Quote:
Today, when one goes on a journey, the travel is ritualized through the visual machine. The image, coming alive in time as it frames time, is there where the actual and virtual meet. In the process of ritualizing Japan’s “hundred flowers,” it is the encounter between self and other, human and machine, viewer and image, fact and fancy that determines the field of relations in which new interactions between past and present are made possible. Shown in their widespread functions and manifestations, including more evident loci such as festival, religious rite and theatrical performance, “rituals” involve not only the regularity in the structure of everyday life, but also the dynamic agents in the ongoing process of creating digital images at the speed of light (trinhminh-ha.com)

Quote:
Acclaimed filmmaker Trinh T. Minh-ha ventures into the digital realm with her stunning feature, THE FOURTH DIMENSION, an incisive and insightful examination of Japan through its art, culture, and social rituals. As is the case with Trinh’s previous films, her film is a multi-layered work addressing issues around its central theme: the experience of time, the impossibility of truly “seeing,” and the impact of video on image-making. THE FOURTH DIMENSION is an elegant meditation on time, travel, and ceremony in the form of a journey. In her first foray into digital video, Minh-ha deconstructs the role of ritual in mediating between the past and the present. She explains, “Shown in their widespread functions and manifestations, including more evident loci such as festivals, religious rite and theatrical performance, ‘rituals’ involve not only the regularity in the structure of everyday life, but also the dynamic agents in the world of meaning.” With its lush imagery, Minh-ha’s Japan is viewed through mobile frames, with doors and windows sliding shut, revealing new vistas as it blocks out the old light. (WMM)

The Fourth Dimension (Trinh T. Minh-ha, 2001).mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 27 min
Size: 	3.28 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1920x1080 
Aspect ratio:  	16:9
Frame rate: 	29.970 fps
Bit rate: 	5 139 kb/s
BPP: 	0.083
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https://nitro.download/view/CC90113C2DDCBFB/The_Fourth_Dimension_(Trinh_T._Minh-ha,_2001).mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:None

The post Trinh T. Minh-Ha – The Fourth Dimension (2001) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

It is thanks to this film that the Marquis gained notoriety with a wider audience. The film is the result of film footage shot between May 1926 and June 1930 in several South American countries. Departing from Guayaquil, he first went to the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific. Upon returning to the capital of Ecuador, chance brought him to the Ocaina Indians, the Boro, the Napo, the Jivaro and the Piro. He explored the Incan mines of Machu Picchu, discovered only a few years prior, and ended his journey on the famed Guano islands. The musical score, inspired by traditional Indian music, was created by Maurice Jaubert.

In.the.Scalp.Country.(Au.pays.du.scalp).1931.DVDRip.x264-Zog.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 11 min
Size: 	1.58 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	476x576 ~> 676x576
Aspect ratio:  	1.174
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	2 909 kb/s
BPP: 	0.424
Audio
#1:  	English 2.0ch AC-3 @ 224 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/E4795C1CCDF37FE/In.the.Scalp.Country.(Au.pays.du.scalp).1931.DVDRip.x264-Zog.mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:English, Spanish, French, Dutch

The post Marquis de Wavrin – In the Scalp Country AKA Au pays du scalp AKA The Amazon Head Hunters (1931) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

A short film set in the mountainous province of Svaneti, documents the performance of polyphonic men’s funerary laments common to the region.

Andrea Kuzmich wrote:
Hugo Zemp’s short film documents an intense cultural ritual in one of the most remote regions of Georgia. The title is somewhat misleading since the film actually covers only one of over a dozen regional music cultures within the country. Still, the film’s production techniques, the nature of the material, and the accompanying online study guide make a significant contribution to Georgian ethnographic material and address a lacuna in research from the Caucasus in general. Although some may criticize the film’s lack of background and explanatory material (Graham 2009; Eller 2010), these shortcomings allow for a more aesthetic experience that contributes to the film’s success in developing an esoteric, ethereal awareness of a Svan funeral.

Georgian music culture is known for its three-part vocal form performed in the limited range of a baritone-tenor. The country boasts many musical dialects, and can vary from a simple polyphonic structure, featuring antiphonal vocal lines over a two-note drone to complex melismatic and/or contrapuntal forms. Compared to the rest of the country, the musical form in Svaneti typically features a more homorhythmic polyphonic structure, as exemplified by the men’s funeral lament featured in this film.

In Svaneti, this lament is called a zär. The film opens with a group of elders singing the zär as they stand around a small table ladened with food and wine, just outside the deceased’s home where crowds have amassed. For the most part, the camera stays with these elders: at the wake, during the procession to the cemetery, and near the grave as the deceased is being laid to rest. But the film also offers glimpses into other Svan funeral observances. Particularly interesting are a few brief scenes closer to the corpse, where women and, curiously, men individually and collectively wail.

Footage for the film was taken by a single handheld camera. Following his principals for filming human behaviour, Zemp avoids the cinematographic editing typical of commercial films as well as the sterile standardized film techniques used for scientific documentation (1988). Also, out of respect for the music, the zär is filmed and edited in its entirety, except in the last take. According to the study guide’s section on “Shooting and Editing Strategies,” Zemp had run out of film. Left with only simple edits, no interviews, no voiceovers, occasional subtitles and transparent intertitles, and tasteful camera panning, the film presents a very powerful and moving experience of a Georgian funeral.

Certainly, the pedagogical value of the film could have been enhanced. Interviews and background information could have contextualized the making of the film and answered questions about the length of the funeral observances, about the female and male wailing activity, or about the obscured and eerie movements by those near the grave as the corpse was being laid to rest. The scarcity and quality of the subtitles are also misleading, especially for those unfamiliar with Georgian polyphony. For instance, while the film states the zär is sung in three parts and makes use of nonsense syllables, much of Svan and Georgian polyphony in general can be described the same way. And while the study guide provides some resources to Georgian ethnographic and ethnomusicological literature, it fails to identify an excellent and very concise article on the zär (Kalandadze-Makharadze 2005), which contextualizes the different performances of the lament in different regions of Georgia.

Whatever its limitations, the film’s contribution to research and resources on the region are invaluable. And whether you are Georgian or have never heard Georgian music before, the film will elicit an emotional response, probably similar to the one you may actually experience at a Svan funeral.

Funeral.Chants.from.the.Georgian.Caucasus.2007.DVD.AC3.2.0.x264-SaL.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	20 min 46 s
Size: 	591 MiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	700x570 ~> 760x570
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	3 527 kb/s
BPP: 	0.354
Audio
#1:  	Georgian 2.0ch AC-3 @ 448 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/E303A845E26C400/Funeral.Chants.from.the.Georgian.Caucasus.2007.DVD.AC3.2.0.x264-SaL.mkv

Language(s):Georgian
Subtitles:English (Hardcoded)

The post Hugo Zemp – Funeral Chants from the Georgian Caucasus (2007) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
Margaret Mead narrates an elaborate ritual performance. The ritual is reenacting a local mythological story, which is briefly described before the film. The basic story is that a king denies to marry a witch’s daughter, thereby unleashing the witch’s wrath. She and her disciples spread plague across the land. The king sends an emissary, who the witch transforms into a dragon. This becomes a cosmic battle between life (dragon) and death (witch).

The ritual is performed outside a temple within a large rectangular yard surrounded by a large audience. An orchestra of xylophones and drums play trance music for the entirety of the performance, with very little variation.

The witch is played by an adult male. The costume consists of draping cloths and jewelry, furry legs, and long fingernails resembling claws. Later, the witch wears a monstrous mask, which transforms her into a supernatural form. It provides power and magic. It evokes fear.

At the beginning, small children participate up until the end of the plague. The children act as victims for the witch to terrorize, as they flee about the open space. In one scene, a pregnant woman played by a man has her baby (doll) delivered by a group of children. The witch kills the baby, and we see the mother and the children mourn.

Toward the end of the ritual, an army of the dragon’s disciples advance upon the witch, but only when her eyes are averted. They fall when she looks back at them.

At the end, the yard is filled with men and women alike as they enter into trance. They hold krisses (a wavy blade representing the dragon/snake) against their chests during their convulsions. If a convulsion is too violent, a group with disarm the individual. Nobody is hurt. If they were, it is believed that the trance wasn’t real.

Afterwards, they enter the adjacent courtyard in order to bring everyone out of their deep trances. Incense and holy water is used to wake them. Some have trouble coming back to consciousness. Small food sacrifices are made, with the presence of a priest, in order to aid the process.

I have no training in anthropology. My loose summary is not a replacement for the film. I have left out several details as I am simply noting the most important beats of the performance. Nonetheless, every smallest detail of a religious ritual is of significant and should not be ignored in a more formal writing setting.

Quote:
Records a performance of the Balinese ceremonial kris (dagger) dance-drama, which depicts the never-ending struggle between witch (death-dealing) and dragon (life-protecting), as it was given in the village of Pagoetan in the late 1930s. The dancers experience violent trance seizures, turn their krises against their breasts without injury, and are restored to consciousness with incense and holy water. Narrated by Margaret Mead against a background of Balinese music. From the Character Formation in Different Cultures series. Produced by Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead. 1952

Trance and Dance in Bali (1952, Gregory Bateson & Margaret Mead) [WEB 576p].mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	21 min 22 s
Size: 	447 MiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	816x576 
Aspect ratio:  	1.417
Frame rate: 	24.000 fps
Bit rate: 	2 793 kb/s
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https://nitro.download/view/2F64CB1638FB364/Trance_and_Dance_in_Bali_(1952,_Gregory_Bateson_&_Margaret_Mead)__WEB_576p_.mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:None

The post Gregory Bateson & Margaret Mead – Trance and Dance in Bali (1952) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
The Miracle of Bali is a BBC series of cultural documentaries narrated by David Attenborough and first shown in 1969. The series comprises three programs about the culture of Bali.

Episode 1. The Midday Sun
The first episode is a general introduction to Bali, its people and their varied arts, with the main focus on Peliatan village, its orchestra and dancers. It focuses first on the gamelan orchestra, before turning to the influence that Walter Spies has had on the younger generation of painters. It concludes with the training of new pre-puberty Legong dancers and their first performance.

Episode 2. Night
This episode covers the animistic rituals and festivals of Bali, officially Hindu, but with origins in ancient ceremonials practised long before Hinduism came to the island. It opens with the spirit possession of children, said to be the origin of the Legong dance; it continues with possession by pigs, horses and even pots; and concludes with the all-important Barong ritual. This episode includes historical footage of the 1963 eruption of Mount Agung.

Episode 3. Recital Of Music
This episode is about music and dancing from the Balinese village of Peliatan, the separate items linked by an appropriately illustrative detail from Balinese paintings. It opens with a virtuoso instrumental from the gamelan orchestra; next is a dance choreographed in 1951, The Bee Sips Honey; the 3rd section presents snippets from 4 different ensembles; and it closes with the unforgettable Monkey Dance.

The.Miracle.of.Bali.S01E01.The.Midday.Sun.DVDRip.x264-Green.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	49 min 37 s
Size: 	956 MiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	698x572 ~> 762x572
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	2 500 kb/s
BPP: 	0.250
Audio
#1:  	English 2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s (English DD2.0 @ 192 Kbps)

https://nitro.download/view/BB932F49C2C407A/The.Miracle.of.Bali.S01E01.The.Midday.Sun.DVDRip.x264-Green.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/C2289A755236D3B/The.Miracle.of.Bali.S01E02.Night.DVDRip.x264-Green.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/E06932F215D49EE/The.Miracle.of.Bali.S01E03.A.Recital.of.Music.and.Dancing.from.the.Village.of.Pliatan.DVDRip.x264-Green.mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:English

The post David Attenborough – The Miracle of Bali (1969) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
“Forest of Bliss is an unsparing yet redemptive account of the inevitable griefs, religious passions and frequent happinesses that punctuate daily life in Benares, India’s most holy city. The film unfolds from one sunrise to the next without commentary, subtitles or dialogue. It is an attempt to give the viewer a wholly authentic, though greatly magnified and concentrated, sense of participation in the experiences examined by the film.

In late 1984 and early 1985 I was back in Benares making Forest Of Bliss, a film about which I had pondered at length since my first unsettling visit ten years earlier. I have shaped the film so that it occupies the time between two sunrises. It stands as an exclusively visual statement resorting neither to voiced commentary nor subtitles. It is about people being and also dying.

Of the multitude at work, at play and at prayer, three individuals are seen in somewhat greater detail than others. They are: a Healer of extraordinary geniality who attends pained and troubled people both in his modest home above Manikarnika, the main cremation ground, and the Durga temple late at night; the baleful and untouchable king of the cremation grounds, who vigorously exercises his hereditary rights to sell sacred fire and grass to mourners; and an unusually conscientious priest who performs sacred rites at a small shrine he maintains near the Ganges.

Seeing Forest of Bliss completed, I am quite certain that the animals, especially the dogs, have an importance I merely glimpsed as I was shooting. The dogs and, of course, the River.” – Robert Gardner

Robert Gardner - Forest of Bliss (1986).mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 28 min
Size: 	3.26 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1920x1080 
Aspect ratio:  	16:9
Frame rate: 	24.000 fps
Bit rate: 	5 000 kb/s
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#1:  	2.0ch AAC LC @ 256 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/B160095805EFE23/Robert_Gardner_-_Forest_of_Bliss_(1986).mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:None

The post Robert Gardner – Forest of Bliss (1986) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
1. Desert Gods
First transmitted in 1963, this is the first in a series of six programmes by David Attenborough on the Northern Territory of Australia.

David Attenborough, cameraman Eugene Carr and sound recordist Bob Saunders spent four months in the Northern Territory of Australia. Hoping to capture the essence of this vast territory they meet its people and explore its unique landscape and animals.

Their journey starts in the south among the Aborigines of the desert, many of whom have abandoned their nomadic way of live, now living in mission stations and government settlements. But the desert holds an irresistible pull, and groups suddenly vanish to visit sacred water holes and mountains that have been the gods of the aborigines since time immemorial.

2. Hermits of Boraloola
First transmitted in 1963, David Attenborough reaches the middle of the Northern Territory of Australia and visits three people in the otherwise deserted area of Borroloola who have chosen to cut themselves off from the civilised world.

3. Buffalo, Geese and Men
First transmitted in 1963, David Attenborough continues his journey through Australia’s Northern Territory. He looks at the hunting of local wildlife such as magpie geese and water buffalo.

David Attenborough interviews Yorky Billy, an Australian whose family were originally from Yorkshire. Having lived all his life in the bush, Yorky Billy is an expert on the wild buffalo of the Northern Territory and imparts some useful advice on how to avoid annoying them.

Back amongst an Aboriginal community David Attenborough explores burial traditions and witnesses a traditional dance that re-enacts a kangaroo hunt.

4. The Artists of Arnhem Land
First transmitted in 1963, David Attenborough looks at the aboriginal artists of Arnhem Land in Australia’s Northern Territory. He discovers why they paint and in doing so, gets some insight into the very origins of art.

5. Bush Walkabout
First transmitted in 1963, David Attenborough ventures into the bush to discover the unique wild animals that inhabit the Northern Territory of Australia. The bush walk reveals a wealth of wildlife including bee eaters, radjah shelduck, rose crested cockatoos, termites, kangaroos, wallabies, possums, an Australian crane and several lizards including the goanna, the thorny devil and the frilled lizard. Attenborough also closely observes the extraordinary behaviour of a bowerbird, which collects a treasury of white objects to display to its mate during courtship.

6. The First Australians
First transmitted in 1963, the Aboriginal people are the subject of this report by David Attenborough from the Northern Territory of Australia.

David Attenborough joins the Gunavidji people on the coast of the Northern Territory to obtain a better understanding of their traditional way of life. He examines the efforts of the Australian government to move Aboriginal communities away from their nomadic tradition by building welfare settlements and training schools. This programme offers a unique insight into a difficult and complex period in Aboriginal history.

Adventure.Quest.Under.Capricorn.1963.E01.Desert.Gods.WEB.540p.mkv

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Runtime: 	29 min 47 s
Size: 	360 MiB
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Codec: 	h264
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Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	1 594 kb/s
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https://nitro.download/view/DECE290DFCAB64C/Adventure.Quest.Under.Capricorn.1963.E01.Desert.Gods.WEB.540p.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/5C1DF13DBDFC31A/Adventure.Quest.Under.Capricorn.1963.E02.Hermits.of.Borroloola.WEB.540p.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/C6E51D5CEB866C2/Adventure.Quest.Under.Capricorn.1963.E03.Buffalo.Geese.and.Men.WEB.540p.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/4C4D754EC93DD56/Adventure.Quest.Under.Capricorn.1963.E04.The.Artists.of.Arnhem.WEB.540p.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/94C5103394D2D01/Adventure.Quest.Under.Capricorn.1963.E05.Bush.Walkabout.WEB.540p.mkv
https://nitro.download/view/37B3815DEC46EE3/Adventure.Quest.Under.Capricorn.1963.E06.The.First.Australians.WEB.540p.mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:None

The post David Attenborough – Adventure: Quest Under Capricorn (1963) first appeared on Cinema of the World.