Sample ethnographic films
Ethnomusicological ethnographic films
Film representing music representing people...
How would you evaluate the following films? Consider evaluative criteria (axiology):
- truth
- ethics
- aesthetics
Critique: Power of representation.
- Who creates a film? What roles go into its making?
- Whose voice(s) do we see/hear?
- What other forces may be shaping the final product?
- What is the role of the (self-declared) filmmaker?
- What do you imagine are the relations of film to fieldworker to fieldwork?
How would you classify these films, considering:
- ethnographic "truth"
- politics of representation
- Kind of ethnography
- Role of ethnography in making of the film
- Reflexivity (positioning of filmmakers within the film)
- Cinematographic style
- Editing style
Films: (some of the following are clips, others are full films. For full films you may watch only a few minutes to get the feel... For clips, you may like to watch other segments from the same film...).
The Land Where the Blues Began
More Than Just a Game: Competitions and Celebrations in Ethiopia, Ghana, Niger, Senegal, and Sudan
Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden
Listening to the Silence: African Cross Rhythms
Shozan Tanabe: The Sound of Silence
Witch Catchers and Possession Ceremonies (03:26) From Title: Healers of Ghana
Busmen Cosmology (01:17) From Title: Last of the Bushmen
Female Rappers in Syria (06:57) From Title: Rap Refugees: Conservative Palestinian Education in Flux
Shadow and music in the Buduburam Liberian refugee camp of Ghana
Some online sources of ethnomusicological film (ethnographic or documentary)
Please add to this listing...
