Anthro­po­log­i­cal film­mak­ing: Lessons learned As young novice in Anthro­pol­o­gy in the field, I made draw­ings of people and asked chil­dren to do the same thing; I also took pic­tures and … read more

For decades, Swiss trav­eller and film­mak­er René Gardi (1909-2000) explained the African con­ti­nent and its inhab­i­tants to us. In books, tele­vi­sion pro­grams and films, he waxed poetic about the beau­ti­ful … read more

The Arhua­co live in the high­est moun­tains of Colom­bia. They wear their tra­di­tion­al white clothes as they have for many cen­turies and main­tain their cul­ture and spir­i­tu­al­i­ty, which is tight­ly … read more

Alha­jji Ibrahim Gonji is an Islam­ic schol­ar. For 46 years, he has served as judge at the Sul­tanate of Ngaoundéré in North­ern Cameroon. The film fol­lows Alha­jji during the last years of his life, focussing on the rela­tion­ships in a polyg­a­mous family, seen from the per­spec­tive of the wives and their hus­band. The film (shot in years 1997-2001 and edited only now) presents a way of life that is typ­i­cal of the soci­eties and cul­tures of Borno and Adamaoua provinces (Nige­ria and Cameroon) where people living far away from the cap­i­tal cen­ters, strug­gle to adapt to modern edu­ca­tion, strong mar­gin­al­iza­tion and increas­ing pover­ty. In recent years, the region has been under con­stant threat of the Boko Haram insurgency.

Emmanuel Gras says that the idea for his film was quite simple. Kab­wi­ta, his pro­tag­o­nist from Kol­wezi in the south of the Congo, makes a living from char­coal burn­ing. Nor­mal­ly, … read more

In Switzer­land, tra­di­tion­al char­coal burn­ing is still a trade. Each summer, smoke rises out of the char­coal piles, or kilns. The pro­ce­dure takes five weeks. The metic­u­lous stack­ing of the … read more