Popular Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 247

In Search of the Hamat'sa: A Tale of Headhunting

2004

In Search of the Hamat'sa: A Tale of Headhunting

2004
The Hamat'sa (or "Cannibal Dance") is the most important-and highly represented-ceremony of the Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl) people of British Columbia. This film traces the history of anthropological depictions of the dance and, through the return of archival materials to a First Nations community, presents some of the ways in which diverse attitudes toward this history inform current performances of the Hamat'sa. With a secondary focus on the filmmaker's fieldwork experience, the film also attends specifically to the ethics of ethnographic representation and to the renegotiation of relationships between anthropologists and their research partners.
Seguir Siendo

1999

Seguir Siendo

1999
A portrait of the Mbyá-Guarani people living in Misiones, a subtropical province in Northeast Argentina. The people demonstrate everyday life existing on a geographical as well as a cultural border.
Not to Lose You, My Language

1975

Not to Lose You, My Language

1975
This program looks at a bilingual education program in the Northern Territory, where children are taught in English and Aboriginal languages. As there are many different Aboriginal languages, subjects are taught in a language appropriate to the subject matter. The aim of the program is to help Aboriginal children to see their language and culture as something worthwhile and so nurture their self-confidence and self-respect.
It'll Be Okay

1991

It'll Be Okay

1991
Director Bernd Sahling documents almost four years in the life of a young man who experienced two political systems, East and West Germany, and cannot fulfill his dreams in either of them.
The Legacy of Jedwabne

2005

The Legacy of Jedwabne

2005
This film tells a shocking and brutal story that has been kept a secret in Poland for over 60 years. It tells the story of a pogrom in 1941 in Jedwabne, Poland and explores the implications of the past for present constructions and negotiations of personal, national and religious identity.
Symphonies in Stone: St. Paul's Cathedral

1942

Symphonies in Stone: St. Paul's Cathedral

1942
A short guide around St Pauls Cathedral.
Baniyala

1996

Baniyala

1996
An archival record film of life at the small Madarrpa clan settlement of Bäniyala on Blue Mud Bay, some 200 kilometres south of Yirrkala.
Ghurbal

2005

Ghurbal

2005
This film examines the Egyptian rural craft of making a sieve called ghurbal (from the Arabic ghurbal meaning “to winnow” which is used to both “winnow” babies on their seventh day of life and to winnow grains for making ceremonial dishes, particularly kouskousi. Embedded in this material culture artifact are layered meanings of creative regeneration of the cosmic and human worlds. We visually follow the material process from tree log cutting to making the tara (ghurbal frame), to ghurbal crafting, through the voice and image of two key persons: Na’ima, the craftswoman and owner of the frame shop, and Hoksha, the rural ghurbal craftsman. The ethnographer/filmmaker engages them to speak and we are drawn into their lives by their stories as we view self-confident mastery of their craft. While Hoksha relates how he has kept this child from his father, we see his son next to him making a modern flour sieve, having never learned the family tradition.
Madarrpa Funeral at Gurka’wuy

1979

Madarrpa Funeral at Gurka’wuy

1979
In 1976, Ian Dunlop was invited by Dundiwuy Wanambi, a leader of the Marrakulu clan, to Gurka’wuy on Trial Bay in the Gulf of Carpentaria. He wanted Film Australia to record the first major Marrakulu ceremony to be held at Gurka’wuy since its recent establishment as a clan settlement. While they were there, a baby boy died. The Madarrpa men, including the child’s father and Dundiwuy, asked for the funeral to be filmed.Mortuary rites of the Yolngu are extremely complex. Despite some practical modifications to traditional ceremonies as a result of life on mission stations, ritual remains extremely strong.
Punitive Damage

1999

Punitive Damage

1999
The story of New Zealander Helen Todd's law suit against an Indonesian general that she pursued after her son, Kamal, was shot dead in the Dili massacre in East Timor.
Running Out of Time

2006

Running Out of Time

2006
In many ways the heart of indigenous India, mineral-rich Jharkhand is and has been at the core of India's industrial development after independence. There, the indigenous Adivasi people have borne the brunt of what is arguably India's most fundamental developmental conflict, which has pushed them to the verge of extinction as an agricultural people.
Nuhoniyeh: Our Story

1993

Nuhoniyeh: Our Story

1993
This powerful film, produced from a Native perspective, has won many awards in recognition of its exploration of the history and current circumstances of the Sayisi Dene, a people of the ecological and cultural borderlands between tundra and forest in Canada. While specific to the Sayisi Dene, the film provides an excellent introduction to complex issues of politics, land rights, cultural ecology and processes of cultural destruction and rebirth that are of widespread concern in the circumpolar Arctic. It is a well-integrated film using historical photographs, archival material and contemporary film records that, together with the strong testimony of the Sayisi Dene people themselves, combine to provide a positive statement of human potential."
K'Sai Chivit: Threads of Life

1994

K'Sai Chivit: Threads of Life

1994
K'Sai Chivit: Threads of Life documents the ancient art form of Khmer silk weaving and its place in Cambodian society today. For over a thousand years, Cambodian weavers have been producing a variety of elegant silks, however current societal hardships Cambodians face have dramatically hindered this production. Organizations like UNESCO have began to take part in the revitalization of Khmer weaving, and have established training programs across the region to increase job opportunities and economic independence.
Walking Dancing Belonging

2006

Walking Dancing Belonging

2006
Produced in association with Waringarri Aboriginal Arts at Kununurra in Western Australia, this moving documentary features three women who talk about their paintings as an expression of their relationship to their country. The women share a sense of belonging to their place and express this belonging through dance and song and all of their artistic expressions. On a trip into the bush around Cockatoo Lagoon near Kununurra, they explain the stories of their Dreaming and of their land, and talk of their own experiences growing up as workers on stations in the area. Each artist talks about why they paint - to teach and to share stories about their country with others in the community and wider afield. The film also observes them working on paintings, each giving her personal interpretation of a loved environment and a living culture. The paintings are all very different in style but all express a life-affirming sense of identity intimately linked to their own country.
The Islanders

1968

The Islanders

1968
Above the tip of Cape York, beyond the northernmost point of the Australian continent, are the Torres Strait Islands. The economy here is based on home gardens and pearlshell fishing. The culture, with its basis in music, dancing and ceremony, provides a striking contrast to that of mainland Australia. This film, shot in the late 1960s, shows how strongly old traditions still affect Torres Strait Islander people, even though they also have most of the trappings of modern life.
Mourning For Mangatopi

1974

Mourning For Mangatopi

1974
Because of work commitments and the influence of Christian Missions, traditional mourning ceremonies among the Tiwi people of Melville Island were becoming rare at the time of making this film (1974). The full, elaborate ceremony, called the Pukumani ceremony, lasted several days and involved large numbers of people in ritual roles. It was performed here with full awareness that this may be one of the last times such a ceremony would be staged in the traditional way. The ceremony was prepared by the Mangatopi family of Snake Bay after the death of a 35-year old family member killed by his wife. The dead man’s father, Geoffrey Mangatopi, and his family requested this film to be made as a public record of a disappearing tradition. Unique to the Tiwi people of Melville and Bathurst islands, the Pukumani ceremony was not only performed to safe-guard the passage of the dead person into the spirit world, but to re-affirm kinship relationships and traditional Tiwi culture.
The Tree of Iron

1988

The Tree of Iron

1988
This is one of the few films to document archaeological work on ancient civilizations in Africa. It also deals with an important subject, African iron smelting, and presents convincing evidence for early indigenous technologies far more complex than previously expected. The Tree of Iron is set in Tanzania, East Africa, on the western shores of Lake Victoria, where Haya people have lived for centuries.
To Hold Our Ground: A Field Report

1991

To Hold Our Ground: A Field Report

1991
For thousands of years Ju/'hoansi have lived in the Nyae Nyae region in northeastern Namibia. In the 1950s, most Ju/'hoansi had been exterminated or were dispossessed by white colonists and black farmers, but in Nyae Nyae Ju/'hoansi were still the only permanent inhabitants. Waterless approaches isolated their ancient communal land and protected them from enslavement.
Artpark People

1976

Artpark People

1976
Encouraging visitors to engage and connect with on site artist's, Artpark provides a unique environment for those craving culture away from the whirring city. Located in Lewiston, New York the outdoor venue opens itself to artists, musicians and performers seeking a spot to reflect and create. During the summer seasons Artpark serves as an immersive experience, inviting the public to observe the artists as they work. Artpark People observes the vibrant scene and captures candid interactions between artist and onlookers. With a heavy emphasis on outdoor space and environmental influence, Artpark asserts itself as a cultural and communal haven for creatives.
Elizabeth Murray: 4 Decades

2006

Elizabeth Murray: 4 Decades

2006
"Elizabeth Murray: 4 Decades" tracks the artist's career and shows her moving forward fearlessly toward new shapes and concepts for her unique style of painting. Inspired by artists of the Abstract Expressionism movement such as Willem de Kooning and Philip Guston, Murray was privy to their technique and motive. Though she may share ideals with her artistic predecessors, Murray has created miraculously original work which she discusses with curator Robert Storr as they explore her MoMA retrospective.