182 Ngat is Dead

Ngat is Dead (182)

16:00, Friday 03rd July, Theatre A

  • Director: Christian Suhr, Ton Otto, Steffen Dalsgaard (DEN)
  • Year: 2007
  • Run time: 59'
  • Format: mini DV
What does it mean when anthropologists claim to study the cultural traditions of others by participating in them? This film follows the anthropologist Ton Otto, who has been adopted by a family on Baluan Island, Papua New Guinea. Due to the death of his adoptive father he has to take part in mortuary ceremonies, whose form and content are contested by different groups of relatives. Through the ensuing 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 fieldwork in which filmmaking has become integrated in the ongoing dialogue and exchange relations between the islanders and the anthropologist.

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About this Festival

Sponsored by the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain & Ireland (RAI) since 1985, it is an itinerant festival that moves biennially from one university host to another, in association with local community and cultural organisations.

The festival was held from Wednesday July 1st to Saturday July 4th 2009, and included over 50 hours of screenings of new films, a major international conference, and a targeted selection of events focusing on anthropological ethics in filmmaking, youth participatory film, and archiving ethnographic film.

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