40 Film reels (silent color negative A and B rolls, 16mm)
1,336 Film reels (in 399 cans, silent color negative outtakes and trims, 16mm)
10 Film reels (silent color print, 16mm)
701 Sound tape reels (1/4 inch)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound cassettes
Film reels
Sound tape reels
Date:
1989-1992, undated
Summary:
The Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World collection consists of film materials and associated documentation for the editing process of the ten-episode ethnographic television series aired in 1992 and hosted by Harvard anthropologist David Maybury-Lewis. The collection consists of field sound, camera original film in the form of outtakes and trims, edited silent film (A and B rolls and prints), and technical paper documentation including field and lab reports.
Scope and Contents:
The Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World collection, 1989-1992, undated, comprises edited and unedited film, audio, and associated paper documentation. Footage in edited form includes A and B rolls and some resulting prints, while unedited film is in the form of trims and outtakes. Depending on the stage in the editing process, film is associated either with a general subject or with a specific edited title. Audio is largely 1/4-inch audio tapes of original field sound and translations. Associated paper documentation is largely technical and lab reports and does not exist consistently for subjects and episodes.
Of note is the large collection of trims and outtakes. As these rolls are camera original film, they are printed with "latent key numbers" along the edge of the film, or codes that advance sequentially through the roll. Each roll is associated with a unique range of latent key numbers, allowing researchers to trace camera original film through the editing process and narrow down filming order. Sequences removed from trims and outtakes for use in final episode cuts are also associated with these latent key number ranges. The National Anthropological Film Collection holds searchable lists of the collection's latent key numbers; contact the NAFC for more detail.
Arrangement:
The Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World collection is arranged in 3 series: Series 1. Edited film materials, circa 1992; Series 2. Unedited film materials, 1989-1991, undated; Series 3. Technical documentation, 1989-1991, undated.
Administrative History:
The television program Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World, hosted by Harvard anthropologist David Maybury-Lewis, was a television series aired in 1992 that interrogated universal human themes such as death, life, love, and spirituality in the lives of a wide range of indigenous peoples at the turn of the millennium. The program juxtaposed lives and customs in tribal societies with those of urban Canadians to underline the relevance of indigenous values.
Maybury-Lewis, at the time professor of anthropology and the curator of South American Ethnology in Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, worked extensively in Brazil and particularly with the Xavante. He was also co-founder of Cultural Survival, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of culture, land, and human rights of indigenous peoples.
Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World was created by Richard Meech and Michael Grant and written by Adrian Malone. The series was was co-produced by Biniman Productions Limited, Adrian Malone Productions Limited, BBC-TV and KCET Los Angeles, in association with the Global Television Network, and with the cooperation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS, Rogers Telefund, and Telefilm Canada.
The Millennium film collection is a collection of footage that was eventually edited into episodes of the Public Broadcasting System television program Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World, hosted by Harvard anthropologist David Maybury-Lewis. The series interrogated universal human themes such as death, life, love, and spirituality in the lives of a wide range of indigenous peoples at the turn of the millennium, comparing lives and values in tribal societies to those of urban Canadians.
Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World was created by Richard Meech and Michael Grant and written by Adrian Malone. The series was was co-produced by Biniman Productions Limited, Adrian Malone Productions Limited, BBC-TV and KCET Los Angeles, in association with the Global Television Network, and with the cooperation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS, Rogers Telefund, and Telefilm Canada.
Provenance:
The Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World collection was donated to the National Anthropological Film Collection (formerly the Human Studies Film Archives) by series co-producer and co-director Richard Meech in 2012.
Restrictions:
The Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the National Anthropological Film Collection may not be played.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Citation:
The Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World collection, National Anthropological Film Collection, Smithsonian Institution.
