Films on Religion in South Asia

[robert l brown]

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> Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 03:56:07 BST
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> Subject: Films on Religion in South Asia
>
> I am reposting this list because the original version apparently
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> by Matthew Ciolek for the Coombs archives) is clean.
>
> Geoffrey Samuel
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> [This version: 8 August 1994]
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> DOCUMENTARY FILMS AND VIDEOS ON SOUTH ASIAN RELIGION
>
> compiled by Geoffrey SAMUEL
>
> August 1994
>
> (address until 12/94)
> Department of Sociology and Anthropology
> University of Newcastle
> NSW 2308
> Australia
> fax +61 49 216902
> email (until 12/94): sogbs at cc.newcastle.edu.au
>
> (address from 1/95)
> Department of Religious Studies
> Lancaster University
> Lancaster LA1 4YG
> UK
> fax +44 524 847039
> email (from 2/95): [probably] G.Samuel at lancs.ac.uk
>
> This list is work-in-progress, and does not claim to be in any way
> complete. It has been assembled from a variety of sources, but I have
> undoubtedly omitted many useful and worthwhile films and videos. Please
> feel free to send me additions, corrections and comments.
>
> I have included films on South Asian performing arts with religious
> themes, on non-Indian religions in South Asia (Zoroastrianism, Islam) and
> on Hinduism (but not Buddhism) outside South Asia.
>
> I have not distinguished between films and videos in the listings since
> most of the film material is probably now available on video. Generally
> speaking, the older items were initially released on 16mm film. Note that
> videos from the USA are normally in the NTSC system, those from UK and
> Australia in PAL.
>
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> ABBREVIATIONS
>
> AA = reference to review in _American Anthropologist_
>
> H6 = Karl G. Heider, _Films for Anthropological Teaching_. 6th edn.
> American Anthropological Association, 1977
>
> R-xxx; ref to Rolf Husmann et al. _A Bibliography of Ethnographic Film_,
> Gottingen 1992
>
> * I have seen this item
>
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> SOURCE LIST
>
> N.B. Some of these addresses are probably out of date. I have given the
> most recent information available to me. - G.S.
>
> Apsara Media for Intercultural Education, 13659 Victory Boulevard, Suite
> 577, Van Nuys, CA 91401. Attn: Distribution. (818) 785-1498
>
> Arthur Cantor Films, 2112 Broadway, Suite 400, New York, NY 10023, USA.
> Tel.: (212) 496 5710
>
> BBC Productions (in UK): BBC Enterprises, Sales Department, Woodlands,
> Wood Lane, London W12 0TT, UK. Tel. (?071) 743 5588
> (in Australia): BBC Education and Training, 11th Floor, 50 Berry Street,
> North Sydney, NSW 2060, Australia. Tel. +61 2 957 6933. Fax +61 2 957 6448
>
> BhakTV Productions Ltd, 3941 Madison Ave, PO Box 1015, Culver City, 90232,
> USA
>
> Center for Mass Communication of Columbia University Press, 136 South
> Broadway, Irvington, NY 10533, USA [1974 address!]
>
> Center Productions, 1800 30th Street, Boulder, CO 80301, USA. Tel. (800)
> 824 1166
>
> Cinetel Productions Pty Ltd, 15 Fifth Avenue, Cremorne, NSW 2090,
> Australia. Attn.: Frank Heimans. Tel.: (02) 953 8071. Fax: +61 2 953 7122
>
> Colorado State University Instructional Service, Colorado State
> University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. Attn.: James Boyd. Tel (303) 491
> 1325. Fax (303) 491 6989
>
> Deakin University Video Publications, Deakin University Press, Deakin
> University, Geelong, VIC 3217, Australia. Tel.: (052) 27 2633, 27 2194.
> Fax: +61 52 27 2020
>
> Direct Cinema, Ltd., Box 69799, Los Angeles, CA 90069, USA. Tel. (213) 652
> 8000
>
> Disappearing World Series (UK) Granada Television, 36 Golden Square,
> London W1R 4AH, UK. Tel.: (071) 734 8080. Fax: +44 71 494 6280
> (USA) PMI, 5547 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60640-1199, USA.
> Tel. (312) 878 7300, or Pennsylvania State University Audio-Visual
> Services (see below)
>
> Documentary Educational Resources, 101 Morse St., Watertown, MA 02172,
> USA. Tel. (617) 926 0491
>
> Film Australia, PO Box 46, Lindfield. NSW 2070, Australia. Tel.: (02) 413
> 8777. Fax: +61 2 416 5672. British and US enquiries through Australian
> Government Film Representatives: Canberra House, 10-16 Maltravers Street,
> The Strand, London WC2R 3EH, UK; Australian Information Service, 636 Fifth
> Avenue, New York, NY 10020, USA.
>
> Films Incorporated, 5547 Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL 60640, USA. Tel.
> (800) 323 4222
>
> First Run Icarus, 153 Waverly Place, 6th floor, New York, NY 10014. Attn:
> Liz Fries. Tel (800) 876 1710; Fax (212) 989 7649
>
> Malinis's Dances of India Troupe, 1355 Wynnstone Drive, Ann Arbor, MI
> 48105
>
> Media Services, University of Texas Library, Box 830643, University of
> Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75083-0643, USA. Tel: (214) 690 2949
>
> Michael Camerini, Inc., 327 West 21st Street, Apt 2W, New York, NY 10011,
> USA. Tel.: (212) 242 2363. Fax: (212) 242 2363
>
> Nataraj, 12 Bristol Lane, Hadley, MA 01035. Attn: David Watson. (413) 586
> 8974
>
> Pennsylvania State University, Audio Visual Services, Special Services
> Building, Universty Park, PA 16802, USA. Tel. (814) 865 6314 or (800) 826
> 0132
>
> RAI International Video Sales: Royal Anthropological Institute, 50 Fitzroy
> Street, London W1P 5HS, UK. Tel. (071) 387 0455. Fax: +44 71 383 4235.
> Attn: Gail S. Baker, Film Officer. (Some RAI material appears to be
> distributed in the USA by Documentary Educational Resources, qv.)
>
> Rounder Records, Dept. SEM, 61 Prospect Sreet, Montpelier, Vermont 05602,
> USA. Attn.: Stephen McArthur. Tel (802) 223 1294, Fax (802) 229 1834
>
> Satyam Shivam Sundaram, 425 Alexander Street, Princeton NJ 08540, USA
> [from 1974]
>
> Singer-Sharrette Productions, 336 Main Street, PO Box 68, Rochester MI
> 48063, USA Tel (313) 731 5199 or 656 0030
>
> Society of St Francis, Hermitage of St Bernadine, Stroud, NSW 2425,
> Australia. Tel. (049) 94 5372
>
> South Asia Film Center, University of Wisconsin, 1269 Van Hise Hall,
> Madison, WI 53706. Attn.: Distribution. Tel (608) 262-9690; Fax (608) 262
> 3065
>
> Syracuse University Film Rental Center, 1455 E. Colvin Street, Syracuse,
> NY 13210, USA. (1977 address!)
>
> Traditional Healing Films/Earth Research, P.O. Box 68, 336 Main St,
> Rochester, MI 48063, USA. Tel. (313) 656 0030
>
> Under the Sun, BBC Elstree, Clarendon Road, Borehamwood, Herts WD6 1JF, UK
>
> University of California Extension Media Center, 2000 Center St, 4th
> floor, Berkeley, CA 94704. Attn.: Daniel Bickley. Tel (510) 642 0460; Fax
> (510) 643 8683
>
> Visionova, 64 Royal Park Terrace, Hillsdale, NJ 07642, USA
>
> Wombat Prductions, Inc., 250 West 57th Street, Suite 1319, New York, NY
> 10019, USA. Tel. (212) 315 2502
>
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> FILM LIST
>
>
> AHIMSA, NON-VIOLENCE
> (Produced by Marion Hunt and directed by Michael Tobias, 1987, 58 min.)
> Distributor: Direct Cinema
> R-753 = AA 91,4 (1989): 1094-95
> ".. about modern followers of the Jain religion in India... Because of its
> vivid and colorful subject matter, its seductive narration ... and its
> unique depiction of an important religious community seldom studied even
> in South Asian ethnography courses, this film will be tempting to plug in
> as a remedial ethnographic profile of the Jains. However to do so without
> additional background material would be a _big_ mistake. The film's made-
> for-television slickness will encourage students to overlook its lack of
> sociohistorical context and its consistently pro-Jain hyperbole... I would
> certainly use this film in my courses, but only with additional materials
> to ensure a critical viewing." (from AA review, which also makes several
> suggestions for additional reading)
>
>
> ALTAR OF FIRE
> (Robert Gardner/Frits Staal, 1976, 45 min)
> Distributor: University of California Extension Media Center (film and
> video)
> R-270 = AA 80,1 (1978), 197-9
> "... consists largely of footage taken during the course of the
> performance of the Vedic Agnicarana ritual by Nambudiri Brahmins in Kerala
> Province in April of 1975." Robert Paul's AA review focusses on the
> dubious nature of the film's claims to "authenticity," and its lack of
> contextualizing the event depicted: the makers of the film "pretend to
> give us an authentic glimpse into ancient Vedic times, rendered hollow and
> ethically repugnant through the patronizing, rigid, antiquarian, and
> neocolonialist attitudes it reveals."
>
>
> BAKE RESTUDY 1984
> (Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy and Amy Catlin, 60 min)
> AA 96,2 (1994), 484-6
> Distributor: Apsara Media for Intercultural Education
> "This videotape explores the preservation and transformation of
> performance in India's southern states of Tamilnadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
> It compares Arnold Adriaan Bake's unique 16mm films, photos and audio
> recordings of music, dance and ritual, made in 1938, to the audio-visual
> documentation collected on a revisit to the same sites by his students and
> colleague, Nazir Jairazbhoy, in 1984." (details from _Asian Studies
> Newsletter_ (Apr-May 1993), p.11)
>
>
> BANARAS
> (Michael Camerini, 22min)
> Distributor: Michael Camerini, Inc. (Made in cooperation with Dept of
> Indian Studies, Uni of Wisconsin, Madison)
> "The feeling and mood of Banaras rather than a detailed description of any
> given facet of the city. The film relies on visual images and the original
> score to evoke the feeling of being in Banares. It shows the cycle of
> daily activity, life on the ghats, ties the formal worship in temples to
> the devotions of pilgrims and the people of the city at the river, and
> explores the many different types of shrines found in the city. There are
> many rhythms to the city: the pattern of daily life, the market places,
> the multiple uses of the river and of water in general, and all contribute
> to the holiness of the city. In exploring these rhythms the film also
> gives the viewer a feeling for the people of Banares; their faces, moods
> and actvities." (details and description from H6: 30)
>
>
> BEING MUSLIM IN INDIA
> (1984, 30 min)
> Distributor: South Asia Film Center, University of Wisconsin
> No further details available
>
>
> BENARES: STEPS TO HEAVEN
> (Richard Riddiford, 1984, 30 min.)
> Distributor: Wombat Productions
> R625 = AA 89,1 (1987) 251-3
> "Its 30 minutes are devoted to the city as a pilgrimage centre... leaves
> this viewer with a sense of a guided tour, unattached to the actual lives
> of people who live in the city and depend on its religious importance for
> their livelihood... Yet its use in teaching about Hinduism, about Benares
> as a pilgrimage center, about the antiquity of Hindu custom and the beauty
> that can be allied with death and distress is certain..." (AA review)
>
>
> CHANDALIKA: A DRAMA OF KARMA AND SOCIAL CHANGE
> (video, 40 min)
> Distributor: Nataraj
> "From Rabindranath Tagore's book. At the lowest stratum of the Indian
> caste system is the 'untouchable' or chandal. Within this caste, at one
> time, were born Prakriti and her mother.  Prakriti was scorned by village
> women and bewailed her birth until she met a Buddhist monk who offered her
> a new point of view. There was hope, she thought, to change her karma, and
> the struggle to do so and its outcome comprise the story." (Details from
> _Asian Studies Newsletter_ (Spring 1990), p.5)
>
>
> CHANT DES FOUS, LE
> Distributor: Not known
> French film on the Bauls of Bengal made in 1978-79.
>
>
> CHITTIRAI FESTIVAL
> (Michael Camerini and Myra Binford,1976, 25 + 35 min)
> Distributor: South Asia Film Center, University of Wisconsin
> H6: 45
> Filmed by  directed by Joseph Elder. On the temple festival at Madurai,
> South India. Part I : Historical background; Part II : Events of the
> festival. William Harman's book _The Sacred Marriage of a Hindu Goddess_,
> 1989, which is a description of this festival, refers to what seems to be
> the same film under the title WEDDING OF THE GODDESS. This is perhaps a
> longer version, since Harman gives the timings as 36 + 40 min.
>
>
> THE CHRISTIAN YOGA EXPERIENCE
> (1985, 32 min)
> Distributor: Deakin University Video Productions
> "Dr Peter Fenner from Deakin University discusses the Christian Yoga
> experience with Brother Amaldas, who accompanied the Monk-Mystic, Dom Bede
> Griffiths, on his visit to Australia. Order No.129"
>
>
> CIRCLES-CYCLES: KATHAK DANCE
> (Robert S. Gottlieb, 1989)
> Distributor: University of California Extension Media Center
> "The kathak tradition combines influences from both Hindu and Islamic
> cultures and was cultivated in the royal courts of north India under the
> nawabs and Maharajas. The themes range from simple village life to the
> experiences of Hindu deities." (Details from _Asian Studies Newsletter_
> (Spring 1990), p.5)
> ".. provides a clear introduction to the history and performance of
> kathak... with selections from the kathak repertoire as performed by
> leading artists of North India... I recommend this film wholeheartedly for
> teaching and research purposes" (AA review)
> R-298 = AA 93,1 (1991), 252
>
>
> CLASSROOM CONVERSATION WITH A ZOROASTRIAN PRIEST
> (James W. Boyd and Ron G. Williams, 48 min.)
> Distributor: Colorado State University Instructional Service
> "Dastur Firoze Kotwal, a Zoroastrian high priest from Bombay, in residence
> for a semester at Colorado State University, provided the interview
> material for this discussion about beliefs and practices of Zoroastrians."
> (details from _Asian Studies Newsletter_ (Jan-Feb 1994), p.7)
>
>
> DARSHAN
> (Filmed and edited by Florence Davey, 30 min)
> Distributor: Satyam Shivam Sundaram
> R-181 = AA 76,3 (1974), 704-6
> "This useful film contains brief but illuminating vignettes of four
> contemporary "holy men" of North India.." (AA review)
>
>
> DEVI: THE FEMININE POWER IN INDIAN RELIGIOUS TRADITION
> Distributor: Nataraj
> "For centuries in India there has been an indigenous folk tradition of
> goddess worship, especially in Eastern and Southern India. Mahadevi is
> often presented as one who responds to the needs or cries of her devotees
> to destroy evil. This film explores principal aspects of the goddess in
> dramatized form." (details from _Asian Studies Newsletter_ (Spring 1990),
> p.5)
>
>
> DIVINE MADNESS: TRANCE, DANCE AND HEALING IN GUYANA
> (Philip Singer, 1978, 60 min)
> Distributor: Singer-Sharrette Productions
> R-700 = AA 87,2 (1985), 480-1
> "an intense and intimate look at a ritual healing sequence at a Kali Hindu
> temple in Albion, Guyana. The participants, primarily East Indian sugar
> plantation workers of the district... come as patients, healers, and
> ritualists to a religious event that derives directly from the Shaivite
> Great Tradition of South India. The film is a result of close cooperation
> between the anthropologist/ ethnopsychiatrist Philip Singer and the Kali
> Mai _pujari_ Jaimsee Naidoo. In their joint narrative the _pujari_'s
> explanations of etiology and therapy in "Kali work" are presented side by
> side with Singer's psychological framework for these processes." (excerpt
> from generally favourable AA review)
> This seems to be an abridged and improved version of a series of three 40
> minute films by Philip Singer collectively entitled TRADITIONAL HEALING IN
> GUYANA : THE DIVINE MADNESS OF KALI MAI FUNCTIONAL THERAPY
> which were reviewed less positively in AA 81,2 (1979), 472-3. Criticisms there
> focussed on the "rambling and inconsistent narration" with its
> "condescending and patronizing tone" and on the failure to "make the
> subject material generally comprehensible".
>
>
> DOM BEDE GRIFFITHS: A CHRISTIAN SADHU
> (1985, 33 min)
> Distributor: Deakin University Video Productions
> "Dom Bede Griffiths discusses East-West religious dialogue and his
> experiences as a monk-mystic in the Benedictine Ashram in South India. He
> talks with Professor Max Charlesworth and Dr Purusottama Bilimoria of
> Deakin University. Order No.128."
>
>
> DUST AND ASHES*
> (Michael Yorke and Naresh Bedi, 1989, 50 min)
> Distributor: Under the Sun
> "Every twelve years, when the Sun enters Capricorn and Jupiter enters
> Aries, devout Hindus go to the great Kumbh fair at Allahabad and this year
> the government is expecting 37 million people. We follow the fortunes of
> four pilgrims: an ascetic, who meditates in the ice cave from where the
> Ganges flows; His Holiness Jagadguru Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal; a rural
> peasant from central India and a wealthy industrialist." (Note from
> programme of 2nd International Festival of Ethnographic Film,  Manchester,
> 1990)
>
>
> EUNUCHS: INDIA'S THIRD GENDER*
> (50 min.)
> Distributor: BBC
> AA 95 (1993), 517-8
> On the _hijra_ (transvestite) community of India. "Well known to Indians
> is the custom a groups of _hijras_ celebrating a birth in a prosperous
> household by song and dance, and by blessing the newborn... Less well
> known is the caste-like structure of the _hijra_ community and its
> religious cult centering on a goddess who is pleased by the sacrifice
> performed by an initiated _hijra_ of "her" male genitalia. Both the caste
> and the cult are detailed by Nanda [Serena Nanda, _Neither Man nor Woman_,
> Wadsworth 1990]... The film "centers on a cohabiting couple, Kiran and
> Hiresh, a _hijra_ and her truck-driver mate.. We see two communities of
> _hijras_, one in Rajasthan, where there is a monastery occupied by
> _hijras_... The second community is a house of prostitution in Bombay. We
> witness here the welcoming of two new "girls" into the house, celebrated
> by an elaborate wedding ceremony." (From a joint review with JAREENA:
> PORTRAIT OF A HIJDA. "Both films are visually pleasing and nonsensational
> in tone."
>
>
> EYES OF STONE*
> (Nilita Vachani, 1989, 90 min)
> (Doordarshan 16mm film)
> Distributor: Not known
> "A film about women and the ritual of spirit possession and cure: a ritual
> of faith, rebellion and individual expression that thrives within the
> confines of a stringent patriarchal order. Shot in the Bhilwara district
> of Rajasthan, India, the film documents one woman's participation in the
> ritual and, through it, the strengths and sadnesses of her life.
>      Shanta is 19 years old. Married at the age of 10, she is the mother
> of two sons. Her husband, Nandlal, a truck driver, is away on long-
> distance trips most of the time.
>      Shanta has been ill for five years. It all began, she says, with the
> evil gaze of a 'dakan' (witch). She suffers from headaches, bodyaches and
> fevers, a sense of dissociation and disinterest in the world around her.
> For the duration of her cure, Shanta lives with her parents and her
> brother. They have taken her to doctors, tried different medicines, but
> nothing has helped. Now, the family feels that this is no 'ordinary'
> illness. They pin all their hopes on the goddess, Bhankya Mata.
>      Every Saturday, for five weeks, Shanta appears before the goddess.
> Like hundreds of other possessed women, she goes into trance, and 'plays'
> (the Hindi 'khelna'). In trance, the goddess 'comes' to her, and engages
> the troublesome spirit in a battle of words, of wit, repartee, performance
> and physical duress, in which the spirit must ultimately accept defeat.
>      The ritualised healing is a turning point in Shanta's life. After her
> cure, she puts on her make-up and resumes her normal routine. She retunrs
> with her husband to his village. True to the tradition, she covers up her
> face and speaks in whispers. She is now the wife and mother - cooking,
> cleaning, washing, sweeping.
>      The film has an inherent narrative structure as we move from Shanta's
> 'abnormal' outbursts during possession to her socially defined behaviour
> at her husband's home. The _cinema verite_ approach weaves a tapestry of
> strongly defined characters, details of a rural, low-income Rajasthani
> household, personal interactions that reveal the pathos of commonplace,
> everyday problems; and midst it all, an unshakeable faith in the mother
> goddess, 'who knows what is best, who knows all'." (from cover note to
> video)
>
>
> FLOATING IN THE AIR FOLLOWED BY THE WIND
> (Ronald Simons, 1973)
> Distributor: University of California Extension Media Center
> H6: 65-6
> "A film ...  about Thaipusam, a Tamil Hindu religious  festival in Kuala
> Lumpur, Malaysia. Worshippers pierce themselves with spears and hooks, and
> carry highly decorated shoulder poles, called _kavadi_, to the place of
> pilgrimage, a sacred cave. Preparations begin weeks before, and include
> tutelage by a spiritual leader, a guru, who is skilled in inducing
> entranced states. The trance state that occurs during the procession,
> accompanied by rhythmic music and dance, prevents the worshippers from
> experiencing pain." (description from LC)
>
>
> FOREST OF BLISS*
> (Produced by Robert Gardner and Akos Ostor and directed by Robert Gardner,
> 1987, 89 min)
> Distributor: Arthur Cantor Films
> Robert Gardner's notorious movie on Varanasi. An art film rather than an
> ethnography, this is of limited use for teaching purposes, but it is
> undoubtedly a fascinating case-study in creative film-making.
> R-273 = _SVA Newsletter_ 4,2 (1988), 1-7 and 5,1 (1989), 2-3; _Film
> Quarterly_ 41,1 (1987), 58-61; AA 91,1 (1989), 273-4; _Humanism Quarterly_
> 12,3/4 (1987), 97-98
>
>
> FOUR HINDU SADHUS
> also known as FOUR HOLY MEN: RENUNCIATION IN HINDU SOCIETY
> (Mira Beym Binford and Michael Camerini, 37 min)
> Distributor: South Asia Film Center, University of Wisconsin
> "... examines several traditional ways in which a Hindu may renounce the
> world and yet retain an integral role in society. The film focuses on four
> different types of sadhus: a traditional guru who heads a monastery; a
> scholar who is also the founder of a national political party; and a
> recluse with no organizational ties [this makes three?]. Why did these
> people choose the life of renunciation? Ho do they relate to the society
> they have renounced." (details and description from H6: 67)
> Also described in RAI Film Catalogue, p.19
>
>
> GIVEN TO DANCE
> (Produced and directed by Ron Hess, 1985, 57 min)
> Distributor: South Asia Film Center, University of Wisconsin
> R-332 = AA 88,4 (1986), 1040-42
> On Odissi dance. Ex-temple dancers (_mahari_ or _devadasi_) speak about
> their former lives to the modern Odissi dancer Madhavi Mudgal. Also
> includes dances of the _gotipua_ (boy dancers) of Orissa, modern Odissi
> dance performed by Madhavi Mudgal, and sequences from the chariot festival
> of the Jagannath Temple at Puri. Would perhaps go well with Frederique
> Marglin's _Wives of the God-King_.
>
>
> HAIL MOTHER KALI: A TRIBUTE TO THE TRADITIONS AND HEALING
> ARTS BROUGHT TO
> GUYANA BY INDENTURED MADRASI LABOURERS
> (Produced and directed by Stephanos Stephanides, 1988, 60 minutes)
> Distributor: Singer-Sharrette Productions
> R-735 = AA 91,2 (1989), 531-33
> "This video traces three days and nights of a Hindu _puja_ (healing
> ceremony) in the canefields of Berbice, Guyana... The ceremony documented
> is the anual Big Puja at the Blairmont Kali Temple... The goddess
> incarnate seeing patients is more fully illustrated in the film DIVINE
> MADNESS... While DIVINE MADNESS is appropriate for students of
> ethnomedicine, clinical psychology, nursing, and related health fields,
> HAIL MOTHER KALI will be more useful to students of religion, culture
> history, expressive culture, and semiotics. It is not appropriate for use
> with undergraduate students lacking prior introdction to Hinduism." (from
> AA review)
>
>
> HINDU LOAVES AND FISHES
> (Produced and directed by Philip Singer, 1985, 20 min)
> Distributor: Traditional Healing Films/Earth Research
> R-701 = AA 88,4 (1986), 1042-43
> "An ethnographic study of Hindu shamanism centred on trance-linked
> materialization of objects, this film is a true workshop view of a Hindu
> holy man-cum-magician... The scenario is set with a Hindu professor of
> biochemistry who regards this particular yogi as his personal guru and
> believes he has achieved siddhi (occult powers) through austere
> meditational techniques... The actual entry of Siddha Baba... into trance
> and his trance-generated comportment is exquisitely done, by far the best
> segment of the film, complete with hyperventilation, groans, and sundry
> other sounds..." [AA review] Agehananda Bharati's review is critical of
> several aspects of the film, but it might be useful with appropriate
> introduction.
>
>
> THE HINDU RITUAL SANDHYA
> (Produced by Doris Srinivasan, 19 min.)
> Distributor: Center for Mass Communication of Columbia University Press
> R-733 = 76,1 (1974), 218-9
> "The film is a clear, straightforward presentation of a Smarta Brahmin
> pandit performing his morning and evening prayers on the banks of a South
> Indian river... The seeming multitude of gods mentioned during the prayers
> are illustrated by cutaways to sculptures and paintings of them..." (from
> AA review)
>
>
> THE HO: PEOPLE OF THE RICE POT
> (Michael and Valerie Yorke, 70 min.)
> Distributor: (On hire from RAI Film Library)
> "The Ho... are a secluded tribe of the Mundari-speaking group living in
> the southern part of Bihar state in India. The film focusses on the life
> ofe one man, his two wives and seven children in order to portray the
> annual cycle of events and activities. They are shown engaged in
> subsistence activities such as foraging in the forest and harvesting rice,
> and in ritual and ceremonial observances... Shot over an eighteen-month
> period, [the film] is able to recreate the atmosphere of everyday life for
> the Ho, locating festival and ceremony firmly in the context of the
> agricultural cycle..."
> (Details and description from RAI Film Catalogue, p.25)
>
>
> A HUMAN SEARCH: THE LIFE OF FATHER BEDE GRIFFITHS
> (59 minutes)
> Distributor (in Australia): Society of St Francis
> "An intimate portrait of one of the greatest mystics and thinkers of this
> century."
>
>
> IMAGE INDIA: THE HINDU WAY
> (Daniel H. Smith; series of 11 short films)
> Distributor: Syracuse University Film Rental Center
> R-707 = AA 74,6 (1972) 1585-87
> H6: 79
> "An eleven-film series on Hindu religious rites and celebrations...
> photographed on location among the Tengalai Sri-vaisnava Brahmins of
> Madras, Southern India... each film comes with a helpful Users' Guide" (AA
> review quoted in H6)
> The individual films are:
>
> HOW A HINDU WORSHIPS: AT THE HOME SHRINE (18 min)
> HINDU TEMPLE RITES: BATHING THE IMAGE OF GOD (13 min)
> HINDU SACRAMENTS OF CHILDHOOD: THE FIRST FIVE YEARS (25 min)
> MONTHLY ANCESTRAL OFFERINGS IN HINDUISM (8 min.)
> RADHA'S DAY: HINDU FAMILY LIFE (17 min)
> PILGRIMAGE TO A HINDU TEMPLE (14 min)
> HINDU PROCESSION TO THE SEA (8 min)
> THE HINDU SACRAMENT OF THREAD INVESTITURE (14 min)
> HINDU DEVOTIONS AT DAWN (10 min)
> THE HINDU SACRAMENT OF SURRENDER (8 min)
> A HINDU FAMILY CELEBRATION: 60TH BIRTHDAY (9 min)
>
>
> IN THE NAME OF GOD (_RAM KE NAM_)*
> (Anand Patwardhan.  90 minutes)
> Distributor: First Run Icarus.
> "In recent years, religious fundamentalism has swept across the globe. In
> India, state repression has added credibility to separatist demands, but
> by far the biggest danger to the nation's secular fabric comes from groups
> appealing to the 80% Hindu majority to redefine India as a Hindu nation
> and to put aside Gandhi's non-violent methods. Ayodhya, city of the epic
> poem Ramayana, and city of a famous 16th century mosque, provides a focus
> for this tragic drama. The film documents stresses between violent
> impulses and non-violent efforts to prevent the spread of religious
> intolerance." (_Asian Studies Newsletter_ No.2 (1993), p.9)
> Also _Asian Studies Newsletter_ (Jan-Feb 1993), p.4; (Jan-Feb 1994, p.7)
>
>
> AN INDIAN PILGRIMAGE: KASHI
> (Mira Reym Binford and Michael Camerini, 30 min.)
> Distributor: South Asia Film Center, University of Wisconsin
>  H6: 82
> "The film begins with a detailed examination of an 1825 drawing of the
> bathing steps of Kashi (Benares) ... and then abruptly shifts to shots of
> the same bathing steps ... in the 1970s... The camera then leads us on a
> tour of the pilgrimage centre... Halfway through the film, the film-makers
> pick up two middle-class urban couples, natives of South India, who have
> made the journey to Kashi. The two couples are asked their reasons for
> coming... The film comes to life in the course of a long sequence on the
> offerings to the ancestors when the narrator abandons his comments in
> favour of subtitles which capture the dialogue between the priests and the
> two couples... What is missing from the film is some explanation of the
> sacred geography of the town and, indeed, of the cosmos... As it stands,
> the film would make a suitable introduction to Indian pilgrimage for
> students who are somewhat unfamiliar with the south Asian sub-continent."
> (from description in RAI Film Catalogue, pp.26-27)
>
>
> AN INDIAN PILGRIMAGE: RAMDEVRA
> (Mira Reym Binford and Michael Camerini, 26 min.)
> Distributor: South Asia Film Center, University of Wisconsin
> H6: 82
> R-076 = AA 78,4 (1976), 958
> "Ramdev was a 15th-century warrior-saint of western India who effected
> various miracles in his lifetime and whose miraculous power, according to
> present-day devotees, continues to emanate from the grave where the saint
> lies buried. The opening sequence of the film introduces the viewer to a
> small group of Ramdev devotees living in Bombay who have decided to travel
> together to the saint's shrine at Ramdevra on the occasion of the saint's
> death-day... While worshipping at the shrine, one of the women in th
> Bombay group becomes possessed by Ramdev. Other devotees escort the
> possessed woman to a neighbouring shrine of a female disciple of Ramdev
> and assist her in expressing ecstatically her devotion to Ramdev... during
> the latter part of the film the camera focuses on the festival activities
> of the pilgrims outside the shrine... This film touches on a number of
> interesting topics in the study of Indian pilgrimage: the relationship
> between the central shrine and the local organization of a cult, the
> significance of women in organizing pilgrimage groups, the worship at the
> same shrine of both Hindus and Muslims, and the overlay of Muslim ideas
> (burial shrine of an historical personage) and Hindu ideas (Ramdev is an
> incarnation of the eternal Krishna) at the same shrine. Unfortunately the
> narrator does not pick up these points in sufficient detail..." There is a
> good accompanying booklet; Mira Binford has also written an article on the
> pilgrimage in Bardwell Smith (Ed) _Hinduism: New Essays in the History of
> Religions_, Brill, Leiden 1976. (from description in RAI Film Catalogue,
> pp.27-28)
>
>
> IRAMUDUN (DISPELLING DEMONS)*
> (Produced by Barrie Machin, 1985, 45 min.)
> Distributor: Pennsylvania State Universty, Audio Visual Services
> Sinhalese exorcistic dance-ritual. "This is an honest, competent, well-
> made and instructive film. Together with Bruce Kapferer's book, _A
> Celebration of Demons_,... it affords an excellent opportunity to study a
> ritual process that has not been documented before... Questions about
> meaning are (presumably) left for Kapferer's book to answer..." (from AA
> review)
> R-466 = AA 90,2 (1988), 493-4
>
>
> THE JAINS: A RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY OF INDIA
> (Marcus Banks, Caroline Humphrey and James Laidlaw, 1985, 35 min.)
> Distributor: Department of Social Anthropology, Cambridge University, U.K.
> Mentioned in review of AHIMSA, NON-VIOLENCE in AA 91 (1989), p.1094.
>
>
> JAREENA: PORTRAIT OF A HIJDA
> (Prem Kalliat)
> Distributor: Visionova
> AA 95 (1993), 517-8
> On the _hijra_ (transvestite) community of India. "Well known to Indians
> is the custom a groups of _hijras_ celebrating a birth in a prosperous
> household by song and dance, and by blessing the newborn... Less well
> known is the caste-like structure of the _hijra_ community and its
> religious cult centering on a goddess who is pleased by the sacrifice
> performed by an initiated _hijra_ of "her" male genitalia. Both the caste
> and the cult are detailed by Nanda [Serena Nanda, _Neither Man nor Woman_,
> Wadsworth 1990]... The film centers on Jareena, a young man from Kerala
> who works, dressed as a woman, in a massage parlor in Bangalore. Includes
> a birth celebration; Jareena also gives a description of her ritual
> castration. (From a joint review with EUNUCHS: INDIA'S THIRD GENDER. "Both
> films are visually pleasing and nonsensational in tone.")
>
>
> JVC ANTHOLOGY OF WORLD MUSIC AND DANCE*
> Distributor: Rounder Records
> This is a collection of thirty videocassettes, including five volumes (45-
> 55 min each) on South Asia. They include several items on religious
> topics, listed below.
>
>      11. SOUTH ASIA I (INDIA I)
>      11-1 Bharata Natyam classical dance: devotional dance to Siva (8
>      min)
>      11-2 Kathakali: "Destruction of Duryodhana" from Mahabharata (10
>      min)
>      11-3 Manipuri dance: "Vasanta Ras" (Krishna and gopis) (12 min)
>      11-4 Kathak dance: Rama and Sita in the forest from Ramayana (6
>      min)
>
>      12 SOUTH ASIA II (INDIA II)
>      12-1 Chhau from Purulia: (a) "Killing of the demon Mahishasur";
>      (b) "Death of Abhimanyu" from Mahabharata (19 min)
>      12-2 Chhau from Seraikela: several short items (14 min)
>      12-3 Yakshagana: "Death of Abhimanyu" from Mahabharata (14 min)
>      12-4 Hindi devotional song (2 min)
>      12-5 Sikh devotional song (3 min)
>
>      13 SOUTH ASIA III (INDIA III)
>      13-3 Epic of Pabuji (bhopa from Rajasthan) (2 min)
>      13-7 to 9 Three Baul songs from Bengal (11 min)
>
>      14 SOUTH ASIA IV (PAKISTAN AND BANGLADESH)
>      14-1 and 2 two Qawwali items by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (31 min)
>      14-7 Trance ritual from Hunza (4 min)
>
>      15 SOUTH ASIA V (SRI LANKA, NEPAL, BHUTAN)
>      15-1 Excerpts from a _tovil_ (Sinhala exorcistic ritual) (8 min)
>      15-10 Hindu devotional song (dapa khala) from Nepal (3 min)
>      15-12 Traditional Newar dance-drama (Mahakali Pyakhan) from
>      Nepal (6 min)
>
> See critical review of the South Asian items in the anthology by Amy
> Catlin and Nazir Jairazbhoy in _Asian Music_ 24,2 (Spring/Summer 1993),
> 159-181. The quality of these performances is very variable, as is the
> mode of presentation. Some are stage performances from Japan originating
> in the Asian Traditional Performing Arts festivals (e.g. 13-7 to 9, 14-
> 1,2); others are heavily edited for TV films. In many cases much better
> material is available elsewhere (e.g. IRAMUDUN for Sinhala exorcistic
> ritual; Pakistani commercial videotapes for Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan). There
> are nevertheless some useful items, and further documentation is available
> in F. Koizumi et al. _Dance and Music in South Asian Drama_, Academia
> Music, Tokyo 1983 and other publications from the Asian Traditional
> Performing Arts festivals.
>
>
> KATARAGAMA*
> (Produced and directed by Charlie Nairn. Anthropologist, Gananath
> Obeyesekere. around 55 min.)
> Distributor: Disappearing World series
> R-542 = _RAIN_ 3 (1974), 8-9; AA 82,2 (1980), 579-80
> Cult of the Hindu deity of Kataragama (Skandha) in Sri Lanka. Scenes of
> the annual temple festival, at which devotees make offerings, fire-walk
> and in some cases hang suspended by skewers, are counterposed to the story
> of a family who seek Kataragama's aid to find a lost child.
>
>
> KHETURNI BAYA
> (Sharon Wood, 1982, 19 min.)
> Distributor: Pennsylvania State University, Audiovisual Services
> R-793 = AA 86,1 (1984), 240-1
> A film of women's life in a Gujarati village, including some ritual
> sequences. "..although one would like a more informed commentary, the film
> can provide useful visual exposure to north Indian family life,
> particularly the life of women, for high school or introductory college
> classes dealing for the first time with Indian society and culture. Its
> somewhat stereotypic description can be rounded out by a teacher
> knowledgeable about [the] society..." (from AA review)
>
>
> LESSONS FROM GULAM
> (Directed by John Baily, 53 min.)
> Distributor: RAI (UK); Documentary Educational Resources (USA)
> AA 91 (1989), 836-8
> ".. shows how South Asian Muslims living in a mill town in northern
> England gather on Sundays to speak Urdu and perform traditional music
> [_qawwali_ etc.] under the guidance of a teacher named Gulam..."
>
>
> THE LIVING GODDESS*
> (Frank Homans, 50 min.)
> Distributor: Cinetel Productions, Sydney, Australia
> Film about the Kumari cult in Nepal, made with the assistance of Michael
> Allen of the Department of Anthropology, Sydney University, cf. his book
> _The Cult of Kumari_.
>
>
> THE LONG SEARCH
> (BBC series, 1977, 13 episodes, each lasts 48 min)
> Distributor: BBC
> This series contains two South Asian episodes, "330 Million Gods" on
> Hinduism in India and "The Footprints of the Buddha" on Theravada Buddhism
> in Sri Lanka
>
>      EPISODE 1: 330 MILLION GODS*
>      "Visits various sites in India and observes the performance of
>      several types of religious ceremonies. Explores the Hindu approach to
>      God and the complexity of the Hindu religious experience." Ronald
>      Eyre's presence throughout as the naive outsider may be obtrusive,
>      but there is some nice video material, particularly the sequences in
>      a Bihar village showing Saraswati Puja, the village sadhu, etc.
>
>      EPISODE 3: FOOTPRINT OF THE BUDDHA*
>      "Ronald Eyre tries to come to grips with a religion that has high
>      moral standards, but does not believe in a god."
>
>
> LOVING KRISHNA
> (Produced and directed by Allen Moore and Akos Ostor, 1985, 40 min)
> Distributor: Centre Productions
> R-272 = AA 89,1 (1987), 259-62
> Shot in Vishnupur, West Bengal. On the role of Krishna in the life of
> Vishnupur. Its last half is devoted to an eight-day chariot festival
> centred around Krishna. Akos Ostor's books _Play of the Gods_ (Chicago
> 1980) and _Culture and Power_ (Sage 1984) provide further background. The
> AA's reviewer also recommends David Kinsley's _The Sword and the Flute_
> "for students and instructors unfamiliar with Hinduism and Krishna
> especially".
>
>
> MAHARISHI MAHESH
> (Conceived and narrated by Yavar Abbas, production manager Marion Abbas,
> 28 min.)
> Distributor: Center for Mass Communication of Columbia University Press
> AA 76 (1974) 707-9
> Interviews the Maharishi at his Rishikesh centre. "Why are [all the
> devotees] Westerners? Could the Maharishi possibly be catering to the
> rich? The interviewer puts these and other hard questions to the
> Maharishi, who offers evasive replies..." (AA review)
>
>
> MANIFESTATIONS OF SHIVA
> (Malcolm Leigh, 1980, 60 min)
> Distributor: The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Asia Society, Inc.,
> 725 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA
> R-421 = AA 84,4 (1982), 988-9
> "Filmed in SOuth India, [the film] shows varied forms of ritual attention
> to the Hindu god Shiva, with a particular focus on the ways in which
> Indian artistic expression is interwoven with Shiva worship. The film is
> worth viewing for its technical perfection, the extraordinary close-up
> shots of devotees' faces, and for all the splendid colours and sounds that
> uniquely capture the sensuous beauty of Indian art and religious life...
> suffers from the brevity of its narration... most viewers will be baffled
> by what they see... The film might be of use in a graduate course of
> anthropological methods, to vividly drive home the initial fieldwork
> frustration of observing interesting (and obviously significant) behaviour
> that one is not yet equipped to understand." (from AA review)
>
>
> MITHILA PAINTERS: FIVE VILLAGE ARTISTS FROM MADHUBANI, INDIA
> (Ray Owens, 48 min.)
> Distributor: South Asia Film Center, University of Wisconsin
> "The Mithila painters of Madhubani in north India have received a degree
> of notoriety in recent years. These women painters, whose art at first
> adorned walls, express themselves and their topics in a distinctive
> traditional style. In the video, the artists themselves come to life."
> (details from _Asian Studies Newsletter_ (Jan-Feb 1994), p.8)
>
>
> MUNNI: CHILDHOOD AND ART IN MITHILA
> (Produced by Joe Elder, directed by Raymond Owens, Ron Hess and Cheryl
> Graff, 29 min.)
> Distributor: South Asia Film Center, University of Wisconsin
> AA 86 (1984) 807-8
> Includes some life-cycle rituals (first tonsure and wedding).
>
>
> THE MURIA*
> (Melissa Llewellyn-Davies [?] and Chris Curling, 1982; 50 min)
> (BBC Worlds Apart series)
> Distributor: RAI (UK); Films Incorporated (USA)
> R-436 = AA 88,1 (1986) 271-3
> "The Muria of Central India live in a forested area encircled by
> mountains. Their relative isolation has allowed them some differences from
> the rest of India, in particular their lack of caste. The focus of this
> film is on the institution of the _ghotul_, a dormitory within the village
> where all people from about the age of twelve until their marriage must
> stay. This film, like the other films of the BBC Worlds Apart series,
> makes extensive use of interviews and subtitles, a technique which creates
> a human and sympathetic portrayal of the Muria."
> See critical review of the film in AA, focussing on its "very blatant and
> ethnocentric message, that the Muria system is cruel and heartless and
> causes psychological distress," on its "heavy-handed and ubiquitous"
> narration, etc.
>
>
> MURUGA
> (Yvonne Hannemann)
> Distributor:
> R-319 = AA 76,1 (1974), 219
>
>
> OUR ASIAN NEIGHBOURS series
> See RANA; SWAMI SHYAM; THE VILLAGE
>
>
> PILGRIMAGE TO PITTSBURGH
> (30 min video)
> Distributor: Fred W. Clothey, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Arts
> and Sciences, 2604 Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.
> "This is a documentary prepared for American audiences of the Sahasrakalas
> abhisekam festival as performed by participants in the Sri Venkatesvara
> Temple of Pittsburgh. It attempts to present the South Indian immigrant
> community's self-perception as expressed through the ritual sequence - a
> festival never before performed in North America and only rarely in
> India." (Details from _Asian Studies Newsletter_ (Spring 1990), p.6)
>
>
> PLEASING GOD: A TRILOGY
> See LOVING KRISHNA; SERPENT MOTHER; SONS OF SHIVA
>
>
> PRINCIPLES OF CASTE
> (Tom Selwyn, 24 min)
> Distributor: RAI
> "This film analyses the religious principles behind the caste system and
> how these work in a Hindu marriage ceremony. Through an interview with an
> untouchable and discussion with people working in various occupations, the
> viewer comes to realize how much caste comes to shape every person's
> life."
>
>
> RAJ GONDS
> (Chris Curling, Peter Loizos, Michael Yorke and Melissa Llewellyn-Davis
> [?], 55 min)
> (BBC Worlds Apart series [?])
> Distributor: RAI (UK); Films Incorporated (USA)
> R-436 = AA 88,1 (1986) 271-3
> "The once powerful Raj, or ruling Gonds, have now been reduced to the
> status of a tribe that needs the protection of the Indian government for
> its survival. In defiance of their poverty and lack of power, the Raj
> Gonds every year celebrate Dandari, a ritual of their former authority and
> of their philosophy. The symbolism of Dandari is complex; riddles and
> skits allow the Gonds to laugh at their fate while certain young men,
> through their dress and actions, blur the distinctions between gods and
> men, between men and nature. ... Anthropologist: Michael Yorke."
>
>
> RANA
> (Our Asian Neighbours series. 19 minutes)
> Distributor: Film Australia
> One of a series of films directed primarily at secondary schools. "The
> story of a young Muslim girl student living in a crowded section of Old
> Delhi. The customary veiling of women (Purdah) and impending marriage by
> arrangement are examined."
>
>
> THE SACRED COBRA*
> BBC World About Us, 1982
> Distributor: ?BBC
> Indian village with cobra cult
>
>
> SERPENT MOTHER
> (Produced and directed by Allen Moore and Akos Ostor, 1985, 30 min.)
> Distributor: Centre Productions
> R-272 = AA 89,1 (1987), 259-62
> Shot in Vishnupur, West Bengal. On the worship of the snake goddess,
> Manasha, including the _jhapan_ festival in which serpent-handlers play
> with cobras. Akos Ostor's books _Play of the Gods_ (Chicago 1980) and
> _Culture and Power_ (Sage 1984) provide further background. The AA's
> reviewer also recommends Edward Dimock's _The Thief of Love_ (Chicago
> 1963) which includes a partial translation of the Manasha Mangal.
>
>
> SHAMANS OF THE BLIND COUNTRY*
> (_SCHAMANEN IM BLINDEN LAND_)
> (Michael Oppitz, 223 min.)
> Distributor: Media Services, University of Texas Library
> R-568 = AA 90,4 (1988), 1049-50
> Michael Oppitz's 4 hr movie of Northern Magar shamans, Nepal
> There is also a book of the film (in German).
> "In the Himalayan region of West Nepal, the Magar peoples have preserved
> their own distinctive version of the Classic Inner Asian tradition of
> shamanism. The place of shamanism in Magar life is central, the mythology
> is rich, the rituals are elaborate, and all of this has been exquisitely
> documented in this colorful, moving film... both an original, informative
> ethnography of Magar Shamanism and a landmark in ethnographic filming."
> (AA review)
>
>
> SONS OF SHIVA
> Produced and directed by Robert Gardner and Akos Ostor, 1985, 28 min.)
> Distributor: Centre Productions
> R-272 = AA 89,1 (1987), 259-62
> Shot in Vishnupur, West Bengal. "Portrays the annual three-day _gajan_
> (calling) of the Lord Shiva, climaxing the many rituals of this deity
> observed throughout the year... Trance dancing at critical moments of the
> ritual is also shown, and several scenes give prominence to the
> contributions of the Bauls, itinerant religious folk musicians famous in
> Bengal." Akos Ostor's books _Play of the Gods_ (Chicago 1980) and _Culture
> and Power_ (Sage 1984) provide further background; the AA's reviewer found
> the account of the festival in _Play of the Gods_ pp.98-148 essential to
> understand what was happening in the film.
>
>
> SPIRITUAL SYMBOLISM IN INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE
> (1978, 36 min)
> Distributor: Deakin University Video Publications
> "An explanation and demonstration of the spiritual symbolism contained in
> Indian classical dance forms. The dances are performed by Chandrabhanu,
> and recorded at a Religious Experience Weekend School in 1978. Order
> No.026."
>
>
> SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA: SPIRITUAL ACTIVIST AND UNIVERSAL
> TEACHER
> (1984, 45 min)
> Distributor: Deakin University Video Publications
> "In 1984 Swami Chinmayananda, Spiritual Activist and Universal Teacher,
> visited Australia. Professor Max Charlesworth, Dr Purusottama Bilimoria
> and Dr Jocelyn Dunphy from Deakin University talk with the Swami who is
> well respected in the East and West for his logical approach to religion.
> Order No.140."
>
>
> SWAMI KARUNANANDA
> (Conceived and narrated by Yavar Abbas, production manager Marion Abbas,
> 28 min.)
> Distributor: Center for Mass Communication of Columbia University Press
> R-002 = AA 76,3 (1974), 707-9
> Swami Karunananda is an Australian follower of Swami Shivananda; the film
> follows him about his daily duties at Sivananda's Divine Life Socety in
> Rishikesh. Also includes a brief discussion of Hatha Yoga "accompanied by
> what can only be described as a remarkable virtuoso performance of a
> number of asanas or postures... could be used by anyone lecturing on
> religion in South Asia or religion in general" (AA review)
>
>
> SWAMI SHYAM*
> (Our Asian Neighbours series. 20 minutes)
> Distributor: Film Australia
> One of a series of films directed primarily at secondary schools.
> "Involvs the audience directly in experiencing an Indian Swami. Set in the
> Kulu Valley within the Himayas, the film ends with one of the Swami's
> three minute lessons in meditation."
>
>
> TIMELESS VILLAGE OF THE HIMALAYAS*
> (34 min)
> Distributor: BhakTV Productions Ltd
> About the pilgrimage centre of Deoprayag in the Himalayas. Some nice
> scenes of devotional music etc.
>
>
> THE VILLAGE*
> (Our Asian Neighbours series. c.20 minutes)
> Distributor: Film Australia
> One of a series of films directed primarily at secondary schools.
> Made in the village in Beteille's study _Caste, Class and Power_. Some
> scenes of domestic ritual (e.g. women drawing protective designs on the
> ground in front of their houses). Commentary is fairly basic (designed for
> secondary school audiences).
>
>
> VISIONS AND SOUNDS: INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE
>  (25 min)
> Distributor: Malinis's Dances of India Troupe
> This film is second in a series of tapes designed to introduce classical
> Indian dance to the novice, and to enrich understanding and participation
> by an initiated audience. Divided into seven parts, the artist explains
> and demonstrates traditional accompaniment hand gestures, foot patterns
> etc. The video is accompanied by a study guide which includes a brief
> foreword about the history of classical dance in India." (Details from
> _Asian Studies Newsletter_ (Annual Meeting 1991))
>
>
> THE WAGES OF ACTION: RELIGION IN A HINDU VILLAGE
> (David Thompson, 1982, 29 min.)
> Distributor: South Asia Film Center, University of Wisconsin
> R-750 = AA 86,3 (1984), 807-9
> A short film on popular Hinduism made in Soyepur village near Varanasi.
> "...useful for initiating discussion in the classroom but it is too brief
> and partial to cover any aspect of village Hinduism with the thoroughness
> that a specialist would require." (AA review)
>
>
> WEDDING OF THE GODDESS
> See CHITTIRAI FESTIVAL
>
>
> WEDDING SONG: HENNA ART AMONG PAKISTANI WOMEN IN NEW
> YORK
> (Susan Slyomovics and Amanda Dargan, ?1990)
> Contact: Susan Slyomovics, Dept. of Performance Studies, NYU, 721
> Broadway, New York, NY 10003, USA (212) 998 1620
> AA 93,4 (1991), 1042-3
> "The art of painting the hands and feet of an Indian or Pakistani bride
> during a prenuptial ceremony called _mehendi_ continues to be practised
> wherever Muslim communities form. The videotape profiles Shenaz Hooda, a
> _mehendi_ artist who is also a cosmetics supervisor at a large drugstore
> chain in Manhattan. Shenaz participates in the dance, music, and orally
> improvised songs that characteristically mock the groom, the in-laws, and
> the wedding ritual." (AAA Annual Meeting abstracts)
> The review suggests that the film lacks clarity and needs introduction and
> interpretation for student use.
>
>
> THE WISDOM OF A PROPHET
> (136 min.)
> Distribution (in Australia): Society of St Francis
> "Part One: 'A New Vision of Reality in the Light of Modern Science'; Part
> Two: 'A New Vision of Reality in the Light of Christian Mysticism and
> Hindu Advaita." Both parts recorded during Fr Bede Griffith's visit to
> Perth, Australia in 1992."
>
>
> YATRA
> (Filmed and edited by Florence Davey, 15 min.)
> Distributor: Satyam Shivam Sundaram
> R-180 = AA 76,3 (1974), 703-4
> On the Ardha Kumbh Mela, Allahabad, 1971
> See dismissive AA review: "almost totally useless as a learning
> resource... should be withdrawn by its distributor..."
>
>
> A ZOROASTRIAN RITUAL: THE AFRINAGAN
> (James W. Boyd and Ron G. Williams, 17 min.)
> Distributor: Colorado State University Instructional Service
> "This was filmed in Bombay and depicts one of the most commonly repeated
> public ceremonies of the Zoroastrian community. It is a beautiful service
> of 'blessings,' involving offerings of flowers, fruit, wine and milk."
> (details from _Asian Studies Newsletter_ (Jan-Feb 1994), p.9)
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> end of file
>
>