Collection consists of three films.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Contact the repository for terms of use.
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Received from The American Film Institute, National Center for Film and Video Preservation in 1989.
Henry van Lieshout films, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Edited film produced by the Post Weekly Travel Series features shots of native life in Dutch Borneo (Indonesia). Scenes in Bandjermasin, the capital city of Dutch Borneo, include a native wrestling match with knives, "coolies" pulling wagons, auto crossing of a stream on a ferry, animals being caged and exported at the docks, and the residence and widows of the late sultan of Borneo.
HSFA 1989.18.1
Edited film, produced for the Educational Films Corporation of America, documents various subsistence and ritual activities of Fijians. Scenes include fishing with spears and nets, gathering poison vines and preparing fish poison, collecting giant sea slugs known as
HSFA 1989.18.2
Edited film produced by Pathe Review from footage taken in conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History Central Asiatic Expeditions (1921-1930). The film builds on the theme of these expeditions which were intended to establish Mongolia as the birthplace of man. Although the expeditions ultimately failed to do this, they do remain associated with the discovery of dinosaur eggs which established the reptilian, as opposed to the mammalian, nature of dinosaurs. The film features shots of archeological sites, the unearthing of a nest of dinosaur eggs, and excavation of the bones of the "balichitherium," a large land mammal. Accompanying shots include comparison of "primitive" cranial types with the phrenology of contemporary Mongolians. These are intercut with scenes of Mongolian life which include a pony market where stock is corralled, roped, and culled for sale; a pony race; and a camel caravan crossing the Gobi Desert.
Legacy Keywords: Expeditions ; Archeological sites Gobi Desert China ; Dinosaur eggs China
HSFA 1989.18.3