Secrets of the Tribe

The anthropological field resembles a vipers' nest of ethical breaches and academic backstabbing in Jose Padilha's Secrets of the Tribe. A collaborative project between HBO Documentary Films, BBC and Stampede, this eye-opening documentary investigates several decades of questionable research and behaviour that ultimately rendered Amazonian Brazil's Yanomami – once considered the last, "purest" primitive society untouched by outside influence – bitterly cynical toward First World interlopers. The major adversaries here are two well-known US authorities on the subject: Napoleon Chagnon, who began studying the Yanomami in the 1960s and wrote the popular tome Yanomamo: The Fierce People, which described bloody intertribal wars. But his data, conclusions and tactics (plus involvement in a reckless spread of Western diseases) have been seriously questioned. Ardent foe, Kenneth Good, whose books sparked a flood of New Age-like media, portrayed Yanomami as peaceful innocents, but he was criticized for marrying a 13-year-old tribeswoman. Levi-Strauss protégé, Jacques Lizot (who refused to be interviewed) allegedly traded Western goods (even guns) for pederast sexual services. Colleagues both supportive and appalled are featured in this fascinating assembly of heated debate and archival footage.

Cast:
Robert Borofsky
Jesus Cardozo
Napoleon A. Chagnon
Kenneth Good

Director: José Padilha
Writer: N/A
Runtime: 87 min
Genre: Documentary
Language: English, French, Portuguese
Production Year: 2010

The screening is part of the 9th Brazilian Film Festival