Synopsis An immersive marvel of sonic ethnography, Expedition Content draws on audio recordings made by recent college graduate and Standard Oil heir Michael Rockefeller as part of the 1961 Harvard-Peabody Expedition to Netherlands New Guinea that set up tents among the indigenous Hubula (also known as Dani) people. In their nearly imageless film, Karel and Kusumaryati document the strange encounter between the expedition and the Hubula people. The work explores and upends the power dynamics between anthropologist and subject, between image and sound, and turns the whole ethnographic project on its head.

Director

Ernst Karel, Veronika Kusumaryati

Screenwriter

Ernst Karel, Veronika Kusumaryati

Distributor

The Cinema Guild

Production Co

Sensory Ethnography Lab (SEL)

Genre

Documentary

Original Language

English

Runtime

1h 18m