Magical Death

Magical Death
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Directed by	Napoleon Chagnon and Tim Asch
Distributed by	Documentary Educational Resources
Release date(s)	1973
Running time	29 min.
Country	U.S.A.
Language	English

Magical Death is a documentary film by anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon and ethnographic filmmaker Tim Asch that explores the role of the shaman within the Yanomamo culture, as well as the close relationship shamanism shares with politics within their society.

The filmmakers allegedly disputed over the content of the film when Asch objected to Chagnon's inclusion of graphic depictions of the Yanomami engaging in symbolic death and cannibalism^[1].

The film was awarded the American Film Festival Blue Ribbon.

External links

• Magical Death on Google video
• 'Reviewed by Eric Almquist in American Anthropologist Vol. 77, No. 1 (Mar., 1975), p. 179'
• Reviewed on page 17 of Robert Borofsky's Yanomami: The fierce controversy and what we can learn from it

References

1. ^ http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2000/09/28/yanomamo/index.html

• Macho Anthropology, an article written by Juno Gregory for Salon.com that discusses the filmmakers' differences over the film.