17 Film reels (black-and-white silent; approximately 16,000 feet, 16mm)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Film reels
Silent films
Place:
South Asia
Cambodia
Thailand
India
Ceylon
East Asia
Date:
circa 1920-1930
Scope and Contents:
Film shot and collected by Ananda Coomaraswamy, former Curator of the Asian Section of the Boston Museum of fine Arts, documenting Cambodia, Thailand, India, Ceylon, and Japan.
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 As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today.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.
Provenance:
Received from the Foundation for Traditional Studies in 1989.
Restrictions:
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.
1 Film reel (15 minutes, color silent reversal; 400 feet, 16mm)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Film reels
Silent films
Place:
North America
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
Date:
1956
Scope and Contents:
Footage documenting Giglio or Feast of St. Paulinus, an Italian religious pageant of liberation which originated in Nola, Italy and was recreated in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York by immigrants. Giglio refers both to the ceremonial structure and to the spectacle surrounding its transport through the streets. Included are scenes of the giglio, lifting the giglio, cappos directing the lifts, and street celebrations. See also [San Paola Festival, 1950], [Brooklyn San Paulino Feast, ca. 1939], and I GIGLI A NOLA.
Local Number:
HSFA 1984.11.1
Provenance:
This collection was donated by The Bello Family and Joseph Sciorra in 1984.
Restrictions:
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.
Footage documenting Giglio or Feast of St. Paulinus, an Italian religious pageant of liberation which originated in Nola, Italy and was recreated in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York by immigrants. Giglio refers both to the ceremonial structure and to the spectacle surrounding its transport through the streets. Footage shows preparations prior to the celebration including a band, men with wreath shaped bread, street activities, and men eating and the celebration with men carrying the tower, a band playing at the base of the tower, and crowds of people dancing in the street.
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.
Local Numbers:
HSFA 1984.10.1
Related Materials:
The Human Studies Film Archives also holds Brooklyn Giglio film, 1956, I Gigli a Nola, 1923, and San Paola Festival film, circa 1950.
Provenance:
Received from Louis C. Barricelli in 1984.
Restrictions:
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.
2 Film reels (47 minutes, black-and-white silent; 1700 feet)
2 DVD
Slides
Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Film reels
Dvd
Slides
Silent films
Place:
Southeast Asia
Burma
Date:
1955-2009
Scope and Contents:
Footage shot during Shontz' year as a Fulbright teacher in the Union of Burma. Documented are aspects of daily and ceremonial life primarily in the locations of Taunggyi, Yaung-whe (on Inle Lake), Namkhan, Kentung, and Rangoon. Scenes of ethnographic interest include: the annual Buddhist Festival of Lights in Taunggyi; a pwe festival sponsored by a Lisu chief at Kentung near the Laos border which includes shots of Ekaw, Lisu, and Palaung (Ta-ang) peoples; masked dance by Black Karens in Taunggyi; Intha "leg rowers" on Inle Lake towing a float with Buddah images; a festival of the northern Shans in Namkan; and Hindu fire walkers and Siamese dancers in Rangoon. Arch Nicholson was director.
Collection also includes 35mm color photographic slides, 2008 DVD of slides with Dr. Shontz' annotation, 2006 DVD of film with Dr. Shontz' annotation (video has earlier annotation by Dr. Shontz), correspondence and other paper records associated with the film and photographs.
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.
Local Number:
HSFA 1990.22.1
Provenance:
Received from Charles Shontz in 1990, 2008 and 2009.
Restrictions:
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.
1 Film reel (23 minutes, color sound; 400 feet, 16mm)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Film reels
Sound films
Place:
Madagascar
Africa
Date:
1963
Scope and Contents:
Footage of a Famadihana (also known as "digging up the dead" ceremony) is an exhumation ceremony to honor ancestors. This famadihana was performed by the Malgache people of Madagascar. The body of an ancestor is exhumed, re-wrapped in burial cloths and re-buried. The extended family celebrates with a feast. The film has a sound track narration recorded by filmmaker, Sarajane Archdeacon.
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.
Local Numbers:
HSFA 2001.6.1
Provenance:
Received from Sarajane Archdeacon in 2001.
Restrictions:
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.
Film of a famadihana, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Preservation of this film was supported by the National Film Preservation Foundation.
Cataloging supported by Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee
Film and video of masked dance performances of East India and Hajari Bhand, a former court jester and street performer of Rajasthan. Collection includes sound recordings.
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.
Provenance:
Received from John Emigh in 1984.
Restrictions:
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.
Collection consists of outtakes from film by Karen Kramer, including THE SERPENT HANDLERS, TO SERVE THE GODS, HAITIAN SONG, LEGACY OF THE SPIRITS, CELEBRATION, MOCCO JUMBIE, CIGAR ROLLERS, RICE AND PEAS, CONEY ISLAND MERMAID. Collection also contains production videotapes for DAYS OF AWE, project video tapes for CHILDREN OF SHADOWS, and two film prints each of THE JOLO SERPENT HANDLERS, TO SERVE THE GODS, HAITIAN SONG, CELEBRATION and LEGACY OF THE SPIRITS.
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.
Provenance:
Received from Karen Kramer in 1992, 2003, and 2009.
Restrictions:
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.
1 roll of 35 mm nitrate negative motion picture film of the 1950 San Paola Festival, Brooklyn, NY. Footage documents the Giglio or Feast of St. Paulinus, an Italian religious pageant of liberation which originated in Nola, Italy and was recreated in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York by immigrants. Giglio refers both to the ceremonial structure, a tower, and to the spectacle surrounding its transport through the streets. Footage contains shots of men carrying the tower, crowds dancing in the street around it, and spectators.
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.
Local Numbers:
HSFA 1984.5.1
Related Materials:
The Human Studies Film Archives also holds Brooklyn San Paulino Feast, circa 1939, Brooklyn Giglio film, 1956, and I Gigli a Nola, 1923.
Provenance:
Received from the San Paola Society in 1984.
Restrictions:
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.
Edited film is a story of a one day visit by pack train to the Havasupai tribe living in the Grand Canyon. Film consists of some footage of the village, irrigation farming, weaving of willow baskets, making and cooking "squaw" bread, preparation of a sweat lodge, a harvest festival consisting of rodeo activities, and cliff dwelling ruins. The film features the natural setting such as the falls of Havasu Creek and various scenic shots of the Grand Canyon.
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.
Local Number:
HSFA 1992.6.1
Provenance:
Received from American Film Institute (National Center for Film and Video Preservation in in 1992.
Restrictions:
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.
K̲h̲ān, Muhammad Jamāl, Mir of Hunza, 1912-1976 Search this
Extent:
3 Film reels (1,550 feet, 16mm and 8mm)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Film reels
Place:
Pakistan
Hunza (Pakistan)
Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir, India)
Nanga Parbat (Pakistan)
Gilgit District (Pakistan)
Date:
circa 1950s
Summary:
Walter Friedrich Knips was a commercial attaché for the German foreign service. He served in Karachi, Pakistan, from 1952 to 1957. The film footage included in this collection covers trips taken by Knips and his family to Hunza, Srinagar, Gilgit, and Nanga Parabat between 1953 and 1955 and family home movies from Pakistan and Houston dating from 1952 to 1960.
Scope and Contents:
The Walter Friedrich Knips films contain footage of the Knips family trips to Hunza in April of 1954 and autumn of 1955, a trip to Gilgit and Nanga Parabat in 1953 for the German-Austrian Climbing Expedition, and footage of the family in Karachi and Houston. The Hunza film footage contains depictions of their journey there, the events and people they witnessed while there, and their return home. The family film footage depicts the Knips children at various ages as well as unidentified local events. Some of the family film may date to after their time in Pakistan, perhaps to their time in Houston.
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.
Biographical Note:
Walter Friedrich Knips was born in Berlin on March 5, 1911. He was unable to attend university and took a business/electro-technical apprenticeship at Siemens in 1931. At the end of his apprenticeship, he was hired by Siemens and worked for them for two years before being transferred to their British India location in 1936. When England declared war on Germany after the invasion of Poland in 1939, all German nationals living in India, including Knips, were taken into internment camps. Knips was interned at Ahmendnagar (1929-1941), Deolali (1941-1942), and Dehra Dun (1941-1942). In the internment camps, Knips volunteered to help the dentist and was employed to assist in the camp hospital. When the internees were released two years after the end of the war, few were permitted to remain in India, and Knips returned to Germany, where he met his wife, Eva Burhenne. He worked as a salesman for Zellstoff Fabrik Waldhof, a Wiesbaden based pulp and paper company, for two years. Then, in 1952, his daughter Franziska was born, and he was hired by the German foreign service to take a position at the new embassy in Karachi, Pakistan, due to his knowledge of and desire to return to the region.
Knips was a commercial attaché for the German foreign service from 1952 to 1976. He served in Karachi from 1952 to 1957; he was fluent in Urdu and served as a negotiator and translator. He met Mir Muhammad Jamal Khan (1912-1976), the last Ismaili ruler of the State of Hunza, in 1953 while serving as a facilitator for the German-Austrian Nanga Parbat Climbing Expedition. The Mir invited Knips to visit him in the Hunza Valley, which he did with his wife in 1954 and his wife and daughter, Franziska, in 1955. Their friendship continued after Knips' departure from Pakistan in February 1957.
Knips continued to work for the German foreign service until his retirement in 1976, while serving in Montreal. He was posted in Houston, Texas, from 1957 to 1961 and in Montreal, Canada, from 1961 to 1976. He remained in Canada until his death in 1994.
Sources Consulted
Hamid, Major General Syed Ali. "A German Captive in Wartime India." The Friday Times, September 20, 2019. https://www.thefridaytimes.com/a-german-captive-in-wartime-india/
Hart, Franziska. "Walter F. Knips 1911-1994." Accessed November 19, 2020. http://www.gaebler.info/Walter_Knips.pdf
1911 -- Born in Berlin on March 5
1931-1934 -- Business/Electro-Technical apprentice at Siemens
1934-1936 -- Worked at Siemens
1936-1939 -- Worked at British India office of Siemens
1939 -1941 -- Interned by British forces at Ahmednagar
1941-1942 -- Interned by British forces at Deolali
1942-1947 -- Interned by British forces at Dehra Dun
1948 -- Married Eva Burhenne on October 30
1948-1952 -- Worked for Zellstoff Fabrik Waldhof
1952-1957 -- Commercial attaché for the German foreign service in Karachi, Pakistan
1953 -- Served as a facilitator for the German-Austrian Nanga Parbat Climbing Expedition
1954 -- First trip to Hunza (with Eva)
1955 -- Second trip to Hunza (with Eva and Franziska)
1957-1961 -- Commercial attaché for the German foreign service in Houston, Texas
1961-1976 -- Commercial attaché for the German foreign service in Montreal, Quebec
1994 -- Died in Quebec, Canada
Related Materials:
The HSFA holds excerpts from the journals of Walter Friedrich Knips and his wife, Eva Knips, as translated by their daughter Franziska Hart, which relate to the family trip to Hunza in 1955. Please consult the archivist for more information.
Provenance:
The Walter Friedrich Knips films were donated by his daughter, Franziska Hart.
Restrictions:
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.
