Mountain Town

Danse d'hommes

October 1897 •English

African men dance, sing and play instruments.

Aspen

January 1991 •English

A film about a town famous in the 19th century for silver mining and now known for its scenic splendor, mountains, skiing, hiking, music, intellectual activity and fashionable people. The film documents the daily life and activities of the people who live, work, visit and play in Aspen in the winter.

Salt Lake Diversions

December 1943 •English

About an hour's drive from Salt Lake City, Utah is the ski resort of Alta, a former mining town, nestled within the Wasatch Mountains. Skiing and other winter alpine pursuits take place well into mid-spring. The relatively new ski lift is one of the longest in the western US. Some ride the lift not to ski down but to glance at the view from the 1,500 foot summit. Being the end of May, people at nearby Salt Lake are instead enjoying more summerly pursuits, such as boating. Behind only the Dead Sea, it ranks second among all large inland lakes for the saline content at 27%, the buoyancy from which makes it almost impossible to sink in. On shore at Black Rock Beach of the Bonneville Salt Flats is the site of many attempts of land speed records, most records held by Ab Jenkins. Another popular activity in the lake itself is the crystallization of salt around wire forms, the process which requires relatively still water and takes about two hours.

3 Days 2 Nights

April 2019 •English

Imagine the defining moment of your life. Then imagine never talking about it with anyone. This sets the stage for the documentary film 3 Days 2 Nights. In 1974, Mark and Andy Godfrey went on a family ski vacation to Aspen, Colorado. Tragically, the plane they were traveling on crashed. The world, as they knew it, was changed forever. Mark and Andy, who were 11 and 8, survived 3 days and 2 nights in the frigid mountains of Colorado. For nearly 40 years they rarely discussed the crash even between themselves. This is a film about two brothers coming to grips with the defining moment of their lives. Their story is one of cathartic discovery in hopes of reconciling such a tragedy. It's about how the twin beacons of love and family can help overcome even the greatest of losses.

The Hunters

January 1957 •English

An ethnographic film that documents the efforts of four !Kung men (also known as Ju/'hoansi or Bushmen) to hunt a giraffe in the Kalahari Desert of Namibia. The footage was shot by John Marshall during a Smithsonian-Harvard Peabody sponsored expedition in 1952–53. In addition to the giraffe hunt, the film shows other aspects of !Kung life at that time, including family relationships, socializing and storytelling, and the hard work of gathering plant foods and hunting for small game.

Wheat Cycle

January 1975 •English

The people and their labor are bound to the land in the cycle of activities to the sowing to the harvesting of wheat. Without narration or subtitles, the film conveys a sense of unity between the people and the land. Filmed in the Balkh Province, an area inhabited by Tajik and other Central Asian peoples. The town of Aq Kupruk is approximately 320 miles northwest of Kabul. The theme of the film focuses on rural economics. The film and accompaning instructor notes focus on herding, and fishing under diverse environmental conditions. The impact of technological change, human adaptation, and governmental extension of market systems are parallel themes.

L'île de Pâques

May 1935 •French

The first Easter Island documentary, filmed in 1935 when the Belgian naval ship Mercator came to collect Drs. Henri Lavacherry and Alfred Métraux, who had arrived six months before to carry out archaeological and ethnological work. The film, directed with melodramatic gusto and featuring a full orchestral score by Maurice Jaubert (who also did the narration), shows islanders, the monuments, and a public dance. A theme of decay and decadence characterizes the film, the motif portrayed gruesomely by extensive close-ups of the inhabitants of the leper colony there at the time. The film suited a romantic image of a mysterious lost civilization, the survivors eking out a pitiful existence on a barren rock. (Grant McCall)

Divoké kmeny Etiopie

June 2014 •Czech

In Pursuit of Soul

November 2021 •English

Last winter, it wasn’t hard finding the soul across twelve small, independent resorts in North America. These mountains had more rich character and stories to tell than we could've ever imagined possible. Finally, we are here to share that with you. Produced in partnership with Indy Pass, Filson, and Entabeni Systems, In Pursuit of Soul brings you to Wyoming's Snow King, Maine's Saddleback and Black Mountain, Washington's Mission Ridge and 49° North Mountain Resort, Vermont's Magic Mountain and Bolton Valley, Idaho's Lost Trail and Brundage Mountain, New Hampshire's Cannon Mountain, Massachusetts' Berkshire East Mountain Resort, and Utah's Beaver Mountain.

Choqela: Only Interpretation

January 1987 •English

This provocative and profound film documents the Choqela ceremony, an agricultural ritual and song of the Aymara Indians of Peru. By offering several different translations of the proceedings, the film acknowledges the problems of interpretation as an inherent dilemma of anthropology.

Kwaheri

December 1964 •English

Early Mondo film featuring primitive rituals, animals being butchered, unusual birth defects, and a legit trepanation scene.

Danseuses cambodgiennes du roi Norodom, II

October 1899 •French

Barrage du Nil

April 1897 •French

Travellers, nomads and salesmen make their way along a dam next to the Nile.

Banks of the Nile

January 1911 •English

With a dual motion a cruise ship and a fishing boat pass one another on the Nile and butlers in turbans set up a wooden gangway. Thanks to a rope and pulley system cows climb skywards then disappear into the hold of the sailing vessel. On the bank, black-haired women rock back and forth, bursting out laughing and showing the first signs of going into a state of trance. Never-before filmed gestures and faces of the people of the Nile succeed one another, uprooted to an unknown, magical world. The Banks of the Nile is one of the first experiments of film in colour that uses the Kinemacolor process.

Japonaise faisant sa toilette

July 1899 •French

A young woman in traditional Japanese attire fixes her hair and kimono while her servants assist her.

Live, song, live!

January 2022 •Russian

The film tells the story of ancient Ingush lullabies - Ingush women and men tell the lullabies of their families and the stories associated with them: love, friendship, blood feud.

Melodies of the mountains

January 2006 •Russian

Film about the singing and dancing culture of the Ingush people

Burial among the Tetela

March 2023 •French

Short ethnographic documentary on the Tetela tribe in Congo based upon footage and commentary by director Luc de Heusch from 1953 reassembled by Damien Mottier (Université Paris Nanterre) and Grace Winter (CINEMATEK).

Lotoko

March 2023 •French

Short ethnographic documentary showing a leopard dance based upon footage shot by director Luc de Heusch in Congo in 1954 reassembled by Damien Mottier (Université Paris Nanterre) and Grace Winter (CINEMATEK).

Nkumi, everyday life

March 2023 •French

Short ethnographic documentary showing some everyday life scenes based upon footage shot by director Luc de Heusch in Congo in 1954 reassembled by Damien Mottier (Université Paris Nanterre) and Grace Winter (CINEMATEK).