Filming Intangible Heritage: Questions of rights, publication, and archiving

Presentation with excerpts from a film in progress, followed by Q&A with Dr. Beate Engelbrecht

Wednesday 15 February, 6pm

Royal Anthropological Institute, 50 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 5BT
(North-East Corner of Fitzroy Square, off Warren Street, next to the French Theatre Book shop)

Free for RAI members and fellows – Tickets: Pay as you please

Thanks to digital technology and the Internet, recording and publishing of intangible heritage has become much easier. But what does it mean from a legal perspective? Filming intangible heritage requires clarifying who has the rights of this heritage, and who has the authority to give permission to film and publish the material. Who has a say in the production of these audio-visuals, and who has the copyright of the final product? What are the consequences of using digital technology for archiving intangible heritage and audio-visuals. These questions will be discussed looking at Tana Toraja (Sulawesi, Indonesia), where Beate Engelbrecht filmed a ritual and discussed the questions of rights with the local people.

Beate Engelbrecht, anthropologist and filmmaker, is senior research partner of the Max-Planck-Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Göttingen, Germany. She studied Anthropology, Sociology, and Economics at the University of Basel, Switzerland. She worked as Assistant at the Anthropological Institute and at the Museum for Anthropology in Basel. Between 1985-2011 she was head of the Anthropological Department of the Institute for the Scientific Film (Institut für den Wissenschaftlichen Film IWF), in Göttingen. Between 2008-2011 she was also member of the Interdisciplinary Research Group on “Cultural Property” of the University of Göttingen. She is the co-ordinator of the Visual Anthropology Network of the European Association of Social Anthropologist.

To book a place or for further information please get in touch: film@therai.org.uk