Popular Documentary Movies on Free Services - Page 499

A Walbiri Fire Ceremony: Ngatjakula

1977

A Walbiri Fire Ceremony: Ngatjakula

1977
Originally filmed as an archival record of a Warlpiri (Walbiri) ceremony in 1967 by Roger Sandall, the film footage was re-worked 10 years later by anthropologist Nicolas Peterson and filmmaker, Kim McKenzie, to make this short version for public viewing. Involving large numbers of both men and women, Ngatjakula is one of the most spectacular ceremonies of central Australia, employing fire, and several days of singing and dance, to resolve conflicts and re-affirm social order among the Warlpiri (Walbiri) people. One of Sandall’s many films about ceremonial life, including several of Warlpiri rituals, the film was part of the program of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies to record traditional aspects of Aboriginal life and culture. McKenzie’s collaboration with Peterson (who had been present at the time of the original filming) to edit this public version, is a meticulous representation of the fire ceremony, much of which took place at night.
The Healing of Bali

2003

The Healing of Bali

2003
For Australian documentary filmmaker John Darling, the tragic events of 12 October 2002 compelled him to re-establish his links with Bali that spanned some 30 years. John had lived, researched and made films in Bali for 17 years from the 1970s to the 1990s, and THE HEALING OF BALI is his observation of the Balinese response to the bombings and the aftermath. His film presents an intimate insight into traditional and modern Balinese methods of grieving and healing. Among those who tell their own stories in the film are Haji Bambang, one of the heroes of the night of the bombings. Many people died in Haji's arms on the night as he worked tirelessly with a group of friends to save the victims or respectfully cover the dead with white cloth.
Mystic Vision, Sacred Art

1996

Mystic Vision, Sacred Art

1996
This documentary provides an excellent introduction to the art of thangka, sacred Tibetan Buddhist painting, in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal. Carefully filmed, it takes you through every step of the painting process of thangkas. It offers insight into the symbolic and religious meaning of thangkas and their importance for Tibetan Buddhist life.
The Feast in Dream Village

1988

The Feast in Dream Village

1988
The eastern Indonesian island of Sumba is the last island in the Malay archipelago where the majority of the people still follow their ancestral religion, called marapu. This film, shot in 1986, focuses on a challenge to the authority of the spirits and ancestors in a village ritual to restore fertility after a fire and famine. Narrated by the priests who communicate with the spirits in prayers and sacrifices, it documents a week of offerings, dancing and oratory in "Dream Village" in the western Kodi district. The name comes from a dream of prosperity the village founder once had, and dreams are also the ways in which priests are called to serve the spirits.
African Carving: A Dogon Kanaga Mask

1974

African Carving: A Dogon Kanaga Mask

1974
The Kanaga mask is used in deeply sacred rituals by the Dogon people of Mali. Carving this mask is as important a ritual as the ceremonies in which the mask is used. The carver, a blacksmith, finds the proper tree and, in a secret cave outside the village, he shapes the mask with gestures which repeat the movement of the dancers who will wear it. When a dancer wears the Kanaga mask he becomes the Creator symbolically. He touches the ground with his mask and directs a soul to Heaven. Although these dances are now frequently performed for the public, the meaning of Kanaga is retained by the Dogon who fear, respect and depend on the power of the mask.
In the Footsteps of Taytacha

1985

In the Footsteps of Taytacha

1985
In the Footsteps of Taytacha follows a group of Quechua-speaking musicians and dancers as they leave their remote villages high in the Andes Mountains of Peru and join thousands of other highlanders on the annual religious pilgrimage to the sacred peaks of Qoyllur-Rití. Quollur-Rití, the largest and most important religious ritual in the southern Andes, occurs only five days out of the year and involves walking both day and night in terrain over 4400 meters in altitude.
Weaving the Future

1997

Weaving the Future

1997
Weaving the Future is a video portrait of a unique indigenous community living in the Andean highlands of northern Ecuador. The story of the Otavalo Indians is not a stereotypical tale of "isolated people struggling to survive." Just the opposite. The people of Otavalo have successfully adapted their traditions of weaving and crafts to the international marketplace. Selling their textiles in the U.S., Europe and even in Japan, the Otavalos are by any measure the most prosperous Native people in South America. Theirs is a fascinating story of economic success and social change.
Fighting 17: The Jolly Rogers

1990

Fighting 17: The Jolly Rogers

1990
This is the story of Navy squadron VF-17, the amazing Jolly Rogers. Flying their beloved "Hogs," the F4U-1 Corsair, they cleared the skies of 154 Japanese planes in 76 days of combat over the Solomon Islands. While never losing a bomber to enemy attack, Fighting 17 destroyed the heart of Japanese fighter command over Bougainville and Rabaul paving the way for the Allied advance in the Pacific. As related by the squadron's skipper, Tom Blackburn, and four of his men, the events of 1943-44 are enhanced by splendid film footage, personal photographs, and the memories of those who were there. This is the true story, the excitement, the agony, humor and sadness of a legendary tour of duty that will never be forgotten as long as pilots take to the air in combat. —Jeff Hohman/Producer
The Habits Of New Norcia

2000

The Habits Of New Norcia

2000
The stories in The Habits of New Norcia are told by former Western Australian Aboriginal child 'inmates' of the New Norcia Benedictine Mission who were separated from their families in the 1940s, 50s and 60s and confined in this "orphanage without orphans". In recent decades the New Norcia Monastery has been packaged as one of the State's leading cultural tourist attractions. "A unique blend of Spanish architecture, European art treasures and pioneer history," "Monks, Music & Mystery," "New Norcia, Australia's only monastic town," the brochures announce. Aboriginal testimony in the film challenges this revised and sanitised history. The documentary provides damming evidence of the continuing violence of the Mission against its victims by deliberate omission of their experience in the New Norcia museum, guided tours, art gallery and promotions — an omission that represents a cruel and wounding cover-up.
Accordion Dreams

2001

Accordion Dreams

2001
The arrival of the European button accordion to Texas and its merging with traditional Mexican songs gave birth to an explosive new sound called conjunto. From the early pioneers to the new generation of accordionists experimenting with rock, blues, and metal, ACCORDION DREAMS captures yesterday's and today's squeezebox trailblazers. Produced and directed by critically-acclaimed filmmaker Hector Galan and narrated by singer/songwriter Tish Hinojosa, ACCORDION DREAMS features performance footage of conjunto greats like Valerio Longoria, Mingo Saldivar, Ruben Vela, Eva Ybarra, and Flaco Jimenez and the newer generation of accordionists like Joel Guzman, Jaime De Anda, Albert Zamora, and Jesse Turner.
Genocidio

1982

Genocidio

1982
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Let the Good Times Roll

2018

Let the Good Times Roll

2018
Through the words of the poet Kirby Jambon, the filmmakers offer a playful journey to the heart of the Cajun identity in Louisiana.
The Ballad of Greenwich Village

2005

The Ballad of Greenwich Village

2005
The story of the artists, rebels, and bohemians who came to New York’s Greenwich Village over many decades, and changed the face of American culture through their art and politics. The film portrays important political and social movements that started in the Village - such as the first interracial jazz club, the earliest Socialist newspapers from before World War I, and the Stonewall rebellion that sparked gay liberation.
Play, Jankunú Play - The Garifuna Wanaragua Ritual of Belize

2006

Play, Jankunú Play - The Garifuna Wanaragua Ritual of Belize

2006
The Garifuna are a Central American people of West African and Native American descent. One of their most popular rituals is wanaragua, a three-fold system of masked Christmas processionals commonly called Jankunú. This ritual is a unique blend of African, European, and Native American (Arawak and Carib) art traditions in which social and cultural identities are expressed through music, dance, and costume. As dancers adorn themselves in colorful regalia to mimic past foreign oppressors they symbolically affirm their identity. They perform stylized movements to the accompaniment of drums and social commentary songs composed by men. Descriptions of the three processions and dance styles are interspersed with interviews by Garifuna singers, drummers, dancers, cultural advocates, and scholars on the significance of rituals.
Men Don't Know About It

1957

Men Don't Know About It

1957
This is a distinctive example of a documentary film revealing the disparity between the official gender discourse and the social reality of the Polish female.
A Slow Boat to Somewhere: Exploring French Polynesia

2006

A Slow Boat to Somewhere: Exploring French Polynesia

2006
Ride along on a rustic, and rusting, Polynesian cargo boat as it makes deliveries to 21 of the globe's most isolated coral reef atolls, in the heart of the South Pacific Ocean. Along the 3,000-mile route meet black pearl divers, the man who found the Kon Tiki, Marlon Brando's 'Mutiny' girlfriend, a ship laden with NFL-sized crewman and many more - all set against the backdrop of a fast-and-forever changing Paradise. I jumped on the cargo boat for one of its monthly, 3,000-mile delivery jobs, taking us to ports-of-call that were literally just piles of sand and rock washed up on rims of coral, halfway between Australia and South America, each home to populations ranging from seven to two hundred fifty people. The trip took us through the Tuamotus, a chain of 78 atolls that sailors going back to Magellan dubbed the dangerous archipelago for its low-lying, barely visible, wooden-boat-sinking reefs.
Hosay Trinidad

1999

Hosay Trinidad

1999
Hosay Trinidad is an ethnographic film about the observance of Shi'ite Muharram rites on the island of Trinidad.
Sounds of Love and Sorrow

2000

Sounds of Love and Sorrow

2000
Sounds of Love and Sorrow lets the eerie sounds of the Paiwan flutes including the nose flute, which legend says imitates the call of the deadly hundred-pace snake, mix in with the recollections of tribal elders and traditional tales to present a rich background of Paiwan life in Taiwan. Tribal elders recall the days of the youth and their romances. They tell of the creation of the Paiwan people, and lament the end of tribal life, crushed by the irresistible and contradictory forces of government policies and alien cultural influences. Talking of love, both the charm and cruelty of a traditional society are revealed. For many of the Paiwan, love may be a high point of a young life – but it is also the gateway to sorrow. But in the end, it is the high spirits, the playful romances and the family spirit of the Paiwan which shine through.
Some Aspects of Cape Verdean Culture

1975

Some Aspects of Cape Verdean Culture

1975
"Some Aspects Of Cape Verdean Culture" is a re-discovered and restored documentary shot in 1975 in cape verde at the time of independence by pioneering video artist Anthony D. Ramos. This was some of the earliest video work by ramos, who received a 1975 grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities for travel to Cape Verde and a sony color 1/2" reel to reel video camera . Ramos , a cape verdean american, traveled to the islands of Sao Tiago, Fogo and Sao Vicente , and was the only american camera to capture the historic end of 500 years of Portuguese colonial rule. Over eighty hours of video were shot, and efforts are currently underway to raise funds to restore and transfer the rest of videos in this valuable archive.
Horses of Life and Death

1991

Horses of Life and Death

1991
The Pasola, a traditional jousting battle with hundreds of horses and riders, is the Sumbanese New Year celebration, and also a ritual that anticipates the rice harvest. It is staged to welcome the annual swarming of sea worms on the western beaches, since the worms are seen as representing the spirit of the rice crop. The spirit of the fertility of the seas and the land comes from the body of a sacrificed girl, and her return each year is celebrated with a dramatic display of masculine virility, courage, and horsemanship.