This film tells the story of the intel­lec­tu­al adven­tures of Marcel Gri­aule, the founder of social anthro­po­log­i­cal field­work in France. Since 1931 he ded­i­cat­ed his life to the Dogon, today one of the best known people in West Africa. When Gri­aule died in Paris in 1956, the Dogon of Sanga hon­oured him with a tra­di­tion­al funer­al cer­e­mo­ny and they buried a doll sym­bol­i­cal­ly. In Jan­u­ary 1983 de Heusch meets Ger­maine Dieterlen – Gri­aules most impor­tant col­league during his Dogon research – and Jean Rouch, who has made doc­u­men­tary films in Dogon coun­try since 1951. Togeth­er they start shoot­ing a new film about the trick­ster hero called »pale fox«, the master of dis­or­der, the troublemaker.