Archaeology and
Anthropology
The Living Maya
Documentary Series
Filmed in a small Yucatan village over the course of a year, this four-part series explores the ancient agricultural and religious customs that ground contemporary Maya communal and family life in traditional values, even as modern Mexico comes to the village.PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The Anthropology Project, Santa Monica,
CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1982
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER/HOST: Hubert
Smith
EDITOR: David Lebrun
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Peter Smokler
AWARDS: CINE Golden Eagle; Margaret Mead Film Festival, Honoree; Choice, Outstanding Nonprint Media Award (American Library Association).
FORMAT: Video 4 (58:00) programs, in English, Spanish, and Maya, with English subtitles.
DISTRIBUTOR: University of California, Extension Media Center
Lucy in Disguise
Documentary
Lucy in Disguise discusses the collaborative efforts of experts from many disciplines to place the discovery of a 2.8 million-year-old partial skeleton in a paleohistorical perspective.PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Ohio University in cooperation with the
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
YEAR PRODUCED: 1981
EXECUTIVE
PRODUCER/CODIRECTOR: David Prince
WRITER/CODIRECTOR/WRITER: David
Smeltzer
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Ann Smeltzer
EDITOR: Andy
Marko
NARRATOR: Dave Kanzeg
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (two versions, 58:00 and 29:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Currently unavailable
Margaret Mead
Documentary Radio
A panel discussion about anthropologist Margaret Mead's legacy and her influence on current thinking about human culture and society. PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: WAMU, Washington, DCYEAR PRODUCED: 2001
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Nancy Robertson
NARRATOR: Diane Rehm FORMAT: Radio 2 hours
DISTRIBUTOR: WAMU
Margaret Mead: An Observer Observed
Documentary
This film is a portrait of one of the most influential women of our time. Using never-before-seen archival footage, stills, interviews, and dramatic re-creations, it weaves together a story of a scientist, adventurer, and international celebrity whose ideas shaped how we think about ourselves.PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Mind Matters, Inc., New York, NY
YEAR
PRODUCED: 1996
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Virginia Yans
PRODUCERS: Gail
Jansen, Lance Pierce
DIRECTORS: Alan Berliner, Jeffrey
Schon
WRITERS: Robert Seidman, Virginia Yans
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Neil
Smith
EDITORS: Alan Berliner, Joelle Schon
NARRATOR: Nancy
Marchand
CAST: Julie Boyd, Chris Coucill, Miriam Healy-Louie, Patrick
O'Connell, Lutz Rath
INTERVIEWS: Luther Cressman, Roy Rappaport,
Barbara Roll, Nancy Lutkehaus, Mary Catherine Bateson, Yolanda Moses,
Christine Ward Gailey, Benjamin Spock
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival; Margaret Mead Film Festival; Margaret Mead Touring Film Festival; Society for Visual Anthropology—Honorable Mention; American Historical Association; National Women's Studies Association; American Anthropological Association; National Educational Media Network—Silver Apple
PRINT MATERIAL: Filmakers Library—the domestic distributor has a brochure describing the film
FORMAT: Video (85:00)
DISTRIBUTORS:
The Mystery of the Lost Red Paint People
Documentary
The Mystery of the Lost Red Paint People sheds light on an early Indian culture of northeastern North America as it follows scientists to various sites in America and Europe in their search for links between seafaring cultures across great distances.PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Northeast Archaeology Project, New York,
NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1987 (first broadcast on NOVA)
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR:
T.W. Timreck
WRITER: William N. Goetzmann
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter
Stein
AWARDS: CINE Golden Eagle; American Film and Video Festival, Red Ribbon; National Educational Film and Video Festival, Bronze Apple; Booklist, Editor's Choice (American Library Association)
FORMAT: Video (56:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Bullfrog Films, Inc.
Odyssey I
Documentary Series
This series follows the work of anthropologists and archaeologists as they attempt to understand the complexities and similarities of human societies at different times and in different places.Program 1
Seeking the First Americans
follows
archaeologists from Alaska to Texas as they search for clues to the
identity of the earliest inhabitants of North America.
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Graham Chedd
Program 2
Franz Boas (1852-1942)
tells the story
of the German physicist who shaped the methods of American anthropology,
bringing discipline and order to a field that had previously dealt in
subjective "race classification."
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: T.W. Timreck
Program 3
The Incas
examines the sixteenth-century
Inca Empire through the work of three archaeologists.
PRODUCERS: Anna Benson-Gyles, Marian White
Program 4
Other People's Garbage
explores the work
of historical archaeologists across the United States: the excavation of
slave quarters in Georgia; an investigation of a nineteenth-century
multi-ethnic community near northern California coal mines; and an urban
archaeology project in the Boston area.
PRODUCERS: Ann Peck, Claire Andrade-Watkins
Program 5
The Chaco Legacy
explores the puzzling
technological achievements of the inhabitants of the Chaco Canyon in New
Mexico and speculates on their demise.
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Graham Chedd
Program 6
N!ai, The Story of a !Kung Woman
focuses
on changes in the life of the !Kung of Namibia through the reflections of
one woman over a twenty-eight year period.
PRODUCERS: John Marshall, Sue Marshall Cabezas
DIRECTORS: John
Marshall, Adrienne Miesmer
Program 7
Ongka's Big Moka
explores the lavish
ceremonial presentations of gifts, called moka, in the New Guinea
highlands through the preparations of one man.
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Charlie Naim
PRODUCER (Odyssey version): Melanie
Wallace, Sanford Low
Program 8
Maasai Women
looks at the women of the
Maasai tribe—from childhood through marriage and old age—in the East
African Rift Valley.
PRODUCER: Christopher Curling
PRODUCERS (Odyssey version): Melanie
Wallace, Sanford Low
Program 9
The Sakuddei
considers how government
development programs in tribal Indonesia may disrupt traditional ways of
life among the Sakuddei.
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: John Sheppard
PRODUCER (Odyssey version): Sanford
Low
Program 10
Shipwreck: La Trinidad
Valencera
examines the wreck of La Trinidad Valencera, the fourth
largest ship in the Spanish Armada, which was discovered in thirty feet of
water off the coast of Ireland.
PRODUCER: Ray Sutcliffe
PRODUCER (Odyssey version): Terry Kay
Rockefeller, Sue Simpson
Program 11
Key to the Land of Silence
illumines
the history of the Rosetta stone and its contribution to an understanding
of life in ancient Egypt.
DIRECTOR: Anna Benson-Gyles
PRODUCERS: (Odyssey version): Ashton
Peery, Terry Kay Rockefeller, Vivian Ducat
Program 12
Cree Hunters of Mistassini
looks at the
Cree Indians of Canada who trek northward every winter to hunt and trap
game.
DIRECTORS: Tony Lanzelo, Boyce Richardson
SERIES PRODUCTION
ORGANIZATION: Public Broadcasting Associates, Inc., Boston, MA
YEAR
PRODUCED: 1980
SERIES EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Michael Ambrosino
PRINT MATERIALS: Educator's Guide available with the programs distributed by Documentary Educational Resources
FORMATS: 16mm, Video
12 (58:00) programs
DISTRIBUTORS:
Odyssey II
Documentary Series
The second Odyssey series continues to explore the diversity of past and present cultures.Program 1
The Ancient Mariners
considers
excavation from three shipwrecks, with special emphasis on techniques of
modern underwater archaeology, the attempted reconstructions of ships and
cargo, and theories about ancient shipbuilding processes.
PRODUCER: Sanford Low
DIRECTOR: Werner Bundschuh
Program 2
On the Cowboy Trail
explores the lives
of contemporary cowboys in southeastern Montana.
PRODUCERS: Randy Strothman, Margot Liberty
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/WRITER:
Barry Head
Program 3
Lucy and the First Family
traces
anthropologist Donald Johanson's discovery of "Lucy," the oldest skeleton
of any human ancestor, and at least thirteen of her contemporaries in
Ethiopia
PRODUCER: Milton B. Hoffman
PRODUCER (Odyssey Version): Vivian Ducat
Program 4
The Kirghiz of Afghanistan
relates the
story of the Kirghiz nomads, who relocated in Pakistan after being forced
out of their home territory in Afghanistan.
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Charlie Nairn, M. Nazif
Shahrani
PRODUCERS/WRITERS (Odyssey Version): Robert Burns, Melanie
Wallace
Program 5
Bath Waters
follows a group of
archaeologists as they excavate the famous two thousand year-old Roman
baths in Bath, England, to learn more about the Romans and their influence
in Great Britain.
PRODUCER: Antonia Benedak
PRODUCER/WRITER (Odyssey Version): Marian
White
Program 6
Little Injustices: Laura Nader Looks at the
Law
introduces anthropologist Laura Nader's fieldwork in a small
Zapotec village in Mexico and her comparison of Mexican and American
systems of settling disputes and consumer complaints.
PRODUCERS: Terry Kay Rockefeller, Laurie Manny, Ashton Peery
Program 7
Myths and the Moundbuilders
reviews the
evolution of theories on Indian-built mounds scattered throughout the
eastern half of the United States.
WRITER/PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Graham Chedd
Program 8
The Three Worlds of Bali
explores the
pageantry, poetry, and song that permeate daily life on the Indonesian
island of Bali.
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Ira R. Abrams
Program 9
Masters of Metal
traces the way new
dating techniques have allowed archaeologists to challenge the once widely
accepted notion that Europeans learned how to work with metal from peoples
in the Middle East.
PRODUCER: Dominic Flessati
PRODUCER/WRITER (Odyssey Version):
Kathleen Bernhardt
Program 10
Dadi's Family
explores family
relationships in a household in northern India in light of socio-economic
change that threatens its cohesion.
PRODUCERS: James MacDonald, Michael Camerini
DIRECTOR/WRITER:
Michael Camerini, Rina Gill
Program 11
Ben's Mill
looks at one of the few
water-powered, wood-working mills left in this country.
PRODUCERS: Michel Chalufour, John Karol
Program 12
Margaret Mead: Taking Note
reveals
Mead's personal history and intellectual contributions through interviews
held shortly before her death, archival materials, and conversations with
friends, family, and former students.
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Ann Peck
Program 13
Some Women of Marrakech
explores the
lives of a group of Islamic women in Morocco, who share their feelings
about friendship, marriage, family, and religion.
PRODUCER: Melissa Llewelyn-Davis
PRODUCER (Odyssey Version): Melanie
Wallace
Program 14
Maya Lords of the Jungle
reviews a
number of theories concerning the rise and fall of the great Maya
Civilization of Central America.
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: John Angier
Program 15
We Are Mehinaku
shows how a small
Indian tribe of the Brazilian Amazon River Basin sustains its group
harmony through rituals that play out the tensions between the sexes.
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Carlos Pasini
PRODUCERS (Odyssey Version):
Melanie Wallace
SERIES PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Public Broadcasting
Associates, Inc., Boston, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1981
SERIES EXECUTIVE
PRODUCER: Michael Ambrosino
AWARDS: Academy Award nominee, Best Documentary Feature; Cinema du Reel, Grand Prize; The International Festival of Grand Reporting Films, First Prize; Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University, Special Citation; International Film and TV Festival of New York, Gold Award, Documentaries; Bronze Award; CINE Golden Eagle; American Film Festival, Blue Ribbon, Red Ribbon; Chicago International Film Festival, Gold Plaque; Cindy Award; ANZAAS International Scientific Film Exhibition, Australia, Commendation
PRINT MATERIAL: Educator's Guide available with programs distributed by Documentary Educational Resources
FORMAT: 16mm, Video
15 (58:00) programs
DISTRIBUTORS:
Out of the Past
Documentary Series
Examining the limits and possibilities of contemporary archaeology and anthropology, this program shows how physical evidence from long-ago societies can be studied alongside the practices of contemporary cultures to give new insights into the evolution of humankind.Program 1
New Worlds
explores how the Age of
Discovery 500 years ago revealed a broad range of cultures, that, like
biological species, have evolved independently and on a global scale—from
roving bands of hunter-gatherers to the vast empires of the Aztecs and
Incas.
Program 2
The Hearth
examines how enculturation
and economic cooperation have shaped the homes and families of people,
past and present.
Program 3
Artisans and Traders
explores the link
between economic and cultural evolution, from hunter-gatherers and early
agriculturalists to the present.
Program 4
Signs and Symbols
traces the way
archaeologists reconstruct and interpret the meaning of the symbols they
find—from the deciphering of ancient scripts to an understanding of status
symbols.
Program 5
Power, Prestige, and Wealth
examines the
different methods archaeologists use to study the way in which rulers gain
and keep power.
Program 6
Realms
shows how archaeologists can
reveal much of the internal workings of societies, as well as their
external relations, by looking at marriage alliances, trade, and warfare.
Program 7
The Spirit World
looks at the way
archaeologists study ritual behavior and sacred spaces and objects to
understand the nature of spiritual life in communities past and present.
Program 8
Collapse
investigates the decline and
fall of civilizations, focusing on the Mayan city of Copan, whose collapse
may have been brought on by overpopulation and the over-exploitation of
resources.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: WQED, Pittsburgh, PA and Cambridge Studios,
Newton, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1992
PROJECT DIRECTOR: Joanna
Baldwin-Mallory
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jay Rayvid
SERIES
PRODUCER/WRITER: Sanford Low
PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS/WRITERS: Werner
Bundschuh, Lance Wisniewski, Sheila Bernard, Kate Raisz
EDITORS: Eric
Handley, Bill Anderson, Peter Rhodes
AWARDS: CINE Golden Eagle (Programs 3 and 8)
FORMAT: Video, 8 (60:00) programs
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Adult Learning Service
Patterns of the Past
Documentary Radio Series
Patterns of the Past focuses on important archaeological discoveries. Fifty-two modules (2 minutes each) contain archaeological reports in the form of brief telegrams and newsbreaks from the field, while fifty-two other modules (7-11 minutes each) explore intellectual issues surrounding contemporary archaeology.PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Western Public Radio, San Francisco,
CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1985
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Leo C. Lee
WRITER:
Brian M. Fagan
FORMAT: Audiocassette 104 programs (two to eleven-minute modules)
DISTRIBUTOR: Currently unavailable
Pleasing God
Documentary Series
Filmed in the town of Vishnupur in West Bengal, Pleasing God is a three-part series about the devotional practices associated with three major deities of the Hindu pantheon, with special attention on festivals dedicated to these gods.Program 1
Loving Krishna
examines a local
manifestation of the cult of Krishna and displays the continuing link
between worship, arts and crafts, bazaar exchanges, and everyday life.
Program 2
Sons of Shiva
depicts the four-day
annual Gajan festival of Shiva, the Great Lord and God of destruction,
along with the ritual practices of the devotees of this god.
Program 3
Serpent Mother
relates the myth of the
goddess, Manasha, and depicts the making of images for her worship.
PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Harvard University Film Study Center,
Cambridge, MA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1985
PRODUCERS/WRITERS: Robert Gardner,
Akos Ostar, Allen Moore
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Loving Krishna: Baltimore Film Festival Prize; Sons of Shiva: CINE Golden Eagle; Serpent Mother: Sinking Creek Film Festival, Cash Award
FORMAT: 16mm, Video 3 (30:00) programs
DISTRIBUTOR: Currently unavailable
Popol Vuh: The Creation Myth of the Maya
Documentary
Using images from Maya ceramics of the Classic Period, this animated film recounts the first part of the heroic adventures recorded in the Popol Vuh, a narrative account of the myths and legends of the Maya of southern Mexico and Central America.PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Film Arts Foundation, San Francisco,
CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1987
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Patricia
Amlin
ANIMATION: Patricia Amlin, Joanne Corso, Martha
Gorzycki
LIPSYNCH ANIMATION: Bud Luckey
CAMERA: Martha
Gorzycki
EDITORS: Yasha Aginsky, Jennifer Chinlund, Louis
Hough
NARRATOR: Tony Shearer (29:00 version), Larry George (59:00
version)
VOICES: El Teatro Campesino, directed by Luis Valdez, and
others
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: National Educational Film and Video Festival, Bronze Apple; Latin American Studies Association, Award of Merit; CINE Golden Eagle; American Film and Video Festival, Finalist; Media and Methods Award; Native American Film Festival, Honoree; American Anthropological Association, Honoree
PRINT MATERIAL: Teacher's Guide for elementary and secondary schools available
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (two versions, 29:00 and 59:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: University of California, Extension Media Center
Pulse of the Planet
Documentary Radio A series of short segments, Pulse of the Planet offers snapshots of the planet using a mix of modern sound, interview, and voice-over narrative to help tell its stories. Listeners travel the globe tracking the rhythms of nature and culture and exploring the horizons of scientific discovery. The series focuses on the ways we celebrate the seasons, interact with our local environment, and follow the seasonal and cyclical activities of life on Earth. PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Jim Metzner Productions, Inc., Yorktown Heights, NYYEAR PRODUCED: 1999
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jim Metzner
PRODUCERS: Shawn Dudley, Rachael Teel
HOST: Jim Metzner PRINT MATERIALS: Press Kit AWARDS/FESTIVALS: 2001 American Institute of Biological Sciences Media Award; 1999 Silver Reel, National Federation of Community Broadcasters FORMAT: Audio; multiple two-minute segments
DISTRIBUTOR: Murray Street Enterprise
The Royal Archives of Ebla
Documentary
The film discusses the importance of 17,000 cuneiform tablets and fragments found in 1975 at the site of the ancient kingdom of Ebla in northwest Syria.PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Milberg Productions, Inc., Norwalk, CT
YEAR
PRODUCED: 1980
PRODUCER: Mildred Freed Alberg
DIRECTORS: Richard
Ellison, Mildred Freed Alberg
WRITERS: Mildred Freed Alberg, Fred
Warshofsky
NARRATOR: Arthur Kennedy
AWARDS: New York International Film and Television Festival, Gold Medal; Chicago International Film Festival, Certificate of Merit; San Francisco Film Festival, Honorable Mention
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (58:32)
DISTRIBUTOR: Public Media Inc.
Search for a Century
Documentary
Search for a Century chronicles the archaeological discoveries at Martin's Hundred and Wolstenholme Towne, a seventeenth-century settlement on the banks of the James River in Virginia.PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation,
Williamsburg, VA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1980
PRODUCER: Arthur L.
Smith
DIRECTOR/EDITOR: Gene Bjerke
WRITER/NARRATOR: Ivor Noel
Hume
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ronald Gertz, Michael Durling
AWARD: International Film and Television Festival of New York, Gold Medal; International Archaeological Film Festival (Paris), Grand Prix
PRINT MATERIAL: Discussion Guide available
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (58:30)
DISTRIBUTOR: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Shamans of the Blind Country
Documentary
Shamans of the Blind Country records the Great Inner Asian tradition of shamanism, as preserved in the secluded society of the Northern Magar tribe in Central West Nepal.PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: The New York Center for Visual History, New
York, NY
YEAR PRODUCED: 1985
PRODUCER: Wieland
Schulz-Keil
EDITORIAL CONSULTANT: Fred Pressburger
FORMAT: Video (58:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: Not currently available in U.S.
For European
distribution contact Freunde der Deutschen Kinemathek (Friends of the
German Cinema), attn: Sylvia Anderson
Sons of the Moon
Documentary
This film, told from the point of view of a Ngas bard, traces the moon's influence on the Ngas who live in Nigeria's Jos Plateau.PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Institute for the Study of Human Issues,
Philadelphia, PA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1984
PRODUCER: Michael
Camerini
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Bankole Bello
WRITER: Deirdre
LaPin
EDITOR: Paul Marcus
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Francis Speed
PRINT MATERIAL: Accompanying guide available
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (29:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: University of California, Extension Media Center
Tree of Iron
Documentary
Set in Tanzania on the western shores of Lake Victoria, Tree of Iron explores the subject of African iron smelting, presenting evidence that early indigenous technologies were far more complex than previously believed.PRODUCTION ORGANIZATIONS: Foundation for African Prehistory and
Archaeology, Gainesville, FL, and Audio-Visual Institute, Tanzania
YEAR
PRODUCED: 1988
PRODUCERS: Peter O'Neill, Peter
Schmidt
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Frank Muhly
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Peter
O'Neill
EDITORS: Peter O'Neill, Winnie Lambrecht
AWARDS: National Film and Video Festival, Gold Apple; Society of Visual Anthropology, Award of Excellence; American Film and Video Festival, Red Ribbon
FORMAT: 16mm, Video (57:50) English and Swahili
DISTRIBUTOR: Indiana University, Audio-Visual Center
Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey
Documentary
This documentary sweeps viewers into a seafaring adventure with a community of Polynesians, as they build traditional sailing canoes, learn how to follow the stars across the open ocean, and embark upon a 2,000-mile voyage in the wake of their ancestors. Wayfinders is told primarily from the point of view of the Pacific Islanders, who use archival sources, oral traditions, archaeological discoveries, and experimental voyages to resolve controversial issues of their own history and reclaim their heritage as accomplished oceanic explorers.PRODUCTION ORGANIZATION: Maiden Voyage Productions, Half Moon Bay, CA
YEAR PRODUCED: 1999
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER: Gail Evenari
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ray Day, Robert Elfstrom, Stephen
Lighthill
EDITORS: Yasha Aginsky, Nathaniel Dorsky
NARRATOR: Patrick
Stewart
AWARDS/FESTIVALS: Gold Apple-National Educational Media Network
PRINT MATERIAL: Curriculum available through Maiden Voyage Productions
FORMAT: Video (60:00)
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS Video