Haji Omar and his three sons belong to the Lakankhel, a Pashtoon tribal group in northeastern Afghanistan. The film focuses on his family: Haji Omar, the patriarch; Anwar, the eldest, his father's favorite, a pastoralist and expert horseman; Jannat Gul, cultivator and ambitious rebel; and Ismail, the youngest, attending school with a view to a job as a government official.

Jean Rouch appeared on Screening Room in July 1980 and screened Les Maitres Fous as well as several film excerpts including Rhythm of Work and Death of a Priest.

The people of the Bolivian highlands blend in thought and practice the traditional magic of the region and the religion of their conquerors. A fatal automobile accident, coincident with the festival of Santiago, provides occasion for unique expressions of both faith and magic in the effort to influence events.

Dani Sweet Potatoes (19 min) follows the sophisticated process of sweet potato horticulture developed by the Dani. It follows the Dani sweet potato cycle from clearing off the old brush and weeds from a fallow field to planting, harvesting, cooking and eating. Dani Houses (16 min) observes both round and square house construction techniques of the Grand Valley Dani. It shows how the ground is cleared, walls are made from boards, poles lashed together,...

In the midst of a traditional herding territory, a growing town and a new road encroach upon a once-isolated desert people. The complexities brought about by this modernization are shown as two fathers and their sons confront difficult choices between old ways and new.

The tribe used wooden traps and bows to harvest the big horns. Fish spears, baskets and fish traps helped bring fish to their families.

This animated short from Guatemala tells the tale of creation based on "Popul Vuh: the Ancient Stories of the Quiché," written by the indigenous Maya Quiché people after the Spanish Conquest. The vibrant illustrations are taken from Mayan codices, paintings found on vessels, and stones carved with scenes from the "Popul Vuh" between the years 300-900 A.D.

On the island of Pentecost in the New Hebrides archipelago, a few hundred Melanesians maintain a traditional life thanks to their geographic isolation and to the leaders who have resisted Christianity, schools and cooperatives. Bunlap, where this film was shot, is the largest and most important community of these people.

NGAT IS DEAD: STUDYING MORTUARY TRADITIONS 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...

This video, shot between 1980-1984, was an outgrowth of research conducted by John Marshall and Claire Ritchie during those years.