British Universities Film & Video Council

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Kingdoms of Bronze

Synopsis
With the conquest by the British of the city states of Benin in 1897, the bronzes used in many of the ceremonies designed to honor the Oba (the divine ruler) were released onto the art market and now fetch vast sums of money in interantional auctions. In this film David Attenborough visits the court of the present Oba to show scenes from court life and the manufacture of contemporary bronzes. There is an interview with one of the Oba’s sons, himself an anthropologist, about the significance of the bronze figures and plaques which give a picture of Benin court life over the centuries. Today bronzes are cast both for tourists and townsfolk, and the film shows a bronze caster at work, using the ‘lost wax’ technique.
Series
Tribal Eye, Series
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Medium
Film; Film. 16mm. sd. col. 50 min.
Technical information
Black-and-white / Sound
Year of production
1975
Availability
Hire
Notes
Series reviewed by M J Adams in ‘American Anthropologist’, Vol 79 (1977), pp 996-7.
Also available on DVD together with all 7 other programmes in the series from 2Entertain (ref. BBCDVD2401)
Documentation
Accompanying book by D. Attenborough, ‘The Tribal Eye’ (London: BBC Publications, 1976).
Subjects
Anthropology
Keywords
Benin; bronze sculptures; lost-wax casting; Nigeria; Oba

Credits

Director
David Collison
Writer
David Attenborough
Cast
David Attenborough 

Distribution Formats

Type
Film
Format
16mm

Production Company

Name

BBC Television

Distributor

Name

Royal Anthropological Institute Film & Video Library, c/o Concord Media

Email
sales@concordvideo.co.uk
Web
http://www.concordmedia.org.uk/ External site opens in new window
Phone
01473 726012
Fax
01473 274531
Address
Rosehill Centre
22 Hines Road
Ipswich
IP3 9BG

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