Ethnographic Film Series
Organised by SOAS Department of Anthropology & Sociology in conjunction with Royal Anthropological Institute
Wednesday 3 February 1pm, Khalili Lecture Theatre, Lower Ground Floor, Main Building, SOAS
Body Games, Richard Pakleppa, Matthias Röhrig Assunção, Christine Dettmann, 2014, 87 mins
The film follows master Cobra Mansa and his friends in the search for the African roots of the Brazilian martial art Capoeira. A powerful myth links Capoeira to a legendary Angolan game called Engolo – the Zebra dance. The film documents, for the first time, Engolo as well as other combat games, dances and music from the Nyaneka-Humbi people in Southern Angola. The exchange between Capoeira and Engolo in Angolan villages and the insights from the streets of Rio and Bahia illuminate the affinities and differences between combat games and musical bows played on both sides of the Atlantic. The film won the Intangible Culture Film Prize (Music – Dance – Performance) at the 14th RAI International Festival of Ethnographic Film 2015.
For further information on the films please contact: RAI Film Officer, Caterina Sartori, film@therai.org.uk
All are welcome, booking not required.
