The Way of the ancestors

United Kingdom, 1977

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Episode number 8 of Series “The Long Search”.
In this program the producers have chosen the Turaja people of Sulawesi in Indonesia to represent cultures which still practice a ‘primal’ religion. Their particular form of religion emphasises the role of the ancestors which leads to extremely elaborate and lengthy funeral ceremonies with an emphasis on animal sacrifice. Ronald Eyre ponders on how these religions are coping with the modern world, in the form of christianity and ‘cultural tourism’, as well as trying to understand the religion itself. The film does contain scenes of animal sacrifice, although the viewer is warned of their approach.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

director

Malcolm Feuerstein

producer

Peter Montagnon

production company

BBC

Duration

00:50:00:00

Production places

United Kingdom

Production dates

1977

Appears in

The Long Search

Group of items

The Long Search

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Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

305326

Language

English

Subject categories

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Festivals - Asia

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Funeral rites and ceremonies

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Indonesia - Religion

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Tribes

Crafts & Visual Arts → Symbolism

Documentary

Documentary → Documentary films - Great Britain

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Ethnology

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Indonesia - Religion

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Religion, Primitive

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Society, Primitive

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Symbolism

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Funeral rites and ceremonies

History → Funeral rites and ceremonies

History → Mythology

History → Religion, Primitive

History → Society, Primitive

Literature → Mythology

Mathematics, Science & Technology → Symbolism

Television

Television → Television programs

Television → Television programs → Television programs - Great Britain

Television → Television series

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/84039--the-way-of-the-ancestors/ |title=The Way of the ancestors |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=28 October 2024 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}