Wodaabe, The

Synopsis: The Wodabee follow their herds across the borders of Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon in search of pasture. The droughts that have ravaged the Sahel since the late 1960s have devastated Wodaabe cattle herds. The film looks at the daily pattern of survival of one hard-pressed family group at the height of the dry season. Their herds have decline from 300 cows to less then half a dozen. Yet, the Wodaabe see their life as a balance between hardship and joy. The elaborate make-up of the young men and their dances, a kind of male beauty contest to gain the attention of women, are linked to a complex system of taboos which the Wodabee insist they will maintain despite pressures to abandon their nomadic lives.
Series: Disappearing World, Series
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Video; Videocassette. VHS. col. 51 min.
Year of production: 1988
Availability: Hire (film - RAI Film & Video Library)
Sale (video - RAI, Granada); 2005 sale: £50.00 (+VAT +p&p)
Notes: Broadcast on ITV 27/7/88.
Reviewed by John Picton in ‘Anthropology Today’, Vol 4 No 5, p23 (1988).
Subjects: Anthropology
Keywords: Africa; Cameroon; Chad; Niger; Nigeria; nomadic communities; Wodaabe

Name: Royal Anthropological Institute
Contact: Susanne Hammacher (Film Officer)
Email: film@therai.org.uk
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Phone: 020 7387 0455
Fax: 020 7388 8817
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Notes: The Institute sells more than 250 anthropology and ethnology titles on video and DVD, including some produced by students and staff of the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology. There is also a large library of internationally produced film and video productions from which items may be borrowed within the UK.

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