Thanks, Dennis, for this much more nuanced view on the Johnsons' films. Andy Ditzler
On Fri, May 1, 2015 at 4:12 PM, Dennis Doros <[email protected]> wrote: > There's also many more considerations in this question as we have found > out over the years. > > As Andy points out, the Martin and Osa Johnson theatrical films have some > fairly racist elements to them. We released SIMBA as the most inoffensive > (and their most famous) film and worked with experts of the area to see > what they thought. Most times when we release these > documentaries/docudramas (and we have a lot of them in our Age of > Exploration series that is in its 25th year), it's that many of these films > are seen now -- even if they have white directors -- as literally home > movies. There are the great grandfathers, grand aunts that they have only > heard about or seen in pictures up on the screen. Over the years, we've had > hundreds of these phone calls from the children who are very thankful. That > doesn't excuse any racism -- though some should be seen in context of the > time they were made, we should also consider that they were racist even > back then -- but it does add a layer. > > The second concept is that in these films, there are cultural artifacts > that are very valuable to their descendants. Some of the dances, the > rituals, the art have been lost to time and modernization while some were > outlawed. You can't understand them as well in photographs or writings from > the time. We have a film CHANG that a film historian insisted it was > racist. When I explained that it's a national treasure of Thailand (at the > time, this was 1994 or so) and that the King played it every year on > television since it was so popular, the historian declared that the people > of Thailand obviously didn't understand racism! > > The third and most important concept is that some of these directors were > as "modern" as we are and as in love and respectful of the cultures and > people. It's always a mistake to consider previous generations as more > primitive or less socially aware. (We're not doing so great with race in > America these days either.) So! although the Martin and Osa theatrical > films did have some typical old tribesmen trying to play a phonograph or > open a bottle of beer (Flaherty started this with Nanook) because that's > what they thought the American public wanted, it's little known that they > also had at least six different version of the films and their "scientific" > versions that they did for the American Museum of Natural History are > incredible records of "lost" tribes and rituals. You can see the love they > have for the African tribes in these films and in their huge number of > photographs (many of their trips were sponsored by George Eastman and > therefore, Kodak). I have the George Eastman House laserdisc with about > 6000 of their photos and they are incredibly moving. > > So, there are many racist films by white directors over the history of > cinema (Adam Sandler and the Navahos, just last week!) but I do think that > they need to be evaluated not only by film historians but also members of > the tribe, people who know the cultures extremely well, etc. We really try > to work with the tribes and people involved in these films before we > release to make sure we are not doing anything that would displease their > communities, and they always find something that we can do to be more > respectful in our release. > > > Best regards, > Dennis Doros > Milestone Film & Video > PO Box 128 / Harrington Park, NJ 07640 > Phone: 201-767-3117 / Fax: 201-767-3035 / Email: [email protected] > > Visit our main website! www.milestonefilms.com > Visit our new websites! www.mspresents.com, www.portraitofjason.com, > www.shirleyclarkefilms.com, > To see or download our 2014 Video Catalog, click here > <http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0150/7896/files/2014MilestoneVideoCatalog.pdf?75> > ! > > > Support "Milestone Film" on Facebook > <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Milestone-Film/22348485426> and Twitter > <https://twitter.com/#!/MilestoneFilms>! > > > On Fri, May 1, 2015 at 3:47 PM, Andy Ditzler <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Nanook of the North is far from the cliche of a white man adventurer >> making an anthropological film in a faraway place. Although it's been >> disparaged that way at times, notably by Fatimah Tobing Rony, the film and >> Flaherty have also been vigorously defended as a primary example of "shared >> anthropology," not least by Jean Rouch. Another foundational film from this >> era is "Grass," by Merian Cooper who went on to make King Kong. Grass is >> not a cliched film either, for that matter. (Not that these films are free >> of problems.) For more explicitly egregious examples from this era, I would >> look at the films of Martin and Osa Johnson, such as "Borneo." One of their >> films is imported directly (perhaps in full, I'm not sure) into Ken Jacobs' >> "Star Spangled to Death," which is where I learned about them. Important to >> note here that Martin and Osa currently have a clothing store chain named >> after them here in the U.S. The legacy continues. >> >> Also look at Bunuel's "Land Without Bread" for a very wicked and very >> early parody of exactly what you're describing. >> >> It's not so much that a given film personifies the cliche uncomplicatedly >> (though I'm sure we can come up with more examples of that), but that much >> of documentary filmmaking practice to this day replicates the conditions of >> early anthropological (colonialist) uses of photography and film. >> Non-diegetic music (usually a giveaway), slow-motion reaction shots >> currently in vogue (of a subject saddened by tragedy, for instance), >> "secret" filming (often staged as such, of course) - all of these >> contribute to othering and other forms of exploitation (often ostensibly >> with the opposite goal, but nonetheless...). >> >> Some of the most shocking current videos are those made for the "social >> experiment" trend on Youtube, such as: >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiWxrpikWgs or >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD1VT7YRJ5I. As with most things at this >> level of toxicity, it would take awhile to unpack the interlocking >> oppressions, both formal and societal, behind these videos and their >> success. I will just note here that the self-reflexive techniques developed >> by many 60s/70s ethnographic and documentary filmmakers in order to >> critically examine the filmmaker's relation to subjects, are here deployed >> for the opposite purpose. As I say, pretty toxic stuff. >> >> Regarding Jean Rouch, I might disagree with Jonathan that Rouch "turns >> the 'other-izing' gaze of the ethnographic documentary to a group of white >> Parisians" in Chronicle of a Summer. I think Chronicle is not about turning >> the tables particularly, but about applying Rouch's concept of shared >> anthropology in Paris rather than among the Songhay. If any tables are >> turned in the film, it's on the filmmakers themselves, as evidenced by the >> movie's final scene. Rouch's "Petit a Petit" (I think that's the one) does >> have a hilarious scene in which Rouch's African collaborators take the >> camera and mic out on the streets of Paris, turning the tables and treating >> Parisians as anthropological subjects. They even take measurements of their >> subjects on camera, in a parody of 19th-century anthropological >> photography. >> >> I would agree that if you're looking for films that merit "the collective >> eye-roll," Flaherty, Rouch, Gardner, Mead, Asch, Marshall et al are not >> where I'd turn. >> >> Andy Ditzler >> >> >> On Fri, May 1, 2015 at 1:19 PM, Jonathan Walley <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> Jean Rouch and Robert Garnder come to mind. Both were prolific >>> ethnographic filmmakers, but for Rouch I’d recommend *Chronicle of a >>> Summer* (1960), *The Mad Masters* (1955), and *Jaguar* (1967), and for >>> Garnder *Dead Birds* (1964). Chronicle is especially interesting >>> because Rouch turns the “other-izing” gaze of the ethnographic documentary >>> to a group of white Parisians. >>> >>> There are plenty of others, but Rouch and Garnder stand as the major >>> figures of ethnographic documentary, at least as far as white male >>> filmmakers are concerned (obviously Trinh Minh-ha and Germaine Dieterlen, >>> among others, are important filmmakers in this canon, not to mention >>> Margaret Mead). But I wouldn’t say that their films deserve a collective >>> eye roll; if the genre has declined into cliche (I’m not saying it has, >>> just that I don’t know) I wouldn’t fault these filmmakers. Certainly when >>> the representatives of one culture make films about another there are all >>> sorts of potential pitfalls, but Rouch and Garnder approached the task >>> knowingly and reflexively. I don’t believe they worked under the assumption >>> that their acts of “putting minorities onscreen” was a simple matter (and >>> are the African men and women in many of their films “minorities?” They >>> would be a members of a racial minority in the U.S. or Europe, but not in >>> Africa, I’d say). >>> >>> Hope this helps. >>> Jonathan >>> >>> Dr. Jonathan Walley >>> Associate Professor >>> Department of Cinema >>> Denison University >>> [email protected] >>> >>> >>> On May 1, 2015, at 12:54 PM, Chris Freeman < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> I've seen them by independent filmmakers at micro cinema screenings. I >>> mean what are the big ones that have come over the last 100 years of cinema >>> that have made it a trope? I only know Nanook of the North. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Friday, May 1, 2015, <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> You seem to contradict yourself: you say 'whenever I see' etc, but >>>> then ask 'what are some (of these films)'? If you know you've seen some, >>>> how come you can't identify them? >>>> >>>> Nicky. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -----Original Message----- >>>> From: Chris Freeman <[email protected]> >>>> To: [email protected] >>>> Sent: Fri, 1 May 2015 13:15 >>>> Subject: [Frameworks] Ethnographic films / studies of The Other >>>> >>>> Whenever I see an ethnographic travelogue or some study of "the other" >>>> by a white male at a screening, there's always a collective eye roll of >>>> "great, another white male putting minorities on the screen." I know the >>>> trope, but I don't actually know any of those specific cliche films. >>>> What are some? >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> FrameWorks mailing >>>> [email protected]https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>> FrameWorks mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> FrameWorks mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> >> Andy Ditzler >> www.filmlove.org >> www.johnq.org >> Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts, Emory University >> >> _______________________________________________ >> FrameWorks mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > FrameWorks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks > > -- Andy Ditzler www.filmlove.org www.johnq.org Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts, Emory University
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