Adhiambo - Born in the Evening

Synopsis: Adhiambo means ‘the one born in the evening’ in the Language of the Luo in western Kenya. The film follows NyaSeme, a married mother and grandmother in her late 30s, during the last month of her pregnancy and through the first weeks of her newborn daughter’s life. The first part of the film focuses on everyday life in NyaSeme’s home, as well as on the work of the anthropologists, who themselves are expecting a child. The second part follows the various small illnesses that the child goes through. NyaSeme employs herbal resources of the bush surrounding the home as well as those from the government dispensary. Simultaneously the anthropologists’ son falls ill and receives various forms of medical treatment. The film creates a personal account of a woman’s life, motherhood, children and the maintenance of bodily health in rural western Kenya, as well as an insight into the nature of ethnographic fieldwork.
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Year of release: 2004
Year of production: 2001
Subjects: Anthropology
Keywords: child development; ethnography; Kenya; social anthropology; traditional medicine; women

Name: Royal Anthropological Institute
Contact: Susanne Hammacher (Film Officer)
Email: film@therai.org.uk
Web: https://www.therai.org.uk/film/film-sales External site opens in new window
Phone: 020 7387 0455
Fax: 020 7388 8817
Address: 50 Fitzroy Street
London
W1T 5BT
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.

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