Film Series and New Book: Shared Histories – Collaboration in Ethnographic Film
At Forschungscampus Dahlem the Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin, presents 16 films made between 1914 and 2022 dedicated to collaborative filmmaking practice in the history of ethnographic film, examined from multiple perspectives and film genres.
What forms of collaboration or “shared histories” can ethnographic film embrace to produce works that more closely reflect the perspectives and priorities of the Indigenous and minority communities they represent? What new approaches can foster a collaborative examination of the colonial legacies embedded in archives, and encourage open-ended dialogue among diverse actors – Indigenous communities, filmmakers, and other stakeholders? The film series addresses current discourses of decolonisation and participation in knowledge and transformation processes in close collaboration with Indigenous filmmakers and archives worldwide.
The films – including Berlin premieres, new digital restorations and analogue archive film prints – will be screened in the original language with English subtitles and accompanied by introductions and post-screening discussions with filmmakers, protagonists, film scholars and ethnologists. Lectures on the film archive of the Ethnologisches Museum and the film restoration work will shed further light on the challenges of bringing back major works of ethnographic cinema to life. Finally, an international panel discussion will conclude the series (25 to 28 September 2025).
The program is curated by Dr. Regina Knapp and Louise von Plessen, and funded by the Hauptstadtkulturfonds.
The full program can be viewed here:
https://www.smb.museum/en/events/event-series/shared-histories-collaboration-in-ethnographic-film/
An English-language, richly illustrated volume with 15 essays by international filmmakers, ethnologists, protagonists, film critics and scholars is published on the occasion of the film series, distributed by edition text+kritik. Contributors: Alice Apley, Janelle Blankenship, Vincent Carelli, Sarah Elder, Patrick Holzapfel, Regina Knapp, Edgardo C. Krebs, Anastasia Lapsui, Markku Lehmuskallio, Tobias Nagl, Fernando Martín Peña, Louise von Plessen, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Shurenhuar.
To order the book:
Louise von Plessen (ed.), Shared Histories. Collaboration in Ethnographic Film. 2025