Mead Festival Films, 1994

Timothy Asch Retrospective --- CVA Student Films

Films


MADAME L'EAU

Jean Rouch. 1992. 125 min. 16mm film.

In this surreal and comical film, Jean Rouch's West African friends, Lam, Damoure, and Tallou, (of "Jaguar"fame), embark on another journey. They travel to Holland with their faithful mule to learn about applying windmill technology to their drought ravaged fields.


TEMPUS DE BARISTAS (TIME OF THE BARMEN)

David MacDougall. 1993. 100 min. 16mm film.

In the rugged mountains of eastern Sardinia, a young goatherd, Pietro weighs the viability of a traditional way of life. He uses the experiences of his father Franchiscu and his mutual friend, Minimu to measure his life and consider the future.


TAIGA NOMADS: THE SCHOOL AND THE VILLAGE

Heimo Lappaalaninen, Jouko Aaltonen. 1991. 50 min. Video.

Filmed during the last year of Soviet rule, this film takes a startling look at the impact of Russian values on the Evenki, a nomadic reindeer herding community of Siberia.


BLACK MAN'S HOUSES

Steve Thomas. 1992. 58 min. 16mm.

"They've got blue eyes and blond hair, so how can they be Aborigines?" In the 1830's the ill-fated settlement of Wybalenna (Black Man's Houses) was established as a place of internment for the black survivors of the conflict between Europeans and Aborigines in Tasmania. This film documents the re-homesteading of this site by Tasmanian Aborigines.


MEMORIES AND DREAMS

Melissa Llewelyn-Davies. 1992. 92 min. 3/4 inch Video.

For the past twenty years the filmmaker has been working and living with the Masaai of the Loita Hills in Kenya. This film follows up her previous works "A Masaai Diary" and "The Women's Olamal" and provides an intimate exploration of the community's changing attitudes about women's roles, sex, love, and marriage over two decades.(Fri. 3/18; 8:00pm)


THE ANTHROPOLOGIST

Andrea Gschwendtner. 1992. 50 min. 3/4 inch Video.

The first anthropologist of Vienna, Rudolph Poch's anthropological studies became part of the materials used during Hitler's eugenics movement in WWII. This film masterfully weaves drama and documentary to raise chilling questions about the use and misuse of anthropological research. (Thu. 3/17; 6:00pm)


TREKKING ON TRADITION

Jennifer Rodes. 1992. 43 min. 3/4 inch Video.

An outstanding film by a student of the Center for Visual Anthropology at USC. Few places hold as much mystique for the Westerner as the Himalayas. This video takes a multi-layered look at the effects of tourism on the economic and social structure of traditional Nepalese villages. (Wed. 3/16; 7:00pm)


RIPPLES OF CHANGE

Nanako Kurihara. 1993. 58 min. 16mm.

In the 1970s, Japanese women developed their own brand of feminism, called "Women's Lib". In this film, the director undertakes a personal journey to trace the movement's legacy, to profile five "Lib" veterans, and to find her own identity as a Japanese woman in the 1990s. (Thu. 3/17; 7:00pm)


TENT EMBASSY

David Sandy. 1991. 58 min. 3/4 inch Video.

In 1972 four Aboriginal men protested the Australian government policies concerning Aboriginal people by setting up an "Aboriginal Tent Embassy" on the lawn of the Parliament House. This video examines the progress that has been made by the group known as the Aboriginal Black Panther Movement. (Thu. 3/17; 5:00pm)


PALENQUE: UN CANTO

Maria Raquel Bozzi. 48 min. video.

A unique and personal view into the life of San Basilio de Palenque (Colombia), the land where the descendants of African rebel slaves still cherish the traditions of their ancestors. (Thu 3/17 8pm)


A CRUZ Y ESPADA (BY CROSS AND BY SWORD)

Juan Francisco Urrusti. 1991. 30 min. 3/4 inch video.

A playful annual event held in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico, imaginatively reenacts the battle between the Moors and the Christians of Middle Ages Europe. This epic and colorful performance binds the community together across the generations. (Thu. 3/17; 9:00pm)


A CELEBRATION OF ORIGINS

Timothy Asch. 1992. 45 min. 16mm film.

To conclude the Margaret Mead Festival, we present Asch's latest film as the climax of his retrospective. Begun almost 15 years ago in the mountains of Eastern Flores in the Philippines, this film demonstrates the situational contingencies of ritual performance. (Sat. 3/19; 9:00pm)


Films --- CVA Student Films

Timothy Asch Film Retrospective

Early Works

ONE DAY OF MANY: MABOU MINES OF CAPE BRETON ISLAND. 1952. Asch is an accomplished still photographer, having studied with Ansel Adams and Minor White. His still-photo essay exploring the lives of Cape Breton Islanders in the 1950s developed into his first film project.

A MORNING AMONG THE FAMILY HERDS: THE DODOTH OF KENYA. 1961. In 1961 Asch accompanied Elizabeth Marshall-Thomas to Kenya to photograph the Dodoth for her book A Warrior Herdsman. This film was shot on the day of their departure as the Dodoth broke camp.



Yanomamo Film Retrospective

In 1968 and 1971, Timothy Asch collaborated with anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon in filming the Yanomamo, a remote Indian group of the Amazon Region. During this period, Tim Asch shot nearly 50 hours of film from which 37 completed pieces have been produced. Several of these films, illustrating Asch's trademark "sequence filming" technique, have become classics in the teaching of Visual Anthropology. Asch will present selections from this extensive body of work and discuss some of the recent changes and tragedies in this community.

Films Shown:



Indonesian Film Retrospective

At the Australian National University in 1976-82, Tim collaborated with several scholars to produce films and monographs on the diverse cultures of the Indonesian archipelago. His latest film, Celebration of Origins, was included in this year's Margaret Mead Film Festival in New York..

Films Shown:


Films --- Timothy Asch Retrospective

CURRENT CVA STUDENT FILMS

MANY WILL COME

Amanda Crane. 1993. 25 min. Hi-8.

This video is about the growth of a grass-roots Catholic movement centered around a woman in Santa Maria, California who reports receiving a series of messages from the Virgin Mary in 1988.


bui doi: life like dust

Ahrin Mishan and Nick Rothenberg. 1994. 29 min. 16mm. b/w.

"life like dust" examines a critical moment in the life of Ricky Phan, a Vietnamese refugee and gang member who is currently serving an 11-year sentence in a California State prison for armed robbery.


SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE ARUN BASIN

Kevin Kelpin and Pushpa Tulachan. 1991. 36 min. Hi-8 (PAL).

This film documents the environmental, economic, social, and cultural impact of a major dam funded by the World Bank and proposed for construction in a remote part of Nepal.


IN THAT LITTLE TOWN: STORIES FROM THE POLISH SHTETL

David Orenstein. 1993. 27min. 3/4 inch and SVHS.

A Polish survivor of the holocaust recounts life as he experienced it during boyhood in his native village.



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