108 mins., col., sound
Source : NAFC, catalogue number AF-91.13.3
[Notes based on NAFC catalogue]
Footage shot among the Mbuti ‘pygmies’ of the Ituri Forest, still then part of the Belgian Congo (later to become Zaïre, and more recently the Democratic Republic of Congo). It focuses strongly on the relations between Ndaka (Bantu) villagers and the nomadic, forest-dwelling Mbuti. Subsistence activities shown include: an Mbuti forest camp, the construction of domed leaf houses, barkcloth manufacture, hunting forest deer with nets, the collection of honey. There is also a sequence of boys playing on a tree swing.
Ritual sequences show: a camp on the banks of the Epulu River for the month-long seclusion of pubescent Mbuti girls prior to their initiation during the elima ceremony, the elima ceremony itself, and an Ndaka village wedding ceremony. The bride is shown being anointed with palm oil (a sign of wealth) and carried on a palanquin into the village, where she is regaled by dancers.
This footage was shot by a Canadian Broadcast Corporation cameraman, Francis S. Chapman, based on the field research of anthropologist Colin Turnbull. The HSFA also hold a shorter set of black and white rushes (AF 91.13.6, 35 mins.) accompanied by a recording of Turnbull commenting on them. These rushes show life in a forest camp, and nkumbi male initiation ceremonies at Ngawana village of Musafu and the Bira village of Eboyo.
Chapman and Turnbull also produced an edited colour film about the nkumbi initiation ceremony (Mbuti Film Study, AF-91.13.4)
They also collaborated on making audio recordings of Mbuti music, released in 1992 in the Smithsonian Folkways series. For details, see here
Texts : Turnbull (1962), Turnbull (1965), Grinker (2000)