Movies: Jean Rouch

Once upon a time, in the middle of the last century, a great warrior named Babatou. Nigerian jumper from the region Dounga Gurunsi invaded the country and settled there. The brave prisoners were integrated into the army, women espoused. For fifty yea...

Commemorative celebrations of the independence of the Republic of Niger filmed in December 1961 and 1962....

Rouch’s earliest surviving film, which depicts the Sorko of Niger on a hippopotamus hunt. - MoMA...

Rain rituals with possession dances among the Songhay and Zarma of Simiri, Zermaganda, Niger. Dry Season: The village of Simiri; water carriers, the rainbow tree. Possession of the faithful making their way to the spirits' hut on the seventh day of t...

In Wanzerbe, in Niger, caravans of Tuareg merchants and Bella arrive. On the market, food, potteries, salt, cotton, and flocks are exchanged... a Mossi magician prepares in his hut, from mille and tree barks that he collected in the bush, a magical s...

From the bridges of Porto to its estuary, two men are paying tribute to the elegant Douro River. Through Luís de Camões and Prince Henry the Navigator, through its Viking ships and dizzying bridges, the Douro is a great witness to the history and cul...

A young African couple discusses the influence of the West on their traditions. They discuss at length love, polygamy, bourgeois marriage, the contribution of the West and African heritage....

A portrait of Zomo, the second of Damouré Zika’s many children. Employed at the zoo of the National Museum of Niger in Niamey, he offers us a tour, showing us the animals he takes care of. Then, when the work is finished, he invites us to an imprompt...

Germaine Dierterlen talks about Dogon mythology at a conference on the Bandiagara cliffs. The Songo canopy is a sacred site in Bandiagara. Its walls are covered with paintings depicting the different phases of creation. A little further on, in a cave...

A man rides a VW Beetle through the plains of Niger....

This portrait of the French film theorist and avant-garde director Jean Epstein (1897-1953) concentrates on the period when he filmed in Brittany, the spot where he became inspired by the sea. Using rare archive footage, Jean Epstein, Young Oceans of...

The sixth year of the Sigui ceremonies, celebrated every sixty years by the Dogons of the Bandiagara cliffs, Mali....

Dionysos is a 1984 French comedy film directed by Jean Rouch, starring Jean Monod and Hélène Puiseux. It tells the story of an American drama teacher who after writing a thesis on Dionysus tries to combine Dionysian rites with the work at a car facto...

"Their land drought-stricken, three Nigerien farmers (and their donkey) travel to Holland to investigate the possibility of importing windmill technology for use on the plains of Niger. A follow-up to JAGUAR, PETIT À PETIT, and COCORICO MONSIEUR POUL...

Directed by Jean Rouch....

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An artist is invited to Turin and is asked to do a painting inspired by the city and the work of Giorgio De Chirico....

A documentary cycle involving the Rarámuri or Tarahumara people of Northern Mexico. This film addresses rites of winter as well as peyote and bakaka rites. Its commentary, read by Raymonde Carasco and Jean Rouch, is drawn from texts by Antonin Artaud...

A Film by Jean Rouch and Tam-Sir Doueb....

The second year of the Sigui ceremonies, celebrated every sixty years by the Dogons of the Bandiagara cliffs, Mali, takes place in the village of Tyogou....