What do anthropologists mean when they claim to study the cultural traditions of others by participating in them? This film follows the Dutch anthropologist Ton Otto, who has been adopted by a family on Baluan Island in Papua New Guinea. Due to the death of his adoptive father, he has to take part in mortuary ceremonies, whose form and content are passionately contested by different groups of relatives. Through prolonged negotiations, Ton learns how Baluan people perform and transform their traditions and not least what role he plays himself. The film is part of long-term field research, in which filmmaking has become integrated in the ongoing dialogue and exchange between the islanders and the anthropologist.
Cast
Recommendations
view all
Naqoyqatsi
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
Halloween: 25 Years of Terror
Seduced and Abandoned
The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button
Avatar: Creating the World of Pandora
Listen to Me Marlon
Night Will Fall
Fuck
Directed by John Ford
Public Speaking
The Godfather Family: A Look Inside
American Pie: Revealed
A Plastic Ocean
Doc of the Dead
Champs
Sidney
Anna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me
Our Planet: Behind the Scenes
Being James Bond