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Selection of short films of the !Kung

Introduction by Cynthia Close, DER
Screening on Film

Following the success of his first Ju/’hoansi documentary, The Hunters (1957), Marshall embarked on an ambitious project – a new kind of ethnographic documentary that utilized short, succinct episodes to capture small moments of the Ju/’hoansi's everyday life. Despite their subtitles and occasional explanatory narration, these films are unique for their rejection of the outsiders’ point of view and their ability to instead allow the subjects and their actions – playing games, gathering food, socializing and arguing – to speak for themselves. In 2009, Marshall’s Bushmen films were awarded UNESCO's "Memory of the World" designation.

PROGRAM

  • A Joking Relationship

    Directed by John Marshall.
    US, 1962, 16mm, color and b&w, 13 min.
    Ju/’hoan with English subtitles.
    Print source: HFA
  • Lion Game

    Directed by John Marshall.
    US, 1970, 16mm, color, 4 min.
    Print source: HFA
  • The Meat Fight

    Directed by John Marshall.
    US, 1974, 16mm, color, 14 min.
    Print source: HFA
  • Playing with Scorpions

    Directed by John Marshall.
    US, 1972, 16mm, color, 4 min.
    Print source: HFA
  • N/um Tchai

    Directed by John Marshall.
    US, 1969, 16mm, black & white, 29 min.
    Print source: HFA
  • A Kalahari Family, Part Five: Death by Myth (excerpt)

    Directed by John Marshall.
    US, 2001, video, color.

Part of film series

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John Marshall’s Explorations in Ethnography

Current and upcoming film series

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Harvard Undergraduate Cinematheque

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Albert Serra, or Cinematic Time Regained

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Wang Bing’s Youth Trilogy

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The Shochiku Centennial Collection

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Planet at 50

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The Yugoslav Junction Continues!

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Theo Anthony, Subject to Review

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The Ideal Cinematheque of the Outskirts of the World

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From the collection – Satyajit Ray