The American Museum of Natural History's Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival was organized in New York in 1977 in recognition of Margaret Mead's pioneering use of film to document culture. Margaret Mead worked in the Museum's Anthropology Department from 1926 until her death in 1978. She was one of the first to recognize the significance of using film in fieldwork. From 1936 to 1938 she worked among the Balinese with husband Gregory Bateson and cinematographer Jane Belo and produced the now classic titles, TRANCE AND DANCE IN BALI, LEARNING TO DANCE IN BALI and KARBA'S FIRST YEARS.
The festival has been devoted to realizing Mead's goal of informing "general audiences" about similarities and differences in cultural practices. Although most of the films and videos are produced by independent artists, about 20 percent of the works each year have some anthropological input, whether it be director, producer or researcher.
Local hosts at the University of Southern California have sponsored highlights of the New York festival since 1994.
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