Odyssey Series color, 767 minutes
Now available for the first time on DVD! A ground-breaking twelve-part series of anthropological documentaries with subject matter ranging from archeology studies of the Americas to following the inspirational lives of women in a North Indian Village. Originally aired on PBS in 1980, with a second season in 1981.

The Stitches Speak (Tanko Bole Chhe) color, 12 minutes
An animated documentary that celebrates the art and passion of the Kutch artisans who retrace their journeys in forming the Kala Raksha Trust and the School for Design in India.

Drums on the Red River color, 73 minutes
Capturing an important example of the widespread revival of traditional folk festivals that has followed political and economic reform, Drums on the Red River documents the 2007 Chu Dong Tu Festival in Yen Vinh, China.

Sensory Ethnography Lab Series - DER introduces works from Harvard University’s acclaimed new Sensory Ethnography Lab, headed by Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Ernst Karel. Experimenting within the interstices of art and anthropology, these videos represent an important new addition and expansion to the field of modern visual anthropology.

Demolition (Chaiqian) color, 62 minutes
Demolition creates a compelling portrait of the China’s “floating population” through a view of the fleeting social relationships and worksites of a group of rural migrant workers who have come to the city of Chengdu in Western China.

Songhua color, 29 minutes
Addressing the social and urban space issues of a major waterway of northeastern China, this documentary reveals the intimate and complex relationship between Harbin city residents and their “mother river”, the Songhua.

Kāle and Kāle color, 50 minutes
Kāle and Kāle portrays the subtle everyday interactions and relationships between an uncle and nephew through a series of vignettes, inviting the viewer to engage sensorially with the subjects and their environment.

Monsoon-Reflections color, 22 minutes
The poet Lekhnath Paudyal depicts monsoons as ‘joyous from start to finish’, however Monsoon-Reflections reveals the melancholy of two female Nepali field hands as they carry out their monsoon routines, creating a poignant reflection of labor, gender, and the fleeting nature of pleasure in rural Nepal.

Still Life color, 25 minutes
In Still Life, a series of photos brought to an elderly Palestinian man intertwines the present with his recollections of life in Palestine before 1948. This is the first sequence in a triptych of portraits which explore the mediations of memory among three generations of Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon.

Art Films by Rina Sherman color, 40 minutes
This DVD includes three of Rina Sherman’s early avant-garde short films: Antics of the Artists (1983), Chicken Movie. Cluck! (1984), and An Egg With No Shell (1992) - featuring Jean Rouch. These films show a strong performance art influence and as well are informed by Sherman’s background as a classically-trained musician, an influence that has continued to be present in her work.

Race or Reason: The Bellport Dilemma color, 59 minutes
In 1969–70, when race riots were sweeping across America, a series of confrontations at a racially mixed high school rocked the small Long Island town of Bellport. Local resident Betty Puleston opened her home as a meeting place where black, white, and Latino students could air their grievances, providing them with a pair of video cameras to facilitate dialogue. Thirty years later, the former students regrouped to view the tapes.

The Rising Wave color, 65 minutes
In India, the deep spiritual significance of water diverges with the practices of a rapidly transforming economy. The Rising Wave eloquently presents a culture built on the sacred and functional use of water and how its future will be determined as corporations claim to control.

Children Left Behind: A Documentary on High Stakes Testing color, 46 minutes
Children Left Behind investigates the compelling stories of students struggling as a result of the recent reform of high stakes testing in the US. The negative consequences for these intended beneficiaries raises the important question of whether we are leaving too many children behind in our quest for higher test scores.

Birds of Passage color, 52 minutes
Birds of Passage presents a lyrical journey through the lives of two young Uruguayan songwriters who have moved from their hometowns to explore new horizons. With striking cinematography and soundtrack, Birds of Passage depicts the challenges of being a young artist and the art of searching, inside and outside oneself.

Da Feast! color, 22 minutes
Da Feast! celebrates the 100th anniversary of the annual feast of San Paulino di Nola in the streets of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. More than a block party or a church social, the Feast unfolds on personal, political, communal, familial levels, depicting the constant change and vivaciousness of this community.

A Model for Conservation color, 18 minutes
A stunning look at biodiversity surveying in the rainforest of the Island of Buton in Indonesia, A Model for Conservation provides invaluable insight to effective conservation strategy and long-term integration with local inhabitants.

Hyman Bloom: The Beauty of All Things color, 57 minutes
Told with humor and irony, the career and passion of painter Hyman Bloom, a forefather of abstract art in America, is boldly conveyed. The film highlights a body of work that is a vibrant manifestation of Bloom’s imagination and his dedication to envision what others at the time didn’t dare to paint.

40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy color, 86 minutes
40 Years of Silence is the first documentary to explore the personal effects of the 1965 mass-killings in Indonesia, in which estimates say more than 500 thousand people died. This story is told through the compelling testimonies of four individuals and their families as they break their silence for the first time.

Coffee Futures color, 22 minutes
Provocative and timely, Coffee Futures weaves individual fortunes with the story of Turkey’s decades-long attempts to become a member of the European Union. Promises and predictions made by politicians, both foreign and domestic, are juxtaposed with the rhetoric and practices of coffee fortune telling.

Returned: Child Soldiers of Nepal’s Maoist Army color, 57 minutes
In a newly released 57-minute extended version, Returned follows four Nepali children as they attempt to rebuild their lives after fighting in the Maoist revolution. For many of these children, the return home can be even more painful than the experience of war.

All My Babies: A Midwife’s Own Story w/ Palmour Street black & white, 54 minutes
George’s Stoney’s classic All My Babies is a training film about midwifery that transcends the form. The film is not only a profound portrait of midwife “Miss Mary” Coley, but also is a documentary record of the living conditions of African-American families in 1950s Georgia. As an extra, this DVD also includes Stoney’s film Palmour Street (1949), an open-ended discussion of family relations in Gainesville, Georgia.

Two Video Reports From China: Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine black & white, 54 minutes
This DVD contains two video reports made during the 1977 People-to-People China trip, during which, in response to an invitation from the Chinese government, American family planning workers from the fields of medicine, public health, media, and administration visited the People’s Republic of China to study its birth control, maternity, and child care methods and facilities.

Siaka, An African Musician color, 79 min (plus 18 min of extras)
This film presents a fascinating look at the world of urban African music through the lens of Siaka Diabaté, a talented and lovable young musician, while he performs on the cusp of a rising civil war in Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire. This DVD includes the extras Interview with Soungalo Coulibaly (9 min), and Soungalo and His Group Playing for a Wedding (10 min).

An African Brass Band color, 74 minutes
Hugo Zemp’s film An African Brass Band offers a lively glimpse into the transformations of musical and cultural traditions in Côte d’Ivoire through its focus on the formation of a brass band who play traditional music at a wide variety of festivals, ceremonies, and celebrations. This DVD also includes the extra features Making of Palm Wine (3 min), and Rehearsal (7 min).

Funeral Chants from the Georgian Caucasus color, 21 minutes
Through documenting the distinctive vocal expressions of the Svans of northwestern Georgia, Funeral Chants from the Georgian Caucasus by renowned ethnomusicologist Hugo Zemp provides stunning insight into the issues of oral tradition, ritual and maintenance of traditional identities.

Masters of the Balafon Series color, 221 min (plus 54 min of extras) - In this remarkable series, director Hugo Zemp documents the balafon instrument, a xylophone with calabash resonators, which is emblematic of the Senufo people of the Côte d’Ivoire. Filmed with prodigious finesse and social integrity, this series has been referred to as “a major achievement in visual documentation”. The series is comprised of the following four films:

The Joy of Youth color, 70 min (plus 9 min of extras)
The Joy of Youth communicates the exceptional vitality of the balafon instrument throughout northern Côte d’Ivoire society, from its symbolic role in providing rhythm for fieldwork to energized dance nights and coming-of-age ceremonies. Apart of the Masters of Balafon Series.

Friend, Well Come! color, 27 min (plus 21 min of extras)
A part of the Masters of the Balafon series, Friend, Well Come! documents the use of the Balafon, an emblematic musical instrument in northern Côte d’Ivoire society, through the emotionally intense proceedment of a ceremonial burial ritual.

Funeral Festivities color, 80 min (plus 25 min of extras)
Employing unforgettable images, director Hugo Zemp engages in dialogues with master balafon players, giving phenomenal insight into the purpose of the balafon within northern Côte d’Ivoire funeral traditions. A part of the Masters of Balafon series.

The Wood and the Calabash color, 47 min
The Wood and the Calabash documents an experienced balafon maker manufacturing the musical instrument, which is a vital social device among the northern Côte d’Ivoire people. A part of the Masters of Balafon series.

Owners of the Water: Conflict and Collaboration Over Rivers color, 34 minutes
Owners of the Water is a compelling and unique collaboration between two indigenous filmmakers and an anthropologist, which explores the efforts of an indigenous campaign to protect a river from devastating effects of uncontrolled Amazonian soy cultivation.

The Left Eye of God: Caodaism Travels from Vietnam to California color, 58 minutes
Caodaists worship the left eye as an Asian synthesis of eastern and western traditions. In this film, they tell their stories of exile, anti-colonial struggle, and building immigrant congregations in California. Footage of rituals and temples, and archival images combine to provide a personal perspective on a largely unknown mystical tradition.

Horses of Life and Death color, 26 minutes
This film explores the gender-driven rituals and festivities during the New Year celebration in the Indonesian Island of Sumba. Within the celebration, the masculine fierceness and violence of the Pasola, a traditional jousting battle with hundreds of horses and riders, contrasts with the Sumbanese belief that fertility and life come from female spirits. Employing the both male and female narrators, Horses of Life and Death creates an objective look about the gendered perspective of traditional rituals.

The Feast in Dream Village color, 27 minutes
This engaging film documents a week-long ritual to restore fertility after a fire and famine has plagued a Sumbanese village. The film focuses on a challenge to the authority of the spirits and ancestors, offering insight into the transformations of Sumbanese society in the 1980s. This small-scale drama shows a pagan community feeling pressures which would eventually lead to an increased number of conversions to Christianity by the dawn of the 21st century.