A Tricky Start

The earliest encounters between cinema and anthropology occurred while the former was taking its first steps and the latter was trying to better define its disciplinary profile. Among the first to be involved was the Frenchman Félix Regnault, an investigator of many topics and a lifelong supporter of the importance of ethnographic cinema. Racial differences were at the center of his interests, although attempts to highlight them yielded contradictory results. Some years later, the Britain Alfred C. Haddon brought a camera with him on the legendary Cambridge expedition to the Torres Strait (1898) and recorded a few films. The third example discussed here is that of Baldwin Spencer, who, together with Francis Gillen, included the filming of native ceremonies in his studies on the indigenous populations of Central Australia. Not only did technical and logistical problems trouble the start of ethnographic cinema. The theoretical framework of social evolutionism was weakening and anthropology was turning more and more to the study of language, kinship and belief systems. Here the contribution that cinema could make seemed temporarily to be in question.

Writing and translating: the place of images in ethnography.

In this article I intend to debate the place that images occupy in ethnographic research and their methodological interest, which characterizes the conditions for the insertion of a visual character in the ethnographic narrative. According to Novaes (2014), images communicate and, even in silence, it is necessary to take into account what they have to say, especially in empirical work. In this way, the article will focus on photography as an instrument that opens in gestures and expressions for field research, to think about its use as a production technology for the construction of a visual ethnographic narrative, such as the experience of ethnographic cinema, which will be presented shortly. The hypothesis to be developed here is whether photography can operate as a translation of knowledge gathered in the field. For this, it is important to highlight the methodological interest in the use of the image from the researcher-photographer to the researcher-filmmaker and, as an example, the ethnographic film Les Maîtres fous (The Crazy Teachers), by Jean Rouch (1954) is analyzed.

Basic Approaches to Ethnographic Film Usage as a Method of Developing of Ethnocultural Competence of Future Journalists

The article discusses the features of the application of the methodology of visual education based on the use of ethnographic films in the organization of independent work of future journalists. On the basis of emic and ethical approaches, the main functions of ethnographic cinema are identified and described in the light of creating an image of ethnoculture in the process of training future journalists. The principles of representation of ethnoculture in the media sphere are considered, on the basis of which the ethnological motivation of future journalists is formed as the basis of ethnocultural competence.

KABARDINO-BALKARIA ON THE SOVIET SCREEN: “ETHNOGRAPHIC FILM” BY ANATOLY TERSKOI

Исследование выполнено в рамках проекта РНФ № 21-18-00518, https://rscf.ru/project/21-18-00518 В 1920-х гг. в СССР получило развитие производство так называемых «культур­фильмов» о народностях и территориях страны. Эти фильмы имели популярность у зрителей, являясь для многих единственной возможностью совершить кино-путе­шествие по «Шестой части мира». И одним из наиболее популярных мест для съем­ки краеведческих фильмов стал Кавказ – картины, снятые в регионе, становились буквальным открытием этой территории для населения столиц и центральных областей. Была у этого процесса и политическая подоплека – проект создания «Ки­ноатласа СССР» – альманаха о советизации многонациональной страны. В статье рассматриваются непредставленные в гуманитарном обороте теоретические разра­ботки, посвященные развитию этнографического кино, и апробированные на практи­ке в виде киноматериалов о Кабардино-Балкарии, созданные режиссером А.Н. Терским при активном участии научного консультанта Н.Ф. Яковлева. Экран немого кино прямо или косвенно отражал силуэты идеологии и политики, идентичности и куль­туры самобытной территории в период исторической трансформации (из окраины Российской империи в автономную область СССР). Теоретические опыты Терского яв­ляются вкладом в науку, будучи одними из самых ранних отечественных концепций по визуальной антропологии. А в его кинокадрах просматриваются региональные осо­бенности реализации центральных программ советского строительства. Наконец, кинофильмы о Кавказе явились и выгодным экспортным товаром, широко демонстри­ровались в прокате заграничных стран, формируя в общественном сознании образ многоукладной горной страны. Делается вывод о потенциале этнографического кино­документа как исторического источника, и как актуального ресурса для применения в широком спектре современных научно-творческих практик. In the 1920s in the USSR, the production of so called “cultural films” about the nationalities and territories of the country was developed. These films were popular with viewers, being the only opportunity for many to make a film journey through the “Sixth Part of the World”. And one of the most popular places for filming local history films was the Caucasus – the films made in the region became a literal discovery of this territory for the population of the capitals and central regions. This process also had a political background – a project to create a “Cinema-Atlas of the USSR” – an almanac about Sovietization of a multinational country. The article examines theoretical developments that have not been presented in the humanitarian circulation, devoted to the development of ethnographic cinema in the USSR, and tested in practice in the form of film materials about Kabardino-Balkaria, created by film-director A. Terskoi with the active participation of the scientific consultant N. Yakovlev. The silent film screen directly or indirectly reflected the silhouettes of the ideology and politics, identity and culture of a distinctive territory during the period of historical transformation (from the outskirts of the Russian Empire to the Soviet autonomous region). Terskoi’s theoretical experiments are a contribution to science, being one of the earliest domestic concepts of visual anthropology. And his footage reveals regional features of the implementation of the central programs of Soviet construction. Finally, films about the Caucasus were a profitable export commodity – they were widely shown at the box office in foreign countries, shaping in the public consciousness the image of a multi-layered mountainous country. The conclusion is drawn about the potential of the ethnographic film document as a historical source and as an actual resource for use in a wide range of modern scientific and creative practices.

ETHNOGRAPHIC CINEMA: TO THE PROBLEM OF GENRE BOUNDARIES

Представлен анализ «художественно-этнографического» фильма (так его позиционируют авторы) «Якутская свадьба. XIX век» (2016), в создании которого принимали активное участие ведущие ученые республики. Фильм являет пример антропологического постановочного кино. Визуализация фольклорного текста (обряда свадьбы) наглядно выводит культурные коды этноса, семиотический анализ которых предложен с целью определения жанровой специфики этнографического кино. Фильм как визуально-антропологическое исследование фольклорного текста предлагает интерпретацию хроматического кода якутской культуры (анализ семантики белого цвета в культуре скотоводов). Проведен анализ музыкального и акустического кода: протяжная песня невесты — реконструкция архаической мелоформы; анализ интонации участников ритуала — как речевая характеристика. Кроме того, представлен анализ кинетического, кулинарного, числового кодов культуры, визуализированных в фильме. На основе материалов фестивального кино и трудов современных исследователей в области визуальной антропологии обобщены характеристики этнографического кино. Предложены критерии, отличающие этнографическое кино от других документальных жанров. На наш взгляд, любая репрезентация, визуальная в том числе, сделанная человеком про человека, по природе своей является антропологической. Выявлено, что жанр этнографического кино предполагает детальное акцентированное рассмотрение быта; поиск схождений и отличий текстов культуры; научный комментарий (интерпретацию); направление коллективного восприятия (манипуляцию); создание иллюзии присутствия здесь и сейчас; стремление максимально передать ауру культуры; вживание или монтаж с индигенным кино; «встраивание» камеры, «включенное» кино, достижение естественности; иконофобию («избегание прямого взгляда»); включение зрителя в рефлексивную деятельность (эмпатию); обязательное созвучие эстетики фильма эстетике культуры; предпочтение взгляда «чужого»; «иллюзию нейтрального наблюдателя». Рассмотрены особенности стилистики документального кино по этнографии якутов, проблемы взаимного фреймирования в многоуровневом и поливалентном индигенном кино. Доказано, что этнографическое кино есть не только комментарий к культуре, и автопортрет — не самоцель. Фильм не ограничивается опытом реконструкции обряда, но представляет ментальность народа, является актом самосознания культуры. We analyze «artistic and ethnographic» (as the authors position it) of the film «Yakut Wedding. XIX century» (2016), in which creation the leading ethnographers of the republic took an active part. The film is an example of anthropological staged movie. Visualization of the folklore text (wedding ceremony), as a parade, displays the cultural codes of the ethnos, a semiotic analysis of which is proposed in order to determine the genre specificity of ethnographic cinema. The film as a visual anthropological study of folklore text offers an interpretation of the chromatic code of the Yakut culture (analysis of the semantics of white in the culture of herders). The analysis of the musical and acoustic code is carried out: the bride’s long song — reconstruction of the archaic meloform; analysis of intonation of the participants of the ritual as a speech characteristic. In addition, an analysis of the kinetic, culinary, and numerical codes of culture visualized in the film is presented. Based on the materials of festival cinema and the works of modern researchers in the field of visual anthropology, the characteristics of ethnographic cinema are generalized. Criteria are proposed, that distinguish ethnographic from other genres of documentary films. In our opinion, any representation, including a visual one made by a person about a person, is anthropological in nature. It is revealed that the genre of ethnographic cinema involves a detailed accented consideration of everyday life; search for similarities and differences of cultural texts; scientific commentary (interpretation); direction of collective perception (manipulation); creating the illusion of being here and now; the desire to convey the aura of culture as much as possible; implantation or indigenous films; "embed" the camera; «included» cinema, the achievement of naturalness; iconophobia «avoiding direct gaze»; the inclusion of the viewer in reflective activity (empathy); obligatory consonance of film aesthetics with aesthetics of culture; preference for the look of a «stranger»; «the illusion of a neutral observer». The features of the stylistics of cinematic ethnography of the Yakuts, the problems of mutual framing in multilevel and multivalent indigenous cinema are considered. It is proved that ethnographic cinema is not only a commentary on culture, and self-portrait is not an end in itself. The film is not limited to the experience of reconstruction of the rite, but it represents a mentality, is an act of self-awareness of culture.

Ethnographic Documentary Production

The term “documentary production” within anthropology characterizes the making and circulation of ethnographic research and scholarship which includes film and video as the primary medium of storytelling and communicating cultural knowledge. These categories evolve frequently and what constitutes a film as “ethnographic” cinema is a topic of lengthy ongoing debates. In his Oxford Bibliographies in Anthropology entry “Ethnographic Film,” Matthew Durington provides an overview of some of these debates in attempting to narrow down theoretical frameworks and parameters of filmic ethnography. Ginsburg’s 1998 essay “Institutionalizing the Unruly: Charting a Future for Visual Anthropology” (cited under Foundations) charts the lineage of visual anthropology on the development of the subfield as “born of a union between anthropology and documentary film” (p. 173). From its earliest application within ethnographic research, some scholars have approached filmmaking as a methodological and analytical tool that privileges scientific rigor while others regard it primarily as a medium for storytelling and scholarly output. Early adopters of using film within anthropological research, including Mead and Bateson in their 1977 article “On the Use of Camera in Anthropology” (cited under Foundations), have openly quibbled about the role of the camera and the filmmaker in capturing culture on film. These disagreements have been useful in broadening the boundaries of ethnographic cinema, inspiring filmmakers to experiment with different ways of making meaning, as it has been customary from the genre’s inception led by pioneering figures like Jean Rouch, Robert Gardner, and Trinh T. Minh-ha. For a threshold for what constitutes “ethnographic film and media productions,” we can turn to Jean Rouch, who in his essay “The Camera and Man” (cited under Foundations) insists that ethnographic filmmakers must apply the same anthropological rigor—“spend a long time in the field before beginning to shoot (at least a year),” and thereby possessing an intimate understanding of the communities among whom they work while mastering essential “film and sound recording skills” (p. 40). Building on insights offered by Rouch and by drawing on scholarship from documentary and media studies, the goal of this entry is to outline the fundamentals of non-fiction filmmaking geared toward anthropologists who are already trained in ethnographic research. This entry also insists upon a more inclusive definition of ethnographic cinema, one that does not rely on the filmmaker’s academic pedigree as the primary criteria for inclusion into what has historically been a rather insular enterprise. Instead, a section of this entry is devoted to highlighting voices and perspectives from historically marginalized communities—queer, feminist, people of color, immigrants, indigenous filmmakers, who have been sidelined within the discipline of anthropology with its vestiges of colonialism. Another section of this entry highlights the need to decenter the hegemony of North American and European gaze when telling cross-cultural stories by focusing on transnational ethnographic and documentary production, specifically from countries in the Global South.

ВИЗУАЛИЗАЦИЯ ЭТНИЧНОСТИ В СОВЕТСКОМ КИНО: «СТРАНА ГОЛЬДОВ» АМО БЕК-НАЗАРОВА (1930)

На материале этнографического кинодокумента «Страна гольдов» классика советского кино, Амо Бек-Назарова, в статье проводится рассмотрение направления художественной документалистики как примера визуально-антропологических опытов в СССР на рубеже 1920-х – 1930-х гг. Анализируя архивные данные, дневники режиссера и свидетельства современников, автор статьи прослеживает эволюцию упомянутого кинопроекта в связи с параллельными процессами в политике и кинематографе. В изучаемый период кинематографисты СССР апробировали различные форматы визуализации этничности, конструируя советский миф об освобожденных революцией народностях нового Союза, в чем нуждалось партийное руководство. Основываясь на показательном примере творчества режиссера Амо Бек-Назарова, в статье прослеживается использование возможностей этнографического кино как ресурса по созданию эффективных для внедрения в общественный оборот экранных образов: традиционного бытования (образ «темного прошлого») и нововведений социализма (образ «светлого будущего»). Коль скоро фильм «Страна гольдов» представляет собой своеобразный кино-текст, состоящий из примерно равнозначного количества перемежающихся в повествовании кинокадров и текстовых титров, то методом анализа фильма явилась его исследовательская расшифровка – «перевод» в текстовый формат. В статье анализируется потенциал кино как формы визуальной антропологии, и фильма как многокомпонентного исторического источника, отображающего на экране культуру снимаемого и снимающего, отражающего силуэты культуры и идеологии своего времени. Делаются выводы о фильме «Страна гольдов» как многослойном историческом киноисточнике и о творческой методологии режиссера по сочетанию документальных и художественных приемов в процессе этно-кинематографической работы, как актуальной для изучения и использования в современной визуально-антропологической практике.Based on the material of the ethnographic documentary «Country of Golds» by the classic of Soviet cinema, Amo Bek-Nazarov, the article considers the direction of artistic documentary as an example of visual and anthropological experiments in the USSR at the turn of the 1920–1930s. Analyzing archival data, director’s diaries, and contemporary testimonies, the author traces the evolution of the mentioned film project in connection with parallel processes in politics and cinema. In the period under study, Soviet filmmakers tested various visualization formats of ethnicity, constructing the Soviet myth of the peoples of the new Union freed by the revolution, which the party leadership needed. Based on an illustrative example of the work of director Amo Bek-Nazarov, the article traces the use of the capabilities of ethnographic cinema as a resource for creating effective on-screen images for traditional use: traditional life (the image of the «dark past») and innovations of socialism (the image of the «bright future»). As soon as the film «Country of Golds» is a kind of film text, consisting of approximately the same number of film frames and text captions alternating in the narrative, the method of analysis of the film was its research decoding – «translation» into text format. The article analyzes the potential of the cinema as a form of visual anthropology, and the film as a multicomponent historical source that displays the culture of the film being shot and shot, reflecting the silhouettes of culture and ideology of its time. Conclusions are drawn about the film «Country of Golds» as a multi-layered historical cinema source, and about the director’s creative methodology for combining documentary and artistic techniques in the process of ethno-cinematic work, as relevant for study and use in modern visual anthropological practice.

Visual Representations of Traditional Northern Communities in Ethnographic Film: Historical and Modern Perspectives

This paper investigates the ethnographic films about the indigenous peoples of the North, moving from the visual representations of the North produced in the Soviet state to the new discourses of post-Soviet Russian documentary films. By demonstrating how the representations of traditional ethnocultural communities of the North have evolved over time in Russian documentary, the authors focus on the contemporary documentary film Oil Field (Oil Field; Ivan Golovnev 2012), which depicts a life of the family Piak (Nenets Vasily Piak and his Khanty wife, Svetlana) in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug—Yugra. Authors came to conclusion that ethnographic cinema would be considered as a cultural mediator: it is both reflectively represents the reality of the traditional culture and contributes some of the most lasting visual formulae with regard to the way the indigenous populations of the Far North are framed and remembered. Keywords: ethnographic film, indigenous peoples of the North, reindeer herding, oil industry, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Russia