Ethnographic film
The ethnological film or ethnographic film in anthropology a form of the documentary, the members of foreign cultures is involved in their socio-cultural, socio-economic, as well as geological and biological environment. An important feature of ethnological documentary is the study of a selected group (ethnicity ), the film narrative is usually developed using one or more protagonists that there are representative of the entire group. The aim of the ethnographic film is the description of foreign cultures, their living conditions, norms, values and culture techniques. Ethnographic film and ethnographic photography can be summarized under the heading Visual Anthropology. Describes an ethnographic film phenomena from German-speaking, this is known as ethnographic or cultural studies film.
History
The first ethnographic films were made in 1900 in the wake of colonization and discovery and research trips. In this case, the interest was in the foreground, to obtain bio- anthropological knowledge of members of other cultures while he was held mainly movements in craft activities or even in ritual acts on film, trying to analyze. The International Ethnographic Congress in 1900 in Paris spoke already in favor of the then just created in the nascent ethnographic museums to supplement film archives. The first full-length ethnographic film was Robert J. Flaherty's Nanook of the North (1922 ), the fictional association with documentary elements and was particular as regards the cooperation between filmmakers and protagonists ahead of its time.
Until the 1950s, however, the ethnographic film remained in the main, an internal means of science without great visibility and had to submit written work results. The late 1950s and early 1960s awakened a public interest in ethnographic film, in special festivals such as the Festival dei Popoli in Florence and the Cinéma du reel in Paris. Expressed Filmmakers such as Jean Rouch ( I, a black man, 1958 ), John Marshall ( The Hunters, 1958) or Robert Gardner ( Dead Birds, 1963) dealt with the ethnographic film. The improved technical possibilities such as easily transportable unit or synchronous sound recording gave the genre a new impetus and offered space for innovation, such as following up on about David and Judith MacDougall in her trilogy Turkana Conversations ( filming 1974 release 1977/79/81 ).
Especially the cooperation with television helped the ethnographic film, the ability to reach wide audiences, as in the case of Ivo Strecker Sweet Millet ( 1994), and anxiety and hope in the face of drought (1994). Significant scientific support and cooperation partners of television in Germany, the Institute for the Scientific Film in Göttingen and the Society for the cultural studies film, also in Göttingen. The Swiss Folklore Society realized the cooperation between ethnologists and professional filmmakers, such as Hans -Ulrich Schlumpf The beautiful moment (1985).
Objectives
By acting directly visual and auditory elements of film understanding of foreign him lifestyles to be achieved in the audience. In the case of a subordinate scientific claim often dominates the emphasis exotic elements. The travel and expedition film conveys in this sense, although often ethnographic information, but remains mostly in the view of the astonished outsiders.
The modern ethnographic film is not limited to the uninvolved observation, but uses the process of filming of the design as a form of communication and as a cooperative project. Even forms of artistic expression through the medium of film, such as cutting and rhythm, use of music or elements of drama are developed together.
The ethically responsible search for appropriate forms of representation and often a clear espousal of the people depicted in the film in their needs and their struggle against cultural destruction, displacement and dispossession come to the forefront of filmmaking generic interest.
Scientific significance of the Ethnological Films
In theory there goes the Ethnological film essentially about the extent to which audiovisual recording techniques can be used for scientific purposes within the ethnology and whether the expression of the film are scientifically relevant or not. The film has been accused of serving mainly of entertainment, which is why the Ethnological Film by many anthropologists as a not particularly suitable for scientific purposes presentation medium considered that rather belongs to the domain of popular science. We point in particular to the difficulty of the theory formation by filmic representations.
The ethnologist and filmmaker David MacDougall is included in his book, Transcultural Cinema on the differences between word and image. It confirms that the theory as it is done in writing in the film is not possible, the film but has other interesting presentation possibilities, because it is against the text is a fundamentally different medium. So texts are always dependent to describe complex environments in simplistic categories and "foreign " must always be compared with the "known " to be describable in writing. The film, however, has the ability to reproduce the complexity of a situation largely realistic, and therefore gives the viewers cultural differences rather intuitive way.