Childhood Rivalry in Bali and New Guinea
Presents a series of scenes in which children of the same age in Bali and New Guinea respond to the mother’s attending another baby, the ear piercing of a younger sibling, and the experimental presentation of a doll. The Balinese mother handles sibling rivalry by theatrical teasing of her own child through conspicuous attention to other babies. The Iatmul mother in New Guinea, even when nursing a newborn infant, makes every effort to keep her child from feeling jealous. The film shows the Balinese child’s interest is focused on younger children.
Directors
Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead, one of the most well known anthropologists worldwide, and celebrated student of Franz Boas, pioneered motion-picture film making in Samoa, New Guinea, and Bali, where she documented the lives of the indigenous people with an anthropological perspective. Her husband, Gregory Bateson, was also a field collaborator. Together they completed seven ethnographic films. She was much honored in her lifetime, serving as president of major scientific associations. She authored more than twenty important books and coauthored at least an equal number touching on a broad range of anthropological issues. The Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival honors her contribution to ethnographic film.
Learning to Dance in Bali (1978)、Bathing Babies in Three Cultures (1954)、Childhood Rivalry in Bali and New Guinea (1954)、First Days in the Life of a New Guinea Baby (1952)、Karba's First Years (1952)、Trance and Dance in Bali (1952)、A Balinese Family (1951)