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Africa

Continental page to document. This is the English test version of the Africa page, created to check the multilingual façade.

Data classification

Ressources liees au territoire Afrique

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Shea butter by the Nago women of Agboro-Idouya: from pounding to moulding (Benin)

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In Agboro-Idouya, in Benin's Collines, some fifty Nago women, organised since 1990 in the "Egbéoyi Oleuo" group, turn shea nuts into butter through the full artisanal chain: pounding the kernels in mortars, roasting them over the fire, grinding them between two stones into a chocolate-coloured paste, whipping with hot water to separate the fat, washing, boiling and skimming in cauldrons, then moulding butter loaves on leaves. The group's president, Albertine Worou, presents the work, translated by the village chief.

Territory
Africa / Agboro-Idouya, commune de Ouéssè, département des Collines (Bénin)
Skill
Food
Community
Femmes nago (groupe yoruba du Bénin), groupement « Egbéoyi Oleuo »
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
5 a 15 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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No

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karitébeurre de karitéVitellaria paradoxafemmesgroupementnagopilagebarattageBéninCollines
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Bitter root: mato oput, the Acholi justice that reconciles perpetrators and victims of the LRA (Uganda)

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Abducted as children by the LRA, former commanders Richard Odong and Sunday Otto seek mato oput, the Acholi reconciliation ritual: confession before the elders, finding their victims’ families, clan-negotiated compensation, and the shared bitter-root drink that seals forgiveness. Al Jazeera English’s “Witness” follows the whole process (2011).

Territory
Africa / Acholiland — Gulu et région de Pajule, nord de l’Ouganda
Skill
Justice / repair
Community
Acholi
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
Plus de 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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No

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mato oputAcholijustice restauratriceréconciliationLRAOugandaGulucompensationrituelpardon
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Lubugo barkcloth of Buganda: from the mutuba fig tree to cloth (documentary, Uganda)

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The making of lubugo barkcloth among the Baganda of Uganda, inscribed by UNESCO on the Intangible Cultural Heritage lists since 2008. The film follows a master craftsman step by step: harvesting the bark of the mutuba fig tree without felling it, protecting the bared trunk, steaming, then long mallet beating until the cloth takes its typical red-brown hue. Once royal garment and ritual shroud, the cloth now also feeds contemporary creation. Documented production: film by Doreen Namatovu (CoCuDi Center), Makerere University × Shenkar College workshop, 2022.

Territory
Africa / Royaume du Buganda, région de Masaka, Ouganda
Skill
Arts / cultural expressions
Community
Baganda
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
Plus de 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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étoffe d'écorcelubugomutubafiguierBagandamartelageartisanat textileUNESCOtransmissionOuganda
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Inside the Kankurang: Manding initiation in Mbour (2STV report)

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A 2026 report by Senegalese broadcaster 2STV inside Mbour’s Manding neighbourhoods: elders on the origins of the masked guardian Kankurang (UNESCO ICH 2008), the initiation camp’s posted rules, night vigils, initiates’ testimonies, communal cooking and the mask’s procession through the crowd.

Territory
Africa / Mbour, région de Thiès, Sénégal (quartiers mandingues, camps de Doudou Sikunda et Diakhao)
Skill
Spirituality / cosmology
Community
Mandingues (Sénégal / Gambie)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
15 a 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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KankuranginitiationmasqueMandinguescirconcisionrite de passageveilléetransmissionMbourprotection
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"Zaï Wã Yaa Tiim, zaï is a solution": pits, compost and rain to regreen the Sahel (Ciné Yam, Burkina Faso)

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Transmission documentary made by Ciné Yam for the Zoramb Naagtaaba Association (AZN) of Guiè, Burkina Faso, on zaï, the Sahelian technique that brings hardened, degraded soils back to life. Mossi farmers of the Central Plateau show a full zaï season: cutting and collecting straw, making manure and compost, digging the staggered planting pits from the end of harvest — with a blackboard lesson —, filling them with compost while waiting for the rain, sowing, then weeding the growing millet up to full granaries. Elders recall the technique's revival ("zaï has existed for a long time") and the satisfaction of harvests regained even in bad seasons: each pit concentrates water and fertility at the foot of the plant, turning dead soil back into a field.

Territory
Africa / Guiè et villages voisins, province d'Oubritenga, Plateau-Central, Burkina Faso
Skill
Agriculture
Community
Communautés paysannes mossi du Plateau-Central burkinabè
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
15 a 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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zaicuvettescompostSahelBurkina FasoMossirestauration des solsagroecologieAZNmil
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South Africa's sangomas: divining bones, plants and ancestors at the bedside of mental health

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In South Africa, sangomas have healed body and mind for centuries with plants (muthi), rituals and the guidance of the ancestors, consulted by throwing the bones. Long maligned as "witch doctors", they are now seen by South African psychologists as vital allies in a country with a severe shortage of therapists. The film follows three healers: the divining consultation, the medicinal plant market, gathering plants by the rivers, preparing remedies, fire offerings and ritual bathing under the waterfall, and the emerging dialogue between healers and clinics.

Territory
Africa / Le Cap et ses environs (townships, montagne et littoral du Cap-Occidental), Afrique du Sud
Skill
Health
Community
Guérisseurs traditionnels des peuples nguni d'Afrique du Sud (zoulou, xhosa) — sangomas (amagqirha / izangoma)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
15 a 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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No

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sangomaguérisseur traditionnelmuthiplantes médicinalesos divinatoiresancêtresukuthwasasanté mentalerituel de purificationAfrique du Sud
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Gacaca: judging the genocide on the grass of the hills, Rwanda's community justice

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Gacaca ("the grass" in Kinyarwanda) is the traditional judicial institution of Rwanda's hills: the community sits on the grass to hear plaintiffs, accused and witnesses, and village-elected judges of integrity, the inyangamugayo, arbitrate. After the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Rwanda revived this community justice to try the hundreds of thousands of accused that ordinary courts could not absorb. Filmed in 2009 in the south of the country, the film shows a full hearing: the open-air assembly, the questioning of the accused, testimony and counter-testimony, confession and the request for forgiveness, and the words of survivors and police on reconciliation.

Territory
Africa / Province du Sud, Rwanda (lieu exact de l'audience non précisé par la source — point indicatif : Huye/Butare)
Skill
Justice / repair
Community
Communautés des collines du Rwanda (Banyarwanda) ; juges inyangamugayo élus par la communauté
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
15 a 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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No

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gacacajustice communautaireinyangamugayoréconciliationaveu et pardonassemblée villageoisegénocide des TutsisRwandaréparationmémoire
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The water measurers of the foggaras of Touat and Tidikelt: sharing the desert’s water (Algeria, UNESCO film)

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In the oases of Touat and Tidikelt, water comes from foggaras: underground galleries that drain the water table by gravity down to the palm groves, where a distribution comb divides it between each family’s channels. This CNRPAH film follows the kiyalin al-ma, the water measurers of the ksour communities: measuring shares with a plate of calibrated holes, calculating and recording the 24-unit allocations, meetings of the rights-holders, and the collective upkeep of galleries and channels. Key figures of the community, the measurers are becoming rare: the element was inscribed in 2018 on UNESCO’s Urgent Safeguarding List.

Territory
Africa / Oasis du Touat, du Gourara et du Tidikelt, wilaya d’Adrar, Sahara algérien
Skill
Water
Community
Communautés des ksour du Touat-Tidikelt (kiyalin al-ma, « mesureurs d’eau »)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
5 a 15 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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No

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foggaramesureur d’eaukiyal al-mapartage de l’eaugalerie souterrainepeigne répartiteuroasisksourTouatTidikelt
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The women potters of Sejnane: clay in women's hands (Tunisia, UNESCO film)

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In Sejnane, north-western Tunisia, women shape wheel-less earthenware for the home: cooking utensils, dolls and animal figurines. The film follows the whole chain: digging clay in the forest, carrying, crushing, kneading, modelling, white slip, painting geometric patterns with lentisk-leaf juice, open firing, and roadside sales. Girls learn from their mothers. Inscribed by UNESCO in 2018.

Territory
Africa / Sejnane, gouvernorat de Bizerte, nord-ouest de la Tunisie
Skill
Arts / cultural expressions
Community
Femmes potières de Sejnane (tradition rurale d’héritage berbère/amazigh)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
5 a 15 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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poteriepotièresSejnaneargileterre cuitemotifs berbèresmodelage sans tourlentisquecuisson à feu ouvertTunisie
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Smelting iron in Africa: the Mossi smiths of Dablo fire the furnace again (Burkina Faso)

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In May 2005, the elders of a Mossi smith family in Dablo (Burkina Faso) relit, for Christopher Roy's camera, an iron smelt that the region had not practised for some fifty years. The film follows the complete process: charcoal making, digging ore and flux, building the kiln with termite-mound clay, sacrifices, the smelt itself, and forging the iron into a tool. A demonstration explicitly presented as a cultural re-enactment.

Territory
Africa / Dablo, province du Sanmatenga, région Centre-Nord, Burkina Faso
Skill
Arts / cultural expressions
Community
Mossi (famille de forgerons Bamogo, anciens de Dablo)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
Plus de 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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No

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fonte du ferforgeronsMossifourneaucharbon de boismineraibas fourneaurituelforgeBurkina Faso
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The great shaman of the Kalahari: Boo! Xunta, Ju/'hoansi healer (Namibia)

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In Namibia's Nyae Nyae Conservancy, healer Boo! Xunta guides the Ju/'hoansi San: bow and rope making, tracking and burrow hunting, gathering, and the all-night healing trance dance. Documentary 'The Great Shaman – Healing in the Kalahari' by Manuela and Werner Zips (ORF), on the official SLICE channel.

Territory
Africa / Nyae Nyae (région de Tsumkwe), nord-est de la Namibie
Skill
Health
Community
San (Ju/'hoansi)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
Plus de 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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No

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guérisseurdanse de transechassepistagearc et flèchesfibres végétalesJu/'hoansiSanKalahariNyae Nyae
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Tulla, the Singing Wells: Shared Water of the Borana Herders (Ethiopia)

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In the dry Oromia lowlands of southern Ethiopia, Borana herders survive each dry season thanks to their centuries-old wells, the tulla: human chains lift the water by hand, to the rhythm of songs that coordinate the effort — hence the name “singing wells”. The film follows a whole dry season: the herds' long walk, the council that allocates watering turns, the work in the wells and their maintenance, under a customary system in which water belongs to everyone and is never sold. Sources: film by Paolo Barberi and Riccardo Russo (2011); broadcast by SLICE (Mediawan).

Territory
Africa / Zone Borena (Dubluk, Yabelo), Oromia, sud de l’Éthiopie
Skill
Water
Community
Borana (Oromo)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
Plus de 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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Boranapuits chantantstullagestion de l’eausaison sèchepastoralismezébusOromiachant de travaildroit coutumier
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In the Land of the Imraguen: Fishers of the Banc d’Arguin (Mauritania)

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On the Banc d'Arguin, between the Sahara dunes and the Atlantic, the Imraguen fish for golden mullet on foot with shoulder nets and aboard sail-powered lanches inherited from Canary Islander fishermen — the only fishing allowed in the national park. Bernard Romy's film follows the whole chain of knowledge: setting the nets, sorting the catch, drying fish and preparing mullet bottarga, mending nets, village life, women's cooperatives and literacy classes, and the debates over this community's future. Sources: Bernard Romy's film; Banc d'Arguin National Park (UNESCO World Heritage).

Territory
Africa / Parc national du banc d’Arguin (villages d’Iwik et Nouamghar), Mauritanie
Skill
Food
Community
Imraguen
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
Plus de 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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Imraguenbanc d’Arguinmulet jaunepêche à piedlanche à voilepoutarguefilet d’épauleSaharacoopérative de femmesparc national
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The Oral Heritage of Gelede: Yoruba-Nago Masks, Songs and Drums

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Official film accompanying the inscription of the oral heritage of Gelede (Benin, Nigeria, Togo) on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (2008). Performed by the Yoruba-Nago community after the harvests, the ceremony pays tribute to the primordial mother Iyà Nlà and to women's role in social organization: Yoruba songs, drums, carved masks and costumed night dances on the public square. The film also shows costume sewing and mask carving and painting.

Territory
Africa / Aire yoruba-nago du Bénin, du Nigéria et du Togo (centre historique : Kétou, Bénin)
Skill
Arts / cultural expressions
Community
Yoruba-Nago
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
0 a 5 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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No

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GeledeYorubaNagoBéninmasquespatrimoine immatérielUNESCOtamboursIya Nlasculpture sur bois
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The Himba Film Themselves: Ceremonies, Beauty and Cattle in Kaokoland

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Tired of being filmed without a say, some twenty Himba of Kaokoland (Namibia) stage their own lives for the camera: ceremonies and ties to the ancestors, cattle care, ochre (otjize) beauty secrets, cooking, debates on marriage and modernity. The film follows the friendship between Muhapikwa, keeper of tradition, and Solenn Bardet. Directed by Solenn Bardet, 2012 (GEDEON Programmes / France 5), published on the official GEDEON EXPLORATION channel.

Territory
Africa / Kaokoland (région de Kunene), Namibie
Skill
Education / transmission
Community
Himba
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
Plus de 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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No

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HimbaNamibieKaokolandpastoralismeocreotjizeancêtrescinéma participatifSolenn Bardettransmission
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The Sosso-Bala, Sacred Balafon of the Mandingo People: the Guardians of Niagassola (Guinea, UNESCO film)

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Official UNESCO film on the cultural space of the Sosso-Bala, the sacred balafon kept at Niagassola (Upper Guinea). According to the tradition recounted in the film, the instrument was taken as a war trophy by Sundiata Keita at the battle of Kirina (1235) and entrusted to the king's griot; ever since, the Dokala (Kouyaté) family has guarded it, and only the balatigi, the family patriarch, may play it on certain occasions. The film shows the instrument maker tuning every balafon to the sound of the Sosso-Bala, the words of the elders, and the teaching given to children from the age of 7, around the hymns of the Sunjata epic (UNESCO ICH list, 2008).

Territory
Africa / Niagassola, préfecture de Siguiri, Haute-Guinée, Guinée
Skill
Arts / cultural expressions
Community
Mandingue (Malinké ; famille gardienne Dökala/Kouyaté)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
0 a 5 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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No

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Sosso-BalabalafongriotMandingueNiagassolaSoundiata KeïtaépopéebalatigitransmissionGuinée
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The woodcrafting knowledge of the Zafimaniry: building and carving without nails (Madagascar, UNESCO film)

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The Zafimaniry, settled since the 18th century in the wooded mountains of south-eastern Madagascar, are the last repositories of a wood culture once widespread across the island. Carpenters and craftsmen build houses and granaries entirely of wood, assembled with mortise-and-tenon joints without nails, and cover shutters, beams and doors with codified geometric motifs. Official UNESCO film; knowledge inscribed on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Territory
Africa / Pays zafimaniry (Antoetra), région d'Amoron'i Mania, Madagascar
Skill
Architecture / dwelling
Community
Zafimaniry
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
0 a 5 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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No

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travail du boischarpentetenon-mortaisesculpturemotifs géométriquesmaisons en boisessences endémiquestransmissionZafimaniryMadagascar
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The Masons of Djenné: building and replastering the mud-brick city (Mali, Smithsonian film)

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In Djenné, Mali, master masons keep alive mud-brick (banco) architecture and the annual replastering of the Great Mosque, the world’s largest earthen building. Made for the Smithsonian NMNH exhibition “Mud Masons of Mali”, the film lets the masons speak about their craft, apprenticeship, blessings and the changes they face. French subtitles.

Territory
Africa / Djenné, région de Mopti, Mali
Skill
Architecture / dwelling
Community
Maçons de Djenné (corporation du barey ton)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
15 a 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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bancoterre cruemaçonscrépissageGrande Mosquéeapprentissagearchitecture de terretransmissionDjennépatrimoine mondial
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Enkipaata, Eunoto, Olng'esherr: the three Maasai male rites of passage (Kenya, UNESCO film)

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Enkipaata, Eunoto and Olng'esherr are the three interrelated rites of passage that turn a Maasai boy into a moran (warrior), then a young elder, then a senior elder. The UNESCO film (2018) follows the ochre-painted novices, the Enkipaata dance, the manyatta built by the women, the shaving of the warriors' braids by their mothers at Eunoto and the meat-sharing of Olng'esherr, with elders, youth leaders and women explaining how knowledge passes between age sets (UNESCO Urgent Safeguarding List, file 01390).

Territory
Africa / Comté de Kajiado et sud du Kenya (terres maasaï)
Skill
Education / transmission
Community
Maasaï
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
5 a 15 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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Maasaïrite de passageclasses d’âgemoranEunotoEnkipaataOlng’esherrtransmissionpastoralismeKenya
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Kwagh-hir: the puppet and masquerade theatre of the Tiv people (Nigeria, UNESCO film)

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Kwagh-hir is the great night theatre of the Tiv people of Benue State, Nigeria. Born from family storytelling sessions, it combines large puppets, masquerades, poetry, music and dance on the village square, commenting on community life from contemporary satire to moral and health lessons. Skills are transmitted through apprenticeship within the troupes, which compete in festivals. Inscribed in 2019 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Territory
Africa / Pays tiv, État de Benue (Makurdi), centre-est du Nigeria
Skill
Arts / cultural expressions
Community
Tiv
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
5 a 15 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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kwagh-hirTivNigeriamarionnettesmascaradethéâtreconteveilléetransmissionUNESCO
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The Argan Tree: Practices and Know-How of the Amazigh Women of the Arganeraie (UNESCO film)

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In the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve of south-west Morocco, rural Amazigh women hold the full range of know-how linked to the argan tree, inscribed by UNESCO in 2014. The film documents the whole chain: harvesting the fruit, cracking the nuts on stone, sorting the kernels, roasting, grinding on a stone mill, kneading and extracting the oil, up to the women's cooperatives that live from it today. Passed on through imitation from childhood, these skills feed cooking, medicine and cosmetics, and the oil is given as a wedding gift.

Territory
Africa / Réserve de biosphère de l'Arganeraie, Sud-Ouest marocain (entre Agadir et Essaouira), secteur de Tamanar
Skill
Food
Community
Communautés rurales amazighes (berbères) de l'Arganeraie
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
5 a 15 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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arganierhuile d'arganfemmes amazighesconcassagemeule de pierrecoopérative féminineArganeraieMarocUNESCOtransmission
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The Gada system: the ancestral democracy of the Oromo of Ethiopia (UNESCO film, 2016)

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Official UNESCO nomination film (2016) on Gada, the traditional governance system of the Oromo people of Ethiopia. Based on generational classes progressing through grades, Gada regulates political, social and religious life; it was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016.

Territory
Africa / Région Oromia, Éthiopie
Skill
Governance
Community
Oromo
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
5 a 15 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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OromoÉthiopieGadagouvernanceclasses d'âgedémocratie coutumièreassembléeodaapatrimoine immatérielUNESCO
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Antogo, the Sacred Fishing Rite of the Dogon (Bamba, Mali)

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At the foot of the Bandiagara escarpment, the sacred pond of Antogo near Bamba may not be touched all year. One day a year, at the elders' call, more than a thousand men from across Dogon country dive in together for a ritual fishing that lasts only minutes. The film follows the preparations — fish traps, the blacksmith's work, millet beer, ceremonial dress — then the rites, incantations and the sharing of the catch. (Source: AMP.)

Territory
Africa / Bamba, falaise de Bandiagara, cercle de Koro, région de Mopti, Mali
Skill
Spirituality / cosmology
Community
Dogon
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
15 a 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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DogonAntogopêche rituellemare sacréeBandiagaraBambaforgeronancêtresMalirassemblement
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Living heritage of Tanzania: Hadzabe hunters and Maasai warriors

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Photographer Christophe Ratier joins the Hadzabe, one of the last hunter-gatherer peoples, in the bushlands of northern Tanzania: bow hunting, honey gathering, wild tubers and campfires, up to the sacred rock of Dondobi. Further north, among the Kisongo Maasai at the foot of the sacred volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai, a teenager prepares to become a Moran (warrior). The film shows how sacred places still structure daily life in both societies. (Source: official SLICE channel description.)

Territory
Africa / Nord de la Tanzanie — pays hadzabe (lac Eyasi) et pays masaï Kisongo (volcan Ol Doinyo Lengai)
Skill
Spirituality / cosmology
Community
Hadzabe ; Maasaï (clan Kisongo)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
Plus de 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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Hadzabechasseurs-cueilleurschasse à l'arcmielDondobiMaasaïmoranOl Doinyo Lengailac EyasiTanzanie
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Ashanti country (Ghana): cocoa, drums and the great durbar (colour film, 1940s)

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A 1940s colour documentary filmed in Ashanti country (Gold Coast, now Ghana), digitized from 16mm by A/V Geeks: village life and the great Kumasi market, the whole cocoa chain — harvesting pods, splitting, fermenting and drying the beans, weighing and payment, surf boats carrying the sacks to ships — and a great durbar of Ashanti chiefs under ceremonial umbrellas, with talking drums, dances and gold regalia.

Territory
Africa / Kumasi et région Ashanti, Ghana (ex-Gold Coast)
Skill
Agriculture
Community
Ashanti (Asante)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
Plus de 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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AshantiGhanacacaodurbartambours parlantsparasols de cérémonieKumasimarchékentearchives années 1940
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The Salt Tuareg: the Azalai Caravan from Agadez to Bilma (1988 report)

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A 1988 French TV report (TF1, preserved by the INA) on the azalai salt caravan from Agadez to the Bilma oasis across the Ténéré desert: forty men and 300 camels led by Tuareg guides walk 15 to 20 days to load salt from the Bilma salt pans, bartered for staple goods — a thousand-year-old trade passed down through generations.

Territory
Africa / Désert du Ténéré, d’Agadez à l’oasis de Bilma, Niger
Skill
Economy / commons
Community
Touaregs (caravaniers) et sauniers de l’oasis de Bilma
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
15 a 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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Touaregsazalaïcaravane du selTénéréBilmaAgadezNigerdromadairestrocsalines
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The Nuer: the cattle people of the Upper Nile (official excerpt, 1968-1970 footage)

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Official excerpt of "The Nuer" (1971), a classic of ethnographic cinema filmed in 1968-1970 by Hilary Harris and George Breidenbach with Robert Gardner for Harvard's Peabody Museum. Among the Nuer (Naath) of the Upper Nile, life revolves around cattle: herds moving through the marshes, cone-shaped byres, dung-smoke fires, songs addressed to oxen, gaar scarification. Almost wordless, the film works through direct images and sound.

Territory
Africa / Village de Ciengach, pays des Nuer Jikany de l'Est – Éthiopie occidentale (région de Gambela), près de l'actuel Soudan du Sud
Skill
Agriculture
Community
Nuer (Naath)
Video nature
Excerpt
Duration
5 a 15 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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NuerNaathHaut-NilpastoralismebétailzébumaraisGambelafilm ethnographiquescarifications
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Madagascar 1957: the great Zoma market and the rice harvest (INA archives)

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French television archive footage dated 10 October 1957 (INA collection, official Ina Voyages channel). Arrival in Tananarive, zebu carts on highland roads, the vast Friday Zoma market, and the rice harvest with zebus trampling the paddies — the heart of Merina agricultural life.

Territory
Africa / Antananarivo (Tananarive) et hautes terres centrales, Madagascar
Skill
Agriculture
Community
Merina
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
5 a 15 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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MadagascarMerinariziculturezébumarché du ZomaTananarivehautes terresarchives 1957savoirs agricoles
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Ethiopia 1942: from Harar to Addis Ababa — harvests, markets and horsemen (Burton Holmes archives)

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Burton Holmes archival film shot in Ethiopia in the early 1940s: Harar countryside, grain threshing and winnowing, Addis Ababa markets and craftsmen, then Haile Selassie’s forces and equestrian re-enactments. A rare document of rural and urban Ethiopia just after the Italian occupation.

Territory
Africa / Province du Harar et Addis-Abeba, Éthiopie
Skill
Agriculture
Community
Peuples d’Éthiopie (Amhara, Oromo, Harari)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
15 a 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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ÉthiopieHararAddis-Abebaagriculturebattage du grainmarchézébusHaïlé Sélassiécavaliersarchives 1942
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Azalai: with the Tuareg salt caravan, from the Aïr to Agadez

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A New Atlantis documentary on the azalai, the Tuareg salt caravan between the Aïr mountains and Agadez (Niger), just after the peace agreement: two children from once-opposed families join their elders for the first time, learning the market, the salt loaves, camel handling, night camps and desert wayfinding.

Territory
Africa / Massif de l’Aïr, Ténéré et Agadez, Niger
Skill
Education / transmission
Community
Touaregs
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
Plus de 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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TouaregsazalaïselcaravanechameauxSaharaAgadezAïrtransmissionorientation
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Wodaabe, war by dancing: the geerewol, great ceremony of Niger's nomadic Fulani

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Every year in the Sahel of Niger, thousands of nomadic Wodaabe Fulani gather for the geerewol: for seven days, two rival lineages confront each other with song and dance as their only weapons, before parting in peace. Ethnomusicologist Sandrine Loncke's documentary (Paris 8 University/CNRS, Point du Jour) follows the preparations — yellow then red make-up, cowrie ornaments —, the yaake dances, the elders' councils, night songs around fires and the striking of camp. In French.

Territory
Africa / Azawagh, région de Tchintabaraden, Sahel, Niger
Skill
Arts / cultural expressions
Community
Peuls wodaabe (Bororos)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
Plus de 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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No

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WodaabePeulsgeerewoldanse yaakeSahelNigerpastoralisme nomademaquillage rituelcaurisethnomusicologie
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Zanzibar 1961: dhows, cloves and carved doors of the spice island (British Pathé archive)

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British Pathé newsreel shot in Zanzibar in 1961: dhows returning laden with spices, clove picking and the market, hammered silverwork, the carving of Stone Town’s famous doors, the Sultan’s palace and Mangapwani beach.

Territory
Africa / Zanzibar (Stone Town), Tanzanie
Skill
Economy / commons
Community
Swahilis de Zanzibar
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
0 a 5 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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boutreépicesgiroflemarchéorfèvrerieportes sculptéesartisanatnavigationZanzibarswahili
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Kano, earthen city of the Hausa: caravans, walls and mud-plastering (archive footage, 1949)

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Silent 1949 British Pathé rushes from the old city of Kano, Nigeria: camel caravans entering the earthen walls, masons hand-plastering mud façades, market streets, groundnut pyramids and the Emir's court. A rare record of Sahelian earthen architecture.

Territory
Africa / Kano, nord du Nigéria (vieille ville)
Skill
Architecture / dwelling
Community
Haoussa
Video nature
Excerpt
Duration
0 a 5 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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architecture de terreHaoussaKanocaravanechameaumuraillecrépissageémirSahel
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Kabylia 1959: villages, market and everyday gestures (INA archives)

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A 1959 French TV report (RTF, INA archives) on Kabylia and its hilltop villages around Tizi Ouzou: open-air market, goat herding, women fetching water, building a house in the traditional way, the village lookout, schoolgirls’ games and traditional dance. A period document, with a commentary that reflects its colonial time.

Territory
Africa / Tizi Ouzou et villages de Grande Kabylie, Algérie
Skill
Architecture / dwelling
Community
Kabyles (Berbères / Amazighs)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
5 a 15 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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No

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KabylieKabylesAmazighvillage perchéTizi Ouzouconstruction traditionnellecorvée d’eaumarchétransmissionAlgérie
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The Mbuti of the Ituri forest: hunting, gathering and barter (1939 educational film)

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A 1939 Encyclopaedia Britannica Films production made with H.C. Raven (American Museum of Natural History) on the Mbuti people of the Ituri rainforest, Congo. Dome-shaped leaf shelters, poison arrows, pit traps, wild honey gathering, bark-cloth making, and the barter of ivory for iron and plantains with neighbouring villagers. Dated narration, but a precious record of skills and gestures.

Territory
Africa / Forêt de l'Ituri, République démocratique du Congo
Skill
Food
Community
Mbuti (Bambuti)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
15 a 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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mbutiiturichassecueillettemielecorce battuetrocforet equatorialehuttepoison de chasse
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The Hunting Equipment of the Ju/'hoansi of the Kalahari (footage from 1951-1953)

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Filmed between 1951 and 1953 by ethnographic film pioneer John Marshall, this footage shows in detail every piece of the Ju/'hoan hunting kit and how each is made and used, from gathering raw materials to preparing poison arrows. An official excerpt from the Marshall collection, one of the largest film records ever devoted to an indigenous people.

Territory
Africa / Région de Nyae Nyae (Tsumkwe), désert du Kalahari, Namibie
Skill
Food
Community
Ju/'hoansi (San, autrefois appelés « !Kung »)
Video nature
Excerpt
Duration
5 a 15 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
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No

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chassearcflèches empoisonnéescarquoisKalaharichasseurs-cueilleursSanJu/'hoansipistageartisanat
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Desert Nomads of Southern Morocco: Camps, Caravan and Couscous (archive film, 1949)

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This 1949 documentary, photographed by Richard Leacock, follows a family of pastoral nomads on the Saharan fringes of southern Morocco: milking camels, fetching water, grinding barley, making couscous and stone-baked bread, striking the camel-hair tents and moving the caravan. It also shows Koranic schooling in the tent, an oasis stop, irrigation timed by a water clock, and the date harvest.

Territory
Africa / Sud marocain, marges sahariennes près de l’Atlas, Maroc
Skill
Food
Community
Tribus nomades pastorales du Sud marocain
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
15 a 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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couscouschameauxcaravanepain d’orgetraiteoasisdatteshorloge à eautentenomadisme
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The Maasai and the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano: water for the herds (archive, 1967)

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Archive news report filmed in 1967 around the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano — the Maasai « Mountain of God » — after an eruption. Aerial views of the volcano and the northern Tanzanian plains, Maasai herders with their sheep and cattle, grazing lands destroyed by the eruption. Cattle drink from water drums carried by donkey from a source over 150 km away.

Territory
Africa / Ol Doinyo Lengaï, nord de la Tanzanie
Skill
Water
Community
Maasaï
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
5 a 15 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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MaasaïOl Doinyo LengaïvolcaneaupastoralismebétailsécheresseTanzanietranshumancerésilience
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The Wagenia Fishermen of the Congo River (Smithsonian archives, ca. 1975)

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This short archival clip (ca. 1975), preserved by the Smithsonian's Human Studies Film Archives, shows Wagenia fishing on the Congo River near Kisangani: huge wooden scaffolds anchored in the rocks of the rapids, with large conical baskets that trap fish in the current. This collective fishery, described by travellers as early as the 19th century, is passed down through generations within the clans. From “Congo River Adventure,” made for the travelogue series “Three Passports to Adventure” (the Linker family). (Source: Smithsonian HSFA.)

Territory
Africa / Chutes Wagenia (chutes Boyoma), fleuve Congo, près de Kisangani, République démocratique du Congo
Skill
Food
Community
Wagenia (Wagenya / Bagenia), pêcheurs du fleuve Congo
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
0 a 5 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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Wageniapêchefleuve CongoKisanganinassesrapideséchafaudagesarchives 1975Smithsonian
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The Bandiagara Escarpment: Dogon Dwellings from the Sky (INA collection, 2007)

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These images from the INA collection (aerial rushes shot on 1 November 2007 for the film “Home”) fly over the Bandiagara Escarpment in Dogon country (Mali), a UNESCO World Heritage site. The cliff is dotted with caves where the Tellem, the Dogon's predecessors, built granaries, tombs and places of worship; today the Dogon use these structures as burial sites and build their villages, houses and millet granaries at the foot of the cliff. An exceptional document on a unique vertical habitat. (Source: INA.)

Territory
Africa / Falaise de Bandiagara, pays dogon, région de Mopti, Mali (plaine du Séno-Gondo)
Skill
Architecture / dwelling
Community
Dogon (et Tellem, leurs prédécesseurs dans les grottes de la falaise)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
15 a 30 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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DogonTellemBandiagaraMalihabitatgreniersfalaisevillagesUNESCOvues aériennes
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The Herero of Ngamiland: Cattle, Milk and Clan Life (Smithsonian archives, 1953)

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This excerpt from an ethnographic film shot in 1953 by anthropologist Gordon D. Gibson shows the daily life of the Herero (Ovaherero) of Ngamiland, Botswana: house building, herding, watering and milking cattle, making butter and buttermilk, wood carving, butchering and pounding flour. It also documents the role of clan priests, including the daily milk-tasting ritual, homage to ancestors, funerals, children's games, adornments, and songs and dances. (Source: Smithsonian HSFA.)

Territory
Africa / Ngamiland (région du Nord-Ouest, autour de Maun et du delta de l'Okavango), Botswana (repère indicatif : Maun)
Skill
Food
Community
Herero (Ovaherero), peuple bantou pasteur
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
5 a 15 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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HereroBotswanaNgamilandélevagelaitbeurreprêtres de clanancêtresarchives1953
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Tuareg of the Sahara: rites of passage, wedding and salt caravan (archive footage, 1948)

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This 1948 archive film shows scenes of Tuareg life in the Sahara: a young man's passage to adulthood, wedding festivities, and a camel caravan carrying salt across the desert. The salt caravan illustrates the Tuareg caravan economy, a trading system that linked the oases with Sahelian markets. A rare filmed document of the Tuareg nomadic way of life in the mid-20th century, distributed by The Travel Film Archive. The perspective is that of a period travel film, to be viewed in its colonial context.

Territory
Africa / Afrique / Sahara central (repère indicatif : région de Tamanrasset, Algérie ; lieu exact non précisé)
Skill
Economy / commons
Community
Touaregs (Kel Tamasheq)
Video nature
Documentary
Duration
5 a 15 min
Rights
Usage restreint
Direct source
No
Relayed information
No

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TouaregsSaharacaravaneseldromadairenomadismemariagerite de passagearchives1948