Joseph Towles Zaire Film Study: Mbuti, Ndaka and Bira
odd: label: General
content: Local Numbers: HSFA 1991.13.13
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Towles, Joseph A.
label: Collection Creator
content: Turnbull, Colin M.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Colin Turnbull and Joseph Towles films
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4 Video recordings (1 hour 46 minutes, color silent, 1 inch)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1970-1972
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Human Studies Film Archives
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Video recordings
originalsloc: label: Existence and Location of Originals
content: Original 4 rolls of S8mm and 1 roll of 8mm film returned to owner.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Footage documents various aspects of Nkumbi initiations in Epulu and Eboyo villages and an Elima initiation for girls at Kopu Village, Ituri forest, northeast Zaire. Nkumbi initiation includes preparations for the initiation involving Mbuti and village boys, masked dancers, initiates withstanding various ordeals, and initiates painted in white clay dancing in keefa (raffia skirts). Elima initiation includes mostly Mbuti girls wearing long grass skirts and headdresses dancing while holding small bows and arrows. Footage also includes Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda with shots of the falls and wildlife including rhinoceros, water buffalo, hippopotamus, elephants, warthogs, and crocodiles; Towles compound and garden and pet baby baboon; Kinshasa docks; river banks as seen from a steamer; Kisingani and Mbuti villages around Kisingani; general activities of Epulu including clearing forest for fields and fishing. See also [Mbuti Pygmy Film Study, 1954: Edited Version], [Mbuti Pygmy Film Study, 1971-1972], and [Mbuti Pygmy Footage: Forest Camp, Bira and Ngwana Villages, and Station de Chasse, 1954].

Supplementary materials: annotation by Colin Turnbull.