Europe l General Topics

Europe

An animated journey . Eastern Europe : breaking with the past. 1990. 1 videocassette (50 min.). Provides insight into the politics, culture and personality of the East Europeans. Features a unique mixture of animation styles and techniques from Yugoslavia, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, and Czechoslovakia. VHS 1712

Antakaa meille luur ankomme! = Give us our Skeletons! 1999. 1 videocassette (50 min.). Relates the story of how a Sami man is trying to compel the Norwegian authorities to release the skull of an ancestor. Describes the official racism suffered by the Sami people at the hands of the Norwegian government and society, aided and abetted by anthropologists and the medical establishment. VHS 7589

At the crossroads . Eastern Europe : breaking with the past. 1990. 1 videocassette (50 min.). An American filmmaker searches for his cultural legacy in Hungary, Poland, and Germany. Following the 1989 revolutions, he finds that many East Europeans are rediscovering their history and traditions. VHS 1707

Black Athena . Ethnic studies video collection. 1990. 1 videocassette (60 min.). Reviews evidence that the culture of ancient Greece had its origins in Africa and the East and that the West should recognize what it owes to Black and Eastern cultures. Explores the debate around Prof. Martin Bernal's book on the African origins of Greek culture, Black Athena. Leading classicists and Egyptologists discuss Bernal's indictment that 19th century scholars systematically denied the connections between Greece and the non-European cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean. VHS 1608

Der menschen forscher = The anthropologist . 1992. 1 videocassette (60 min.). This is a provocative and powerful film interweaving drama with documentary to profile famed Austrian anthropologist Rudolf Pöch. A major figure in the history of 20th-century European anthropology, Pöch did field work in New Guinea and the Kalahari, and during World War I, did research in POW camps studying the physical attributes of Russian prisoners. He used these studies to substantiate his theories on racial purity and superiority later used by the Nazis. The program poses a variety of questions central to the very nature of anthropology, its uses and misuses. VHS 3586

Divine carcasse . The Library of African cinema. 1998. 1 videocassette (60 min.). "Divine Carcasse is an unusual hybrid, a half fictional, half ethnographic film. It is a study in cultural contrast, between a desacralized, materialistic European view of reality and an animist, pre-industrial African one. Belgian director Dominique Loreau has described her film as an encounter with another culture, another way of relating to the world, objects and death, one that challenges our own relationships to the world"--From the California Newsreel Web site. VHS 6253

The essential history of Germany . Europe: a modern profile. 1997. 1 videocassette (30 min.). This program looks beyond the image of a nation of prosperous, ebullient people, and finds a modern Germany plagued by the specter of its violent past, and fearful of its future. Topics discussed include the collapse of socialism in the East, the pressures of reunification, ongoing racism, guilt over the Holocaust, and regional and political divisions. A psychologist discusses the German virtues of obedience, discipline, order, perfection, and dedication as having had both positive and negative effects on the culture. The suggestion is made that current economic prosperity may be masking feelings of alienation among the German population. VHS 5567

Europe the barbarian West . Legacy. 1991. 1 videocassette (57 min.). Civilization arose in Asia, but it was the West, evolving from Greece and Rome, which created the first world culture not only through its own genius but by borrowing from the legacies of the original five old world civilizations. VHS 1696

The European integration . The new global economics: A guide to economics. 2000. 1 videocassette (30 min.). Module one of this video outlines the potential of Europe's open labor markets while addressing the barriers imposed by language and culture. Module two examines the basic principles of the European Central Bank and the objectives of European monetary policy. Module three assesses both the economic gains to be had from European integration and the challenges of equitable political representation. VHS 7581

Expanding Europe Europa crece = L'Europe s'élargit . 2000. 7 videocassettes (25 min. each). The fifth wave of eager entrants into the European Union is expected to include Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, and Cyprus. Program one of this seven-part series takes a broad look at the economic hurdles facing these six candidates, while the rest of the series examines the fiscal health of each country within its cultural context as it prepares for accession into the E.U. VHS 6630

Ice mummies . 1998. 3 videocassettes (60 min. each). A 500-year-old boy found in the high Andes of Peru may be a key to an Inca sacrifice known as capa cocha; the mummy of a 2400-year-old woman found on the Steppes of Siberia reveals a legendary warrior culture; and the 5300-year-old body of a man found in the Italian Alps has led to clues of daily life in Stone Age Europe. VHS 5811-5813

A jumpin' night in the garden of Eden . Jewish Heritage Video Collection. 1987. 1 videocassette (75 min.). Three generations of klezmer musicians are working together to revive this vigorous and soulful expression of Yiddish culture which originated in Eastern Europe and was influenced by Gypsy, Greek and other old world melodies, as a well as American jazz, before almost dying out. Shows two klezmer bands both in performance and in the process of re-discovering this traditional music. VHS 4038

Kepséli: Women and men apart . 1973. 1 videocassette (41 min.). A film essay on the peasant society of Kipseli, a small isolated Greek village on the island of Thira. Depicts how the people of Kipseli divide time, space, material possessions, and activities according to an underlying pattern based on the separation of the sexes, and shows how this division determines the village social structure. VHS 584

The life and times of Sara Baartman "the Hottentot Venus" . 1998. 1 videocassette (52 min.). Sara Baartman was taken from her Cape Town home to London in 1810 where she was exhibited as a freak. A court battle waged by abolitionists to free her from her exhibitors failed. In 1814 she was taken to France and became the object of scientific and medical research that formed the bedrock of European ideas about black female sexuality. She died the next year. Using historical drawings, cartoons, legal documents, and interviews with noted cultural historians and anthropologists, film deconstructs the social, political, scientific and philosophical assumptions which transformed one young African woman into a representation of savage sexuality and racial inferiority. VHS 5976

Powers that be . The Shock of the new. 1980? 1 videocassette (52 min.). Art critic Robert Hughes discusses the impact of mechanized warfare and mass destruction on European art and culture following World War I. Dadaism, German Expressionism, Russian Constructivism and Italian Futurism are explored in turn, with emphasis on the general disenchantment with politics and all other institutions of society, as well as the shrinking belief in the ability of artists to influence society for the better. Describes how the political implications of Dada (Ernst, Schwitters, Hoch, Baader) and of German Expressionism were played out against the postwar collapse of Germany and the rise of a sharply internationalist climate. VHS 3552

Regional dreams . The New Europeans. 1992. 1 videocassette (56 min.). Deep rooted traditions and regional identities dominate the European landscape making the reality of a unified nation almost impossible. The program takes a look at several complex issues including a common language and changes in agricultural policies. VHS 1890

Return of the iceman . Ice mummies. 1998. 1 videocassette (ca. 60 min.). In 1991 near the Austrian-Italian border of the Alps two hikers discover a frozen man who was found to be more than 5,000 years old through radiocarbon dating. Program looks at how study (including carbon dating, microscopic analysis, X-rays and endoscopy) and analyzation of the iceman by an international team of experts have provided us with a vivid and detailed picture of the late Stone Age in this part of Europe. VHS 5813

The Russian way of life . Way of life. 1993. 1 videocassette (20 min.). Russia is the largest country to emerge from the former Soviet Union. Its heritage has roots in both European and Asian cultures which provide the country with a diversity of customs and traditions. Viewers will visit ordinary Russian families and see how they live, work and relax. Film considers such issues as privatization, the resurgence of religion, and the changes being made to the educational system. Also visits Russia's cathedrals and palaces as well as historical sites like the Kremlin, Red Square and the Tomb of Lenin. VHS 5861

Touched by the revolution . Eastern Europe : breaking with the past. 1990. 1 videocassette (50 min.). Portrays the lives of ethnic Hungarians living in Romania. Includes two films made by Hungarian filmmaker Andras Pelerffy on life in a small Romanian village shot before and immediately after the overthrow of dictatorship. Animated sequence examines the dangers inherent in breaking with the system. VHS 1704

What do those old films mean?: History, cinema, society . 1989. 6 videocassettes (ca. 26 min. each). Examines social history betwee 1900 and 1932 through contemporaneous motion pictures, primarily silent films. VHS 3781-3786

General Topics

Dance and human history . Movement style & culture. 1990? 1 videocassette (40 min.). Introduces the work of Alan Lomax nd his colleagues in developing choreometrics, a cross-cultural method of studying the relationship of dance style to social structure. Shows how the group, including Forrestine Paulay and Irmgard Bartenieff, analyzed dance films from all over the world and established a connection between patterns of movement and patterns of culture. VHS 6927

Dancing . 1993. 8 videocassettes (ca. 464 min.). Probes the traditions of dance in communities around the world -- from the often misunderstood waltz to the eloquent gestures of an Asante court dancer in Ghana, and from the latest hip-hop in Morocco to a ballet class in Russia and a modern dance rehearsal in New York. VHS 2291-2298

A different place: The intercultural classroom . Curriculum Materials Center. 1993. 2 videocassettes (37 min.). Cassette 1: contains a dramatization of student-teacher interaction, including conflicts due to different cultural assumptions of appropriate classroom behavior. -- Cassette 2 (originally titled Creating community) provides an anlysis of the drama and suggestions for ways to foster community in intercultural classrooms by experts in the fields of sociology, anthropology, education and communication. VHS 3890

The eyes of empire . Images, 150 years of photography. 1990. 1 videocassette (26 min.). Draws on the anthropological photographic collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford ; the Royal Anthropological Institute ; and the Cambridge University. The program also deals with the work of an amateur archaeologist, Gertrude Bell. VHS 3890

Franz Boas, 1858-1942 . Odyssey series. 1980. 1 videocassette (60 min.). Profile of the German physicist who was responsible for shaping the course of American anthropology, by bringing discipline and order to a field that had previously dealt in subjective "race classification." Includes reflections and anecdotes by scholars and students, excerpts from journals and letters, and archival photographs. Discusses the Kwakiutl Indians, the principal subjects of Boas' field work. VHS 4953

Going international . 1983. 8 videocassettes (ca. 180 min.). Introduction to the challenges of interacting with people from different cultures. Film from around the world illustrates fundamental concepts of culture, in theory and practice. Bridging the culture gap: Illuminates cultural differences to which Americans must become attuned if they are to be accepted in their new homes. -- Managing the overseas assignment: focuses on business practices in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, India, England, and Mexico as seen in vignettes and through interviews. -- Beyond culture shock: Experts in cross-cultural topics and international living and seasoned travelers discuss the reaction to moving away from home and adjusting to life in a different society. Welcome home stranger: deals with the individuals' personal reactions to returning to the United States and readjusting to American culture. -- Working in the USA: Presents views and experiences of foreign visitors and naturalized citizens on the American-way-of-work to help improve understanding of how Americans and American organizations behave and what it takes to succeed in business.-- Living in the USA: Presents views and experiences of foreign visitors and naturalized citizens on living in America. Designed for the whole family, focusing on the everyday concerns of getting settled in the U.S. and dealing with practical issues such as housing, banking, credit, schools, shopping, driving and making friends. -- Going international--safely: Experts in cross-cultural topics and international living and seasoned travelers discuss the reaction to moving away from home and adjusting to life in a different society. Intended to give travelers good, basic security awareness information. Provides a security philosophy and general principles which apply to most international travel situations. Alerts the traveler to the most likely dangers, shows them how to reduce risk, and what to do in the event of emergency. VHS 3657

Het Dak van de walvis = On top of the whale . 1991. 1 videocassette (93 min.). Film exposes cultural imperialism and parodies linguistic anthropology. A Dutch anthropologist couple studies the lives of two Indians, the last survivors of a lost tribe, and finds unexplained mysteries, particularly the language which consists of a single word spoken with different inflections. VHS 2505

The human race . 1994. 4 videocassettes (52 min. each). The four-part documentary series weighs the implications of the way we live together, the way we organize societies, and our complex relationship with the environment. VHS 3451-3454

Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of balance . 1983. 1 videocassette (87 min.). Koyaanisqatsi is a Hopi Indian word meaning variously: crazy life, life in turmoil, life disintegrating, life out of balance (the subtitle for this film), and a state of life that calls for another way of life. The film is a progression of images and sound without narrative, characters or plot that uses technology to indict man's misuse of technology. VHS 1385

Legacy . 1991. 6 videocassettes (57 min. ea.). This six part series explores the influence of ancient culture on our lives today. Host/writer Michael Wood visits the ancient cities and great ports of India and China, the deserts of Egypt and Iraq, the Mexico of the Inca, Aztec and Mayan peoples, the Greek and Roman monuments of Europe and the jungles of Central America searching for the living legacies of these once great civilizations. The series traces how the institutions that arose with urban civilization 5,000 years ago, such as organized religion, bureaucratic government and international trade are still affecting the political and cultural mindset of many parts of the world today. VHS 1691-1696

The long childhood . Ascent of man. 1980. 1 videocassette (52 min.). Surveys the complex role of science in the cultural evolution of man. Dr. Bronowski draws together the many threads of the series as he takes stock of man's complex and sometimes precarious ascent centering upon the democracy of the intellect from the scientist/philosopher aspect. VHS 1285

Margaret Mead and Samoa . 1988. 1 videocassette (51 min.). Presents new evidence in the controversy generated among anthropologists by Derek Freeman's refutation of Margaret Mead's famous work "Coming of age in Samoa" in which she wrote of a Polynesian culture that was free of the stresses of modern society. Freeman, who found Mead's Samoa largely make-believe and devalued her research, appeared not only to attack a revered institution, but to also challenge the entrenched liberal-political position of anthropology in the "nature versus nurture" dialogue. Includes interviews with Mead's friends, peers, including Freeman, Mead's daughter and native Samoans. VHS 516

Milk . Foodessence. 1999. 1 videocassette (23 min.). Cool and white, curdled or cultured, milk takes many forms. The "perfect food" in America has had a very different history elsewhere- and in some cases- not much of a history at all! Now, this sacred of all cows finds itself swirling about in controversy. One culture's contemporary icon of comfort is another's ancient symbol of holiness. "Milk" is part of the 13-part series, Foodessence, that presents food anthropology around the world. Each segment of the series is devoted to creating a cultural and historical context for a single widely-consumed type of food. VHS 6889

Off the verandah . Strangers abroad, pioneers of social anthropology. 1990. 1 videocassette (52 min). Bronislaw Malinowski was the anthropologist who really changed the way field studies were carried out. He worked on a remote group of Pacific islands and lived for long periods among the people he was studying and made their lives intelligible to the West. VHS 1071

Papua New Guinea: Anthropology on trial . 1983. 1 videocassette (60 min.). Remote tribes and exotic islanders have been made known to the world through the lens of anthropology. However, some of the residents have begun to object, stating that anthropologists are sometimes misinformed or biased. Program visits Papua New Guinea, which was originally studied by Margaret Mead, and explores the people's reactions to the anthropologist's conclusions about their culture. VHS 5635

Powaqqatsi: Life in transformation . 1990. 1 videocassette (100 min.). A visual collage with scenes from various cultures around the world showing how the lure of technology and of mega-cities is affecting small-scale indigenous cultures. VHS 1478

Sex and social dance . Dancing. 1993. 1 videocassette (57 min.). This program examines the male and female roles in dancing in three different societies: USA, Morocco, and Cook Islands of Polynesia. Includes archival film footage. VHS 2293

Strange beliefs . Strangers abroad, pioneers of social anthropology. 1990. 1 videocassette (52 min.). Sir Edward Evans-Pritchard was the first trained anthropologist to do work in Africa, where he lived among the Azande and studied their belief in witchcraft. VHS 1070

Taboo . 2004. 4 videodiscs (611 min.). A series from the National Geographic Channel displays the world's exotic cultural taboos consisting of rituals, beliefs and practices handed down from generation to generation. DVD 2431

Taboo . 2005. 4 videodiscs (658 min.). Complex and controversial, this mesmerizing hit series offers an insider's view of closed worlds traditionally off-limits to outsiders. Witness stunning stories about rituals and traditions so shocking that you can't help but be attracted. DVD 2432

This way out . 2004? 1 videocassette (32 min.). "This highly personal documentary tells the story of three individuals who escaped persecution at home based on their homosexuality to claim refugee status in the United States. Kahunya, who grew up on a mission station in Kenya where his father is a Bishop; Ana Claudia, a famous sports caster in Brazil; and Arslan, who was born into a noble family in Pakistan. Their combined stories are a powerful illustration of the universality of homosexuality, regardless of cultural origins, and the vulnerability faced by lesbians and gays in most parts of the world. The intolerance they encounter forces them to suppress their true identities not only from government officials, but from their closest family and friends. Filled with self-loathing and questioning, they walk a dangerous emotional tightrope that drives each to flee their homelands in search of a dignified existence to live openly as homosexuals. Besides portraying eloquent accounts of Kahunya's, Ana's, and Arslan's experiences, the film questions what kind of asylum the U.S. provides for them and what kind of freedom they have found." -- from www.CinemaGuild.com. In Brazil, between 1980-1999, a homosexual was murdered on average every 3 days. In Kenya, homosexuality is criminal, punishable up to 14 years in prison. In Pakistan, homosexuality is punishable by long prison terms, or under Islamic law, up to 100 lashes or death by stoning. More than 85 countries in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America currently have laws prohibiting homosexuality. Approximately 12 countries offer asylum based on grounds of sexual orientation, the United States is one of them. This documentary follows the lives of two gay men and one lesbian who have come to the United States seeking asylum. VHS 7736

Page Created by Media Services