Summary
EMERGING VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGIST SHOWCASE | MARGARET MEAD FILM FESTIVAL | AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
MARGARET MEAD FILM FESTIVAL | AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
The four-day celebration took place from Thursday, May 9–Sunday, May 12, and presented storytelling, documentary films, and live performances from diverse voices near and far.
Sunday | 11 am | Kaufmann Theater | Special Event
In this special showcase, we present exciting new ethnographic documentaries from emerging visual anthropology students. This screening is co-hosted by Faye Ginsburg, Director of NYU Center for Media, Culture, and History, and Kriser Professor of Anthropology, and Pegi Vail, Center for Media, Culture and History and documentary professor, Program in Culture & Media. It will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.
Fighting Blind
Director: Margarida Duque de Castela
2023 | 24 min | USA
Brazilian jiu-jitsu martial artist and family man Angel Adorno shares the victories and challenges of being blind in a sighted world, on and off the mat. Designed for blind audiences, this film explores Angel’s resilience in overcoming a difficult past as he learns to trust himself and others.
Women of the Stony Shore: Shinnecock Kelp Farmers
Director: Nathaniel Cummings-Lambert
2023 | 28 min | USA
A group of Indigenous women from the Shinnecock Nation fight for environmental restoration in the waters of their homeland through kelp farming. Their traditional ecological knowledge intersects with their struggle for sovereignty as these farmers protect lifeways and cultural practices for their tribe along the Long Island shore.
Ralph & Bug
Director: Christine Thomas Yoon
2023 | 17 min| USA
Ralph James has traded in the street name “El Diablo” for the title of “The Urban Dad.” Leaving behind a life of drug dealing, Ralph is now the sole caretaker of his daughter Bug and leader of his local dad’s group in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Weaving together snapshots from Ralph and Bug’s lives, this film highlights a father’s sacrificial love for his child, promising to overcome anything that stands in his way.
#Darien
Director: Tatiana Rojas Ponce
2023 | 32 min| USA/Venezuela
Countless migrants make the treacherous journey from South and Central America to reach the United States—and many document it on social media. While Venezuelan filmmaker Tatiana Rojas Ponce struggles to find meaningful ways to help those arriving in New York from her home country, she meets Paola and Emily, who share stories, videos, and reflections about their harrowing passage through the Darien jungle en route to the United States.
Homegrown
Director: Lee Emmerich
2023 | 17 min| USA
Leroy Emmerich bought some land in the 1960s with money he earned from filmmaking. Leroy’s son turned the land into a flower farm and now his grandson, Lee Emmerich, is making a film about the uncertain future of their family farm. Homegrown explores family cycles, parental expectations, and the connections between filmmaking and farming.
Rimana Wasi: Hogar de Historias – Rimana Wasi: Home of Stories
Directors: Ximena Málaga Sabogal, Piotr Turlej
2022 | 20 min | Peru
Quechua stories reach the far-flung highlands from the city center of Puno, Peru as Chaska attempts to balance her career in radio with familial obligations in some of the nearest highlands. Portraying a rich heritage through quotidian scenes blended with the modernity of present day, the film paints a tender portrait of community and a woman embracing modernity to promote her cultural roots. Produced by Watay Misita, a company born from a female film collective that highlights the stories of Andean women, the project won the Peruvian Bicentennial Shorts award and has screened in numerous festivals.
Co-presented by the New York University Center for Media, Culture, and History