Photo Souvenir

At a dusty crossroads in the desert city of Niamey, Niger, a crippled beggar is sitting in his wheelchair. He is Philippe Koudjina, who was once a successful photographer. In 1960s during the euphoria that followed independence, young people danced the twist and rock ‘n’ roll. Koudjina took snapshots and made a good living. Now, his negatives are decaying in a rusty cabinet. These snapshots now have artistic value. In Paris and New York, large sums are paid for photography like this. There is hope for Koudjina as two French connoisseurs are now trying to launch his work on the art circuit.

Fêtes du Niger. Décembre 1961. Fêtes commémoratives de l'indépendance du Niger

Commemorative celebrations of the independence of the Republic of Niger filmed in December 1961 and 1962.

La circoncision

Rites and operation of the circumcision of thirty Songhai children on the Niger. Material of this film has been used to make "Les Fils de l'Eau".

Le Hampi - Le ciel est posé sur la terre

A ritual vase, the hampi, is placed in the center of the Musée de plein air de la République du Niger in Niamey, during a ritual ceremony featuring possession dances. With this film, Jean Rouch continues his ethnological and cinematographic study of Songhay ritual objects. He demonstrates that, in a particular context, the transfer of a hampi vase to a museum requires the organization of a ritual ceremony to obtain the gods' approval. At the time, however, reservations about filming a possession dance for the opening of a shrine in a museum made the move "questionable from a museological point of view".

Yenendi de Ganghel, le village foudroyé

Lightning struck the hut of a Fulani shepherd near a village of settled fishermen, Ganghel, in Niger. A yenendi, a purification ceremony to obtain "water from the sky but not fire from the sky", is organized, with Sorko priests, ritual musicians and dancers, and the faithful from Niamey. The musicians call on Dongo, god of storms, and his brother Kirey, god of lightning. To the rhythm of the orchestra, a man goes into a trance, becoming Dongo's horse and at the same time the riding genie. Then a woman is possessed by Kirey. When the riding gods have mastered their horses, the gods visit the men. Dongo purifies the lightning-struck land and the oldest fisherman prepares the purification vessel, addressing Dongo.

Zomo et ses frères

A portrait of Zomo, the second of Damouré Zika’s many children. Employed at the zoo of the National Museum of Niger in Niamey, he offers us a tour, showing us the animals he takes care of. Then, when the work is finished, he invites us to an impromptu concert by “Jeunesse Gawey,” the “popular music” orchestra he forms with his brothers and sisters, who sing and dance for us pretty songs about their lives, their family, and Nigerien youth.

Atilogivu: The Story of a Wrestling Match

While no wrestling is actually depicted, Atilogivu: The Story of a Wrestling Match documents gymnastic dancing to drum and flute music of the Ibu people, east of the River Niger.

Pam Kuso Kar (Briser les poteries de Pam)

In February 1974, Pam Sambo Zima, the oldest of the priests of possession in Niamey, Niger, died at the age of seventy-plus years. In his backyard, the followers from the possession cult symbolically break the dead priest's ritual vases and cry for the deceased while dividing up the clothes of the divinities.

L'Afrique et la recherche scientifique

This documentary offers an overview of French scientific research in Africa French scientific research in Africa: hydrology, botany, biology oil palm and coconut cultivation, industrial sea fishing and and urban planning. Film montage taking stock of scientific research research in Africa, mainly in the fields of hydrology hydrology, botany, biology and agriculture. The film is a compilation of extracts from several short films made by Jean Rouch in Mali, Niger and Côte d'Ivoire between 1962 and 1963: Abidjan, port de pêche, Le Mil, Le Cocotier and Le Palmier à l'huile. l'huile.

Tourou et Bitti: Les tambours d'avant

"Tourou et Bitti", an eight minute documentary concerning a ritual in Niger, is yet another example of Rouch's excellence in creating documentaries which surpass the conventional documentary format. Just as frightening and fascinating as "Les maîtres fous", this one goes straight into the roots of ancient African cultures, in which music has an hypnotic effect, being at the same time an exorcism and a public show. Both the female and the male dancers are almost deities about to be unleashed... Spectral and humanitarian.

Do Chile za zatměním Slunce

Horendi

The title of this film translates literally as 'to put on a hori,' a hori being the Songhay term for ceremony of festival. Here it is used to refer to a ganandi, literally 'to make dance' This film concerns two women whom the zima [priest] had diagnosed some months before as being ill through possession by spirits. In the meantime, their families have gathered together the resources to pay for the musicians, dancers, and the priest himself to put on an initiation dance lasting seven days This is a film of documentation, simply recording various moments in the progress of the ceremony, without any form of explanation, neither in intertitle cards nor in voice-over. (Paul Henley, The Adventure of the Real)

Тарыҥ

Shot in and around Yakutsk, in a remote region of Siberia, this film wrestles with the complex realities of a people and place facing continual, rapid transformation under Russia’s drive for resource extraction.

ハネムーン Hanemun Honeymoon

A honeymoon in Japan gets examined microscopically through comics, cards, magazines, and more in this delightful animated film.

Teofilo

The Greatest Boxer To Never Fight For Money

Tramps!

Goes deep into the heart of Britain’s New Romantics scene, tracing how a group of outsiders transformed London's underground art and music communities and its enduring influence and impact across the globe. A decade in the making, this groundbreaking film follows how the New Romantics – AKA the Blitz Kids – became one of the most iconic cultural movements.

Bits of Our Aircraft are Missing

British Air Ministry short film highlighting the need for the public to stay clear of aircraft wreckage during World War II.

Kamchatka - A Fly Journey

Jackass: The Beginning

Jackass: The Beginning is a DVD extra on Jackass 3.5 that documents how Big Brother Magazine developed into the Jackass crew.

Loslassen

Film about the alpinist Roger Schäli and the Arwa Spire summit.