president of Venezuela in 1998, is a colorful, unpredictable folk hero, beloved by his nation's working class and a tough-as-nails, quixotic opponent to the power structure that would see him deposed. Two independent filmmakers were inside the presidential palace on April 11, 2002, when he was forcibly removed from office. They were also present 48 hours later when, remarkably, he returned to power amid cheering aides. Their film records what was probably history's shortest-lived coup d'état. A documentary about political muscle and a portrait of the man The Wall Street Journal credits with making Venezuela "Washington's biggest Latin American headache after the old standby, Cuba."

THE SAKUDDEI (1974, 53 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): John Sheppard
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Indonesia, Sakuddei, Social life and Customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Anthropologist Reimar Schefold documents the way of life of the Sakuddei who live on the island of Siberut in the Mentawaian Archipelago off the west coast of Sumatra. Contrasts the clan life of the Sakuddei with the modern life of coastal Mentawaians and discusses the problems caused by the logging of their forests. Second half of DVD, following "Margaret Mead: Taking notes".

THE SEARCH FOR NEANDERTHAL (1993, 27 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Phil Comeau
World Area(s): Europe
Subject Area(s): Archaeology, Human Evolution, Biological Anthropology
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
In 1856 in a cave near Neander Valley, German workmen unearthed a human skeleton whose skull had a low protruding brow, large teeth and a massive bone structure. Disagreement was over whether this was an abnormal modern human or an extinct ancestor. By examining Neanderthal bones and reconstructing fossilized skeletal remains, scientists are seeking an answer to the origins of modern humans.

THE SOUND OF RIO - BRASILEIRINHO (2005, 90 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Mika Kaurismaki
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
A musical documentary and tribute about "choro", an older style of playing that forms the foundation of all Brazilian composition, including samba and bossa nova.

THE SOUND OF THE VIOLIN IN MY LAI (2000, 30 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Tran Van Thuy
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Vietnam
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The Sound of the Violin in My Lai is a short film that examines the history and legacy of the My Lai massacre, an incident of the Vietnam War in which hundreds of Vietnamese civilians were massacred by U.S. Army soldiers. The film investigates the effects of the massacre, with the story centering on the return of American soldiers Hugh Thompson and Larry Colburn to My Lai on the 30th anniversary of the event. The Vietnamese government commissioned the film. It garnered director Tran Van Thuy the Best Documentary Prize at the Asia Pacific Film Festival in year 2000. The violin referenced in the title is that of American Vietnam veteran and peace activist Roy Boehm.

THE TALKING SKULL (1999, 26 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Richard Monahan
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Corpse, crime-solving, detective, murder, investigation, skull, scientific-research, bones
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
A mapmaker surveying a boy scout ranch glimpsed something that caught his attention. At first he thought it was a turtle shell, but it proved to be a human skull. Investigators had to find a way to put a face on the victim, with only partial remains to work from. But if they could find out who she was, they might be able to determine what had happened to her.

THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK (1984, 90 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Rob Epstein
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): San Francisco, homosexuality, LGBT movement, political violence, social movements
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
A documentary of the successful career and assassination of San Francisco's first elected gay councilor.

THE WAR AGAINST WOMEN (2008, 13 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Anderson Cooper, Michael H. Gavshon, Drew Magratten
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Sex crimes Congo (Democratic Republic), Rape Congo (Democratic Republic), Women Crimes against Congo (Democratic Republic), Political violence Congo (Democratic Republic), Civil war Congo (Democratic Republic), Documentary television programs.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
There's a war taking place in the heart of Africa, in the Congo. It's not just a violent ethnic conflict, but also a war against women, a war in which women are regularly gang raped, mutilated, and abandoned. The rape of women is a weapon of war in the Congo, and it is destroying them, their families, and entire communities. Reported by Anderson Cooper. Reporter, Anderson Cooper. Originally broadcast as a segment of the CBS News television program 60 minutes on Jan. 13, 2008. Media/Video

THUNDER IN GUYANA (2003, 50 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Suzanne Wasserman
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Guyana Politics and government 1803-1966, Guyana Politics and government 1966-, Presidents Guyana Biography, Women presidents Guyana Biography, Women political activists Biography, Documentary films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Thunder in Guyana is a documentary film about the director's cousin, Janet Rosenberg Jagan, who was elected President of Guyana, South America on December 15th, 1997. She is the first American-born woman to lead a nation. In Guyana, she is considered the mother of the nation. The film tells the story of this extraordinary woman and her adopted homeland by interweaving the threads of her family’s history, Janet’s incredible life story and the complex history of the little understood country of Guyana. This is accomplished through the director's unique perspective as an historian and as a relative. Janet Rosenberg Jagan, an American political activist who worked on the decolonization of Guyana, was the first woman president of a Latin American country. Media/Video

TIBET: CRY OF THE SNOW LION (2004, 103 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Tom Peosay, Sue Peosay
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Tibet (China) History 1951- Personal narratives, Tibet (China) Politics and government 1951-, Tibetans Interviews, Documentary films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A snow lion is a mythic beast of Tibetan legend. As a protector of the nation, the snow lion is emblazoned on the Tibetan flag. Today the Tibetan flag is outlawed in its own homeland. Ten years in the making, filmed during a remarkable nine journeys throughout Tibet, India and Nepal. The dark secrets of Tibet's recent past are powerfully chronicled through riveting personal stories and interviews, and a collection of undercover and archival images never before assembled in one film. Narrator: Martin Sheen; Featuring, Jampa Phuntsok, Gyeltsen, Nogawang, Tenzin, John Ackerly, Blake Kere, Ani Pachen, Robert Ford, Robert A.F. Thurman ... [et al.]. Voice: Robbie Barnett, Frank Wolfe, Bhakdro, Adhe Taponbang, Lhano Tsering, Palden Gyatso, Tu Wei-Ming, Lodi Gyari. Editor, Kathryn Himoff; music, Jeff Beal. Originally released as a documentary in 2002. MPAA rating: Not rated. Special features: Special features: Journey to Lhasa; Summer in Kham; Sakya masked dances; Nagchu festival; Another year in exile; additional interviews with the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman; music video; theatrical trailer. Media/Video

TO FIND THE BARUYA STORY: AN ANTHROPOLOGIST AT WORK WITH A NEW GUINEA TRIBE (1982, 59 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Allison Jablonko, Mark Jablonko, Stephen Olsson
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Field work, Papua New Guinea, Social life, customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This multi-faceted film, photographed in both 1969 and 1982, illustrates an anthropologist's actual fieldwork methods and personal relationships among the Baruya, and provides and in-depth view of the Baruya's traditional salt-based economic system. The film follows Dr. Godelier in his attempt to understand the complexities of Baruya culture. He comments: "I have to find and bring together the different pieces of Baruya culture...That's my job, to find the story."

TO LIVE WITH HERDS: A DRY SEASON AMONG THE JIE (1974, 70 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): David MacDougall
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Jie (African people) Social life and customs, Uganda Social conditions, Herders Uganda, Ethnology Uganda, Documentary films.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
Demonstrates the effects of nation building in pre-Amin Uganda on the seminomadic pastoral Jie. Looks at life in a traditional Jie homestead during a harsh dry season. In Jie dialect with white English subtitles, some English narration. Sound, Judith MacDougall. Videodisc release of a 1971 documentary film. DVD. "This film was awarded the grand prix "Venzia genti," Venice Film Festival, 1972." Demonstrates the effects of nation building in pre-Amin Uganda on the seminomadic pastoral Jie. Looks at life in a traditional Jie homestead during a harsh dry season. Media/Video

TOUGH GUISE: VIOLENCE, MEDIA, AND THE CRISIS IN MASCULINITY (1999, 87 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Susan McGee Bailey, Jackson Katz
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Masculinity, Men Identity, Masculinity in popular culture, Violence in mass media, Sex role in mass media, Mass media Social aspects United States, Documentary films, gender
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department, STL

SYNOPSIS
While the social construction of femininity has been widely examined, the dominant role of masculinity has until recently remained largely invisible. Tough Guise is the first educational video geared toward college and high school students to systematically examine the relationship between pop-cultural imagery and the social construction of masculine identities in the U.S. at the dawn of the 21st century. In this innovative and wide-ranging analysis, Jackson Katz argues that widespread violence in American society, including the tragic school shootings in Littleton, Colorado, Jonesboro, Arkansas, and elsewhere, needs to be understood as part of an ongoing crisis in masculinity. This exciting new media literacy tool-- utilizing racially diverse subject matter and examples-- will enlighten and provoke students (both males and females) to evaluate their own participation in the culture of contemporary masculinity. Study Guide: http://www.mediaed.org/assets/products/211/studyguide_211.pdf

TRANCE AND DANCE IN BALI (2006, 22 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Gregory Bateson, Margaret Mead
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Barong (Dance drama), Balinese (Indonesian people) Rites and ceremonies, Mythology, Indonesian Indonesia Bali Island, Trance Indonesia Bali Island, Dance Indonesia Bali Island Religious aspects, Bali Island (Indonesia) Religion.
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department, STL

SYNOPSIS
Explores the themes of trance and dance in the rituals and religion of Bali through a form of the kris dance, a Balinese ceremonial dance drama in which the struggle between the witch and the dragon is played out to the accompaniment of comic interludes and violent trance seizures. Filmed at the village of Pagoetan, 1937-39. Photography, Gregory Bateson, Jane Belo; editor, Josef Bohmer; music arranged by Colin McPhee. Originally produced in 1952. Narrator: Margaret Mead.

TREEHOUSE PEOPLE: CANNIBAL JUSTICE (1994, 50 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Judith Dwan Hallet
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): cannibalism, Korowai, Cultural Anthropology, Social life and Customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Deep in uncharted New Guinea lives a tribe so isolated that ritual cannibalism may still be practiced. Called the Korowai, these elusive people have lived in the rain forest for thousands of years with virtually no contact with the outside world. They survive using the materials afforded by their surroundings and, incredibly, build tree houses perched up to 90 feet in the air without using nails or hardware

TRES VIDAS (, )
Filmmaker(s): Matthew Wright
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Gender
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Tres Vidas is a new chamber music theatre work for singing actress and chamber music trio. The piece is based on the lives of three legendary Latin American women: renowned Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, Argentinean poet Alfonsina Storni, and Salvadoran peasant-activist Rufina Amaya. The musical score will include arrangements of popular and folk music from Latin America, music by tango master Astor Piazzola and new music by Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez and Osvaldo Golijov, Jorge Liderman, and Michael DeMurga. The singing actress, performing in both Spanish and English, will portray the three heroines. The show includes images of Frida Kahlo’s dramatic visual work, excerpts from Alfonsina Storni's passionate poetry, and passages from Rufina Amaya’s heartfelt testimony regarding the brutal massacre of her village of El Mozote.

TROBRIAND CRICKET: AN INDIGENOUS RESPONSE TO COLONIALISM (1979, 53 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Gary Kildea, Jerry Leach
World Area(s): Oceania
Subject Area(s): Cricket Papua New Guinea Trobriand Islands, Trobriand Islands (Papua New Guinea) Social life and customs.
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department, STL

SYNOPSIS
Trobriand culture was brought to the attention of the outside world primarily through the work of Bronislaw Malinowski, one of the founders of modern anthropology. The film demonstrates how, over 70 years, Trobrianders have ingeniously adapted the missionary-introduced sport of cricket to the needs of their society, and how this elaborate new ritual has functioned to soften the impact of colonialism. Production assistants, Petrus Bonny and James Milate. Issued also as a motion picture in 1975. Shows how the Trobriand Islanders have transformed the British game of cricket over the last seventy years into a unique Trobriand sport and a colorful ritual expressing their own cultural values. Media/Video

TWO-SPIRIT PEOPLE (1991, 20 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Michel Beauchemin, Lori Levi, Gretchen Vogel
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Gender, sexuality, cultural anthropology, native American, indigenous, berdache
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
An overview of historical and contemporary Native American concepts of gender, sexuality, and sexual orientation. This documentary explores the berdache tradition in Native American culture, in which individuals who embody feminine and masculine qualities act as a conduit between the physical and spiritual world, and because of this are placed in positions of power within the community.

UNEARTHING EVIL: ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE CAUSE OF JUSTICE (2003, 28 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Paul Schneller
World Area(s): Europe
Subject Area(s): forensic anthropology, Balkans, ethics
Format: Online
Holdings: STL (Films on Demand)

SYNOPSIS
By grim coincidence, archaeologists are ideally suited by their conventional techniques to determine whether or not war crimes have been committed. This program looks at forensic archaeologist Richard Wright, whose work has greatly helped the international community in the pursuit of justice. The program shows details of his team’s findings at the Ukrainian village of Serniki, proving with such evidence as bullet manufacture and carbon dating that the SS had carried out the executions, not Stalin’s soldiers. Based on this work, Wright was asked by the UN to investigate 29 mass graves in Bosnia. The excavations helped convict the perpetrators of some of the most heinous ethnic cleansing in the Balkans.

VENEZUELA: A 21ST CENTURY REVOLUTION (2003, 58 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Rod Stoneman
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Hugo Chavez, Venezuela
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Documentary made in April 2003 with participants in the Venezuelan revolution: women and men from newly formed worker's co-operatives, Nora Castañeda (president of the Women's Development Bank), trade-union president of the oil industry, President Chavez and others. This documentary shows what the Venezuelan revolution is winning for all of us, what we can do for it and what it can do for us.

VENEZUELA: TALKING OF POWER (2005, 62 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Nina Lopez
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Hugo Chavez, Venezuela
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Sex, race and class in revolutionary Venezuela. From the hills of Caracas to the banks of the Orinoco, the grassroots tell how they are changing our world.

VENEZUELA: THE BOLIVARIAN REVOLUTION - ENTER THE OIL WORKERS (2004, 34 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Selma Jones, Lopez Nina
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): political activism, oil, worker's rights, women's rights
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Venezuela is the world’s 5th largest oil exporter, yet 80% of its population lives in poverty. In 1998 President Hugo Chávez was elected to use the oil revenue to tackle poverty. In April 2002 the millions who took to the streets defeated a coup against him. A few months later the élite and the CIA paralyzed Venezuela’s oil company PDVSA to bring Chávez down. Oil workers took over and worked round the clock to recover production. In this documentary José Bodas, Luís Felix Marín, Jesús Montilla and Tania Suárez tell how they saved PDVSA and how they are organizing to “put the oil industry at the service of huma nity”.

VIDAS SECAS (1963, 103 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Nelson Pereira dos Santos
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil, northeast, poverty, rural life
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
A poor family in the Northeast of Brazil (Fabiano, the father; Sinhá Vitória, the mother; their 2 children and a bitch called Baleia) wander about the barren land searching for a better place to live, with food and work. But the drought and misery destroy their hopes.

VIDEO IN THE VILLAGES PRESENTS ITSELF (2002, 33 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Vincent Carelli, Mari Correa
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Indians of South America, Indigenous Media
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Video in the Villages presents its recent progress and its indigenous workshops of training and production. Founded in 1987, the project began with the introduction of video in indigenous communities that produced documentaries for their own purposes. In 1995, the opening of a space on educational TV in Cuiabá, led the project to produce the "Indigenous Program," an original experience for the first time on Brazilian television. Since 1997, Video in the Villages has been investing in the formation of the first generation of indigenous documentary filmmakers, through the use of national and regional workshops. For over 14 years, the Video in the Villages' project has encouraged the encounter of the Indians with their images. The project's proposal is to turn video into a tool that will enable the expression of their identity, reflecting their vision about themselves and about the world.

VIETNAM MISSION (1993, 56 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Douglas W. Smith
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Vietnam, Missionaries
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
This is the story of a remarkable Canadian-American missionary couple who settled in 1929 among the Montagnard tribes of Vietnam's central highlands. For 50 years, Gordon and Laura Smith lived there, preaching, working to open leprosariums and orphanages, and compiling a unique archive of diaries, books, photographs, and 16 mm films that record a fascinating way of life that has now vanished

VIETNAM STORIES (1989, 35 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Robbie Leppzer
World Area(s): Asia, North America
Subject Area(s): Veterans United States, Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 Veterans, Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 Personal narratives, American, Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 Draft resisters.
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A compilation of interviews conducted by students from the Pioneer Valley Regional School. Five veterans and two draft resisters describe their experiences during the Vietnam war. Augmented with photographs provided by the participants. Producers, Robbie Leppzer, and eleventh grade students of the Pioneer Valley Regional School; music, Jackson Browne, Barry McGuire. A compilation of interviews conducted by students from the Pioneer Valley Regional School. Five veterans and two draft resisters describe their experiences during the Vietnam war. Augmented with photographs provided by the participants. Media/Video

VIETNAM SYMPHONY (2005, 52 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Tom Zubrycki
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Vietnam, Music
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
In 1965, as the Vietnam War intensified, students and teachers from the Hanoi National Conservatory of Music were forced to flee the city for the relative safety of a village in the countryside. With the help of villagers, they built an entire campus underground, creating a maze of hidden tunnels connecting an auditorium and classrooms. There, as the war raged around them, they lived, studied and played music for five years. "Vietnam symphony" tells their story. Combining archival footage with contemporary interviews, it paints a portrait of life then and now in a rapidly changing nation.

VIETNAM: A TELEVISION HISTORY (2004, 11 hours)
Filmmaker(s): WGBH Video
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Vietnam War, 1961-1975, Documentary television programs, Television programs for the hearing impaired.
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
A six-year project from conception to completion, Vietnam: A Television History carefully analyzes the costs and consequences of a controversial but intriguing war. From the first hour through the last, the series provides a detailed visual and oral account of the war that changed a generation and continues to color American thinking on many military and foreign policy issues. Disc 1: Roots of a war, 1945-1953; America's Mandarin, 1954-1963 Disc 2: LBJ goes to war, 1964-1965; America takes charge, 1965-1967; America's enemy, 1954-1967 Disc 3: Tet 1968; Vietnamizing the war, 1968-1973; Cambodia and Laos Disc 4: "Peace is at hand," 1968-1973; Homefront USA; The end of the tunnel, 1973-1975. Executive producer, Richard Ellison. Videodisc release of the 1983 documentary series broadcast on the television program American experience. Full screen. Not rated; viewer discretion advised. disc 1. Roots of a war, 1945-1953; America's Mandarin, 1954-1963 -- disc 2. LBJ goes to war, 1964-1965; America takes charge, 1965-1967; America's enemy, 1954-1967 -- disc 3. Tet 1968; Vietnamizing the war, 1968-1973; Cambodia and Laos -- disc 4. "Peace is at hand," 1968-1973; Homefront USA; The end of the tunnel, 1973-1975. Media/Video

VIETNAMESE BIKE DREAMS (1999, 24 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Yasuhiko Egawa
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Vietnam
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
In Ho Chi Minh City, the motorbike reigns supreme. With limited public transportation and not enough affluence to afford automobiles, people long for motorbikes to take them to work and cruise about on weekends. With a population around 4 million, there are reported to be some eight hundred thousand motorbikes, causing massive traffic jams in the mornings. Ly Tu Yung Street, in the center of the city, is lined with bike shops, a sign of the new prosperity brought about by the country's open door policy, doi moi. Here is the street where eventually everyone in Ho Chi Minh City comes. There is one particular bike, called The Dream that is currently the most coveted by the young Vietnamese. They save, scrimp and borrow to be able to buy one. Minh, aged 32, lives with his wife and child in a tiny 12-foot square room built in a gap between two buildings. He finds it difficult to decide between moving into roomier quarters and buying a Dream. Through this report on the motorbike craze, we are afforded a rare look at the Vietnamese people in a rapidly changing time.

VOICES WITHIN WALLS (1986, 85 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): C. Lynn Spangler
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Documentary, Prison life
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Interviews with inmates from a prison.

WALKWAY ON THE HUDSON (, 16 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Dick Crenson
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Dutchess county, Bridges, Historical
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
A group of volunteers for a non-profit organization take a handcar trip across the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge. They discuss the history behind the bridge and their current efforts to restore it.

WE ARE GUATEMALANS (1995, 28 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): E. G. Marshall
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Refugees, Guatemalan Mexico, Guatemala Politics and government 1945-1985, Guatemala Politics and government 1985-
Format: VHS
Holdings: Anthropology Department, STL

SYNOPSIS
There are 17 million refugees in the world today, and the number is growing daily due to 'ethnic cleansing.' In 1994 a group of 2,000 Guatemalans reversed this trend. After 12 years of exile in Mexican refugee camps, they returned to their homeland in the Ixcan jungle region of Guatemala. Their journey is not over yet: many still call the returnees 'the enemy,' and the base of the feared Guatemalan army is only a few miles away. We join the refugees in their camps in Mexico and Guatemala. This documentary interviews the people of one town, Cuarto Pueblo, where an army massacre in 1982 forced its survivors to flee to Mexico. They tell us of that dramatic ordeal along with their fears and hopes in undertaking the journey back. This documentary interviews a group of 2000 Guatemalan refugees returning to their hometown, Cuarto Pueblo, after 12 years of exile in Mexican refugee camps. VHS format. Media/Video

WE ARE MEHINAKU (1981, 60 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Carlos Pasini
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Psychoanalysis, Freud, indigenous, Brazil, Amazon
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Describes the life of the Mehinaku tribe, which lives near the headwaters of the River Xingu in central Brazil. A motorway being cut through their territory is threatening the lifestyle of this society. As a people, they know they are doomed. Second half of DVD, following "Maya lords of the jungle".

WE THE THAI PEOPLE (2009, 36 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Trinh A Sinh, Nguyen Truong Giang
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Thailand
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
From the real stories of the Thai community, "We the Thai People" discovers the issues of a minority community that has immigrated to Hanoi. This is a community video. Double CD w/Tham Ve village, nhay boi festival

WEDDING OF THE GODDESS (1976, 75 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Michael Camerini, Mira Reym Binford
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, India, religion, social life, customs
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
A documentary on the Chitterai Festival in Madurai, India, that provides historical background on the annual festival, shows the reenactment of the marriage of the god Sundareshvara and the goddess Minakshi, and provides a picture of the proceedings of the 19-day festival. DVD contains parts 1& 2.

WHAT'S AN ANTHROPOLOGIST DOING IN JAPAN? (1992, 28 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): David Plath
World Area(s): East Asia
Subject Area(s): Japan, anthropology
Format:
Holdings: Online (http://www.cantgonative.com/media/1992interview.mov)

SYNOPSIS
Ethnographic methods of research often are thought to be best used in "primitive" societies. What happens when they are deployed in a major modern civilization? David W. Plath puts that question to Keith Brown and a panel of leading anthropologists who have done extensive fieldwork in Japan: Theodore Bestor, William W. Kelly, Takie Sugiyama Lebra, and Margaret Lock. What's an Anthropologist Doing in Japan? is a 28-minute program videotaped and edited in 1992 in Japan's National Institute of Media Education.

WHEN THE MOUNTAINS TREMBLE (1986, 90 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Newton Thomas Sigel, Pamela Yates
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Guatemala, violence
Format: DVD
Holdings: Latin-American Studies

SYNOPSIS
A documentary on the war between the Guatemalan military and the Mayan population, with firsthand accounts by Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu.

WHERE THE SPIRIT LIVES (1990, 97 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Bruce Pittman
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Indians of North America, education
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
In 1937, a young First Nations girl named Ashtoh-Komi is kidnapped along with several other children from a village as part of a deliberate Canadian policy to force First Nations children to abandon their culture in order to be assimilated into white Canadian/British society. She is taken to a boarding school where she is forced to adopt Western Euro-centric ways and learn English, often under brutal treatment. Only one sympathetic white teacher who is more and more repelled by this bigotry offers her any help from among the staff. That, with her force of will, Ashtoh-Komi (forced to take the name Amelia) is determined to hold on to her identity and that of her siblings, who were also abducted.

WHO KILLED PIXOTE? (1996, 116 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): José Joffily
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Urban life, poverty, films, violence
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
When 11-year-old Fernando Ramos da Silva (Cassiano Carneiro) was plucked from the slums to star in the Brazilian film Pixote, he thought he'd found his ticket to fame and fortune. Sadly, he had not. This heart-wrenching drama fills in the rest of the story. Stymied in his acting career by his inability to read scripts and trapped in a brutal family situation, the former child stars gradually descends into a life of crime and, ultimately, tragedy.

WHO OWNS THE PAST? (2001, 55 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): N. Jed Riffe
World Area(s): United States
Subject Area(s): Archaeology, ethics, Native Americans, burial practices
Format: DVD
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
This outstanding documentary relates the powerful history of the American Indian struggle for control of their ancestral remains. In 1990, after a long struggle between Indian rights groups and the scientific establishment, the Native American Graves Repatriation and Protection Act (NAGPRA) returned to Indian people the right to control the remains of their ancestors. For American Indians, this was perhaps the most important piece of civil and human rights legislation of the 20th century. Skeletons and grave goods that had been gathering dust in museums around the country could come home again, and Indian graves would be protected from further desecration. Indian people were not only being heard; their moral claims on their past were being turned into law. At the heart of the conflict are two very different and seemingly irreconcilable belief systems. "Who Owns the Past?" uses the Kennewick Man case as a frame to explore the roots of this conflict, roots that reach back to the very beginnings of American history. By exploring the historical events that led to the passage of NAGPRA and the current controversy over Kennewick Man, the film provides a clear context for understanding the issues involved. Perhaps most important, the film illuminates the two very different world views that inform this controversy and that will continue to have tremendous impact on Indian people and on all Americans long into the future.

WITH MORNING HEARTS (2001, 110 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): David MacDougall
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, India, education
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Depicts life at Doon School, India's most prestigious boy's boarding school. This school was established by a group of Indian nationalists in the 1930s to produce a new generation of leaders who would guide the nation after Independence. Focuses on a group of twelve-year-olds during their first year in one of the "houses" for new boys. Focuses on the boy's attachment to their living quarters as well as their attachments to each other. Also looks at the school's social aesthetics, the qualities of place, material objects, and social interaction that provide a distinctive backdrop for the everyday life of this community.

WITHOUT FEAR OF BEING HAPPY (1994, 33 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Maria Luisa Mendon
World Area(s): Latin America
Subject Area(s): Brazil, labor, Lula
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Profiles the Workers Party (PT) in Brazil, the largest left-wing political party in the world today, and the most important political opposition to emerge in Brazil since the formal return to democratic rule in 1985. Comprised of union activists, environmentalists, peasants, Afro-Brazilian groups, women's organizations, and street children, the PT has been instrumental in the struggle for human rights and political reforms against corruption. Filmed during the 1994 elections, the video features interviews with Lula, PT President, Benedita da Silva, Brazil's first black female senator, Paulo Freire, revolutionary educator and philosopher, Augusto Boal, creator of the Theatre of the Oppressed, and many other PT members and congressional representatives.

WOMEN IN ISLAM (2004, 50 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Farheen Umar
World Area(s): Asia
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, religion, Islam, women's rights
Format: DVD, VHS
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
During times of conflict with Islamic regimes, such as the recent war in Afghanistan, Western journalists and politicians tend to use the burqua (or veil) worn by some Muslim women as a symbol of oppression. They seem to suggest that, once these women have been freed from oppressive Islamic rule, they will immediately cast off their veils and rejoice in wearing the latest fashions of the West. In reality, however, this has not been the case. In WOMEN OF ISLAM: VEILING AND SECLUSION, director Farheen Umar travels throughout Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and the USA to talk with Muslim women and challenge the assumptions about the practice of wearing veils. This landmark documentary explores the origins of these stereotypes and confronts misconceptions about the tradition of covering in Muslim society.

WOMEN'S OLAMAL: THE ORGANIZATION OF A MAASAI FERTILITY CEREMONY (1985, 110 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Melissa Llewelyn-Davies
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Cultural Anthropology, Africa, Maasai, rites and ceremonies
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
The Women's Olamal follows the events that preceded a controversial ceremony in Loita, Kenya, to bless the women and to increase their ability to have children. This film, presented in observational style with limited commentary, depicts some of the tensions between men and women in Maasai society, which in this case, erupt in a violent row between them. Explanations and insights are portrayed in interviews with the women themselves. The events are seen through the eyes of four women: Nolpiyaya and Kisaju, who have four and nine children respectively; Nolmeeyu, a barren woman near menopause; and Kisaro, who is beginning to worry that after ten years of marriage, she too may be barren.

WONDERS OF THE AFRICAN WORLD (1999, 360 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Henry Louis Gates
World Area(s): Africa
Subject Area(s): Africa Civilization, Africa History, Africa Travel and description, Africa Social life and customs.
Format: VHS
Holdings: STL

SYNOPSIS
This documentary presents Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on a journey from Zanzibar to Timbuktu, the Nile River Valley to Great Zimbabwe, the slave coast of Guinea to the medieval monasteries of Ethiopia in search of the lost wonders of the African world. Tape 1: Black kingdoms of the Nile; The Swahili coast Tape 2: The slave kingdoms; The Holy Land Tape 3: The road to Timbuktu; Lost cities of the South Narrator's book of the same title published in 1999. Originally broadcast on PBS. Executive producer Jonathan Hewes; series producer, Ben Goold. Narrator/guide: Henry Louis Gates, Jr. VHS. Closed-captioned for the hearing impaired. Media/Video

YESTERDAY-TODAY: THE NETSILIK ESKIMO (1971, 58 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Asen Balikci
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): American Indian
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Until the mid-1960s, Zachary Itimignac and his family lived the nomadic life of the Inuit hunter in the Pelly Bay region of the Arctic. Then the Canadian government introduced measures to provide heated dwellings, a school, a hospital, medical care, a co-operative, air transportation, etc. Presents a daylong study of the impact of the changed way of life on this one family. Footage from People of the Seal: Eskimo Summer and People of the Seal: Eskimo Winter shows the old ways before the coming of the white man and his governmental changes.

YOU DON'T KNOW DICK (1997, 75 minutes)
Filmmaker(s): Bestor Cram
World Area(s): North America
Subject Area(s): Gender, sexuality, masculinity
Format: DVD
Holdings: Anthropology Department

SYNOPSIS
Bringing to life the challenges of constructing new identities, six female-to-male transsexuals talk about their lives, work, fears, hopes, loves, lusts, and desires. Through their commentaries and the experiences of partners, friends, and family emerges an unforgettable story of self-discovery.