List of visual anthropology films

This is a chronologic list of representative anthropologically-minded films and filmmakers:

Part of a series on the
Anthropology of art, media, music, dance and film
Basic concepts Color symbolism Visual culture Body culture Material culture New media
Case studies Art Art of the Americas Indigenous Australian art Oceanic art Film Nanook of the North The Ax Fight Nǃai, the Story of a ǃKung Woman Incidents of Travel in Chichen Itza
Museums National Anthropological Archives Centro Cultural Mexiquense Museum of Anthropology at UBC Museum of Anthropology, Cambridge Museum of Indian Arts and Culture Robert Hull Fleming Museum List of museums
Related articles Ethnographic film Video ethnography Ethnocinema List of ethnographic films Margaret Mead Film Festival Cantometrics Museum anthropology Salvage ethnography Tribal art/Folk art
Major theorists Tim Asch Gregory Bateson Franz Boas Pierre Bourdieu John Collier Frances Densmore Robert J. Flaherty Robert Gardner Alfred Gell Robert Hugh Layton Claude Lévi-Strauss Alan Lomax John Marshall Margaret Mead Alan Merriam Bruno Nettl Hortense Powdermaker Jean Rouch
Social and cultural anthropology

• Alfred C. Haddon – UK
  • Torres Strait Expedition, 1898

• Delmi Alvarez – GZ

Documentary and anthropological

• • Himbas, struggle for survive. 2009/2010 Namibia.
  • O rei galego de África, Namibia, 2008
  • Dous galegos en Krasnodar, 2006 (Rusia)
  • Galegos da Guiana Venezolana (Venezuela).
  • Fuga de cerebros, 2009 (Sweden, Germany, USA, France)

• Edward S. Curtis – US
  • In the Land of the Head Hunters, 1916

• Percy Powell-Cotton - UK
  • Crafts in the Cameroons, 1931
  • Gorilla Drive, Cameroons, 1931
  • Osonigbe Juju House and Benin Brass Cutting, 1931

• Robert J. Flaherty – US
  • Nanook of the North, 1922
  • Moana, 1926
  • Tabu, 1931, see Tabu
  • Man of Aran, 1934
  • Louisiana Story, 1948, see Louisiana Story

• José Leitão de Barros – Portugal
  • Maria do Mar, 1930, see Maria do Mar
  • Ala-Arriba! (film), 1942

• Jean Epstein – Poland
  • L'or des mers (The ocean's gold), 1932, see L’or des mers

• Diana and Antoinette Powell-Cotton - UK
  • Angola: Dombondola Potter, 1936
  • Angola: Scenes from a household (Dombondola), 1936

• Jean Rouch – France
  • Les Maîtres Fous (The Mad Masters), 1954
  • Moi, un noir, 1958
  • Chronique d’un été (Chronicle of a Summer), 1961
  • Jaguar (Jean Rouch film), 1954 – 1967
  • Petit à petit, 1972

• Lionel Rogosin – US
  • On the Bowery, 1957
  • Come Back, Africa, 1957

• John Marshall – US
  • The Hunters (1957 film), 1957
  • N!ai: The Story of a !Kung Woman, 1980
  • A Kalahari Family, 1951 – 2000

• António Campos – Portugal
  • A Almadraba atuneira (Tuna net), 1961
  • Vilarinho das Furnas, 1971
  • Histórias selvagens (Savage stories), 1978
  • Falamos de Rio de Onor (Let’s talk about Rio de Onor)
  • Gente da Praia da Vieira (The people of Praia da Vieira), 1976
  • Terra fria (Cold land), 1992
• Manoel de Oliveira – Portugal
  • Acto da Primavera (Act of Spring), 1963
• Michel Brault – Canada
  • Pour la suite du monde, (Of Whales, the Moon and Men), 1963
  • Les Ordres (Orderers) 1975
  • Les Noces de papier (Paper wedings), 1990
• Pierre Perrault – Canada
  • Pour la suite du monde (Of Whales, the Moon and Men, 1963
• Robert Gardner – US
  • Dead Birds, 1964
  • The Nuer, 1970
  • Rivers of Sand, 1975
  • Sons of Shiva, 1985
  • Forest of Bliss, 1986

• David MacDougall and Judith MacDougall – AUS

digest

• • Nawi, 1968/1970
  • Three Horsemen, 1978/1982
  • Stockman's Strategy, 1982/1984
  • Collum Calling Canberra, 1982/1984
  • Doon School Chronicles,1997-1998/2000
  • Diyas, 1997/2000

• Tim Asch – US, see Tim Asch
  • The Feast, 1969
  • Yanomamo: A Multidisciplinary Study, 1971
  • Magical Death, 1974
  • The Ax Fight, 1975
  • A Man Called "Bee": Studying the Yanomamo, 1975
  • A Balinese Trance Seance, 1979 - see A Balinese Trance Seance
  • Jero on Jero: A Balinese Trance Seance Observed, 1980 - see Jero on Jero: A Balinese Trance Seance Observed
  • Jero Tapakan: Stories From the Life of a Balinese Healer, 1983 - see Jero Tapakan: Stories From the Life of a Balinese Healer
  • The Medium is the Masseuse: A Balinese Massage, 1983 - see The Medium is the Masseuse: A Balinese Massage
  • The Water of Words: A Cultural Ecology of an Eastern Indonesian Island, 1983 - see The Water of Words: A Cultural Ecology of an Eastern Indonesian Island
  • Spear and Sword: a Ceremonial Payment of Bridewealth, 1989 - see Spear and Sword: a Ceremonial Payment of Bridewealth
  • Releasing the Spirits, 1990 - see Releasing the Spirits
  • A Celebration of Origins, 1992 - see A Celebration of Origins

• Janet Hoskins – US, see Janet Hoskins
  • The Feast in Dream Village, 1988 - see The Feast in Dream Village
  • Horses of Life and Death, 1991 - see Horses of Life and Death
  • The Left Eye of God, 2008 - see The Left Eye of God

• Sarah Elder (films co-directed by Leonard Kamerling) – Australia, see Sarah Elder
  • Tununeremiut, 1972
  • At the Time of Whaling, 1974
  • On the Spring Ice, 1975
  • From the First People, 1977
  • The Drums of Winter, 1988
  • In Iirgus Time, 1988
  • Joe Sun, 1988
  • Reindeer Thief, 1988

• Ricardo Costa – Portugal
  • Avieiros, 1975
  • Mau tempo, marés e mudança (Changing Tides), 1976
  • Castro Laboreiro, 1979
  • Pitões, aldeia do Barroso (Pitoes, a village of Barroso), 1979
  • O Pão e o Vinho (Bread and Wine (film), 1981
  • Longe é a cidade (Far is the city), 1981
  • Ao fundo desta estrada (Further ahead on this road) 1981

• António Reis and Margarida Cordeiro – Portugal
  • Trás-os-Montes, 1976
  • Ana (film), 1984

• Noémia Delgado – Portugal
  • Máscaras (Masks), 1976

• Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson
  • First Contact, 1983
  • Joe Leahy’s Neighbors, 1988
  • Black Harvest, 1991

• Dennis O'Rourke – Australia
  • Yumi Yet – Independence for Papua New Guinea, 1976
  • Ileksen – Politics in Papua New Guinea, 1978
  • Yap ... How Did you Know We’d Like TV, 1980
  • The Shark Callers of Kontu, 1982
  • Couldn’t Be Fairer, 1984
  • Half Life: A Parable for the Nuclear Age, 1985
  • Cannibal Tours, 1988
  • The Good Woman of Bangkok, 1991
  • Cunnamulla, 2000
  • Land Mines -- A Love Story, 2004

• John Melville Bishop - US, see John Melville Bishop
  • Rhesus Play, 1977, see Rhesus Play
  • YoYo Man, 1978
  • The Land Where The Blues Began, 1979, see The Land Where The Blues Began
  • New England Fiddles & New England Dances, 1983, see New England Fiddles & New England Dances
  • The Last Window, 1987, see The Last Window
  • Himalayan Herders, 1997, see Himalayan Herders
  • Hosay Trinidad (1999)
  • Oh What A Blow That Phantom Gave Me, 2003, see Oh What A Blow That Phantom Gave Me (with Harald E.L. Prins)
  • Oss Tales, 2007, see Oss Tales
  • John Bishop Short Films, (14 films 1975-2007), see John Bishop Short Films

• Jayasinhji Jhala - US, see Jayasinhji Jhala – US
  • Forgotten Headhunters and Apatani Sacrifice, 1978
  • Tragada Bhavai: A Rural Theater Troupe of Gujarat, 1981
  • Journey with Ganapati, 1982
  • Bharvad Predicament, 1987
  • Morning With Asch, 1995
  • Whose Paintings?, 1995
  • Conversation with a Collector: Dialogue with a Docent, 1997
  • Letter to My Nieces, 2000
  • Close Encounters of No Kind, 2002
  • A Zenana: Scenes and Recollections, 2005
  • ShaktiMa no Veh, 2006

• Pedro Costa – Portugal
  • Casa de Lava (Down to Earth), 1994
  • Ossos (Bones), 1997
  • No Quarto da Vanda (In Vanda’s room), 2000
  • Juventude em Marcha (Colossal youth), 2006

• Flora Gomes – Guiné-Bissau
  • Po di Sangui, 1996
  • Nha Fala, 2002

• Harald E.L. Prins – Netherlands
  • Our Lives in Our Hands, 1985
  • Oh What A Blow That Phantom Gave Me, 2003, see Oh What A Blow That Phantom Gave Me (with John Bishop)

• Fernando Meirelles – Brazil
  • Cidade de Deus, (City of God), 2002

• Daniel E. Thorbecke – Germany
  • Terra Longe, (Far distant land), 2003

• Nena Toth- filmmaker- Canada
  • Phantasmagoria, 2003
  • Canoeing to the Arctic, 2007

• Chris Horner, see Chris Horner – Australia
  • The Disappearing of Tuvalu: Trouble In Paradise, 2004

• Randy Olson
  • Flock of Dodos, 2006
  • Oh, What a Blow that Phantom Gave Me!, 2003 (with John Bishop)

• Johannes Sjöberg – Sweden / United Kingdom
  • Transfiction, 2007

• Monique Derenia - United States
  • Why Not Dad?, 2007, see Why Not Dad?

• Harjant Gill - US / India
  • Milind Soman Made Me Gay, 2007, see Milind Soman Made Me Gay, 2007
  • Roots of Love, 2011, see Roots of Love, 2011

• Carlos Serrano Azcona – Spain
  • Quantum Men, 2011

• Robert Lemelson – US
  • 40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy, 2009 - see 40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy
  • Afflictions: Culture and Mental Health in Indonesia Film Series, 2010 / 2011 - see Afflictions: Culture and Mental Health in Indonesia
    • Shadows and Illuminations, 2010 - see Shadows and Illuminations
    • Family Victim, 2010 - see Family Victim
    • The Bird Dancer, 2010 - see The Bird Dancer
    • Kites and Monsters, 2011 - see Kites and Monsters
    • Memory of My Face, 2011 - see Memory of My Face
    • Ritual Burdens, 2011 - see Ritual Burdens
  • Jathilan: Trance and Possession in Java, 2011 - see Jathilan: Trance and Possession in Java
  • Ngaben: Emotion and Restraint in a Balinese Heart, 2012 - see Ngaben: Emotion and Restraint in a Balinese Heart
  • Standing on the Edge of a Thorn, 2012 - see Standing on the Edge of a Thorn

• Giovanni Princigalli – Italy - Canada
  • Japigia gagi roma stories, 2003 - see
  • Ho fatto il mio coraggio, 2009 - see
  • Les fluers à la fenêtre, 2010-2012 - see