Loading Page
Drums from the Past(1971)
Status: Released
Date: 1971-01-01
64%
9 Votes
Time: 0h 9m
Overview:
Filmed in May 1971 in Niger, this short documentary records a possession ritual performed by the Simiri people in response to a locust invasion. The ceremony centers on the beating of the archaic drums Tourou and Bitti, used to invoke spirit forces through music, dance, and trance. Shot in a single continuous take, the film documents a concentrated moment of collective ritual practice, reflecting Jean Rouch’s first-person ethnographic approach and direct participation in the event.
Languages: French.
Countries:
France
ProductionCompanies: 
Comité du film Éthnographique
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Movie: Drums from the Past
HomePage
Overview
Filmed in May 1971 in Niger, this short documentary records a possession ritual performed by the Simiri people in response to a locust invasion. The ceremony centers on the beating of the archaic drums Tourou and Bitti, used to invoke spirit forces through music, dance, and trance. Shot in a single continuous take, the film documents a concentrated moment of collective ritual practice, reflecting Jean Rouch’s first-person ethnographic approach and direct participation in the event.
Release Date
1971-01-01
Average
6.389
Rating:
3.2 startsTagline
Genres
Languages:
FrançaisKeywords
Recommendations Movies
71%
The Class of ‘92(en)
2013-12-01
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.
66%
Return to Jurassic Park(en)
2011-02-05
A multi-part documentary about the making of the Jurassic Park trilogy. Each part walks through the making of part of one of the films, including the hurricane during the shooting of the first film, and how advances in CGI for Jurassic Park helped change the world of special effects forever. All interviews for these retrospective documentaries come with comments from Spielberg, Johnston, Neill, Dern, Goldblum, the effects crews, the child actors, and Peter Stormare. This documentary is broken into six parts: Dawn of a New Era (25 min), Making Prehistory (20 min), The Next Step in Evolution (15 min), Finding the Lost World (28 min), Something Survived (16 min), and The Third Adventure (25 min).
77%
Don't F*#% With John Wick(en)
2015-02-03
Behind the scenes look at fight choreography and action training.
64%
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library(en)
2017-09-13
A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.
60%
Trainwreck: The Real Project X(en)
2025-07-07
A night of drunken chaos rocks a quiet Dutch town in this shocking documentary about a teen's birthday invite that accidentally went viral on Facebook.
58%
The Dogs of War(en)
1980-12-17
Mercenary soldiers Jamie and Drew are hired by a large corporation to liberate Zangaro, a small African nation, from an despot. Havoc ensues.
73%
The Walking Dead: The Return(en)
2024-02-15
Stars of "The Walking Dead," Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira, walk down memory lane and visit iconic locations where pivotal moments between their characters, Rick and Michonne, were filmed.
58%
No Mercy(en)
1986-12-19
An unconventional undercover Chicago cop and his partner are recruited to commit the murder of a New Orleans criminal kingpin.
68%
The Last Kumite(en)
2024-05-09
When Karate champion Michael Rivers wins the last tournament of his career, shady businessman Ron Hall offers him the opportunity to fight in an illegal Kumite in Bulgaria against the world’s best martial artists. When Michael declines, Hall has his daughter kidnapped and, in order to rescue her, Rivers is left with no choice but to compete in the deadly tournament. Arriving in Bulgaria, he finds out that he is not the only fighter whose loved one was taken. Rivers enlists the help of trainers Master Loren, and Julie Jackson but will it be enough for him to win the tournament and save his daughter’s life?
74%
Un Chien Andalou(fr)
1929-06-05
Un Chien Andalou is an European avant-garde surrealist film, a collaboration between director Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali.
65%
Capital in the Twenty-First Century(en)
2019-09-12
Film adaptation of French economist Thomas Piketty's ground-breaking global bestseller of the same name: an eye-opening journey through wealth and power.
65%
Strip Down, Rise Up(en)
2021-02-05
The feature documentary follows women of all walks of life, all ages and ethnic backgrounds, as they shed trauma, body image shame, sexual abuse and other issues locked in their bodies, and embark on a journey to reclaim themselves. The film also gives a rare window into the world of Pole artistry and expression.
70%
Girl Rising(en)
2013-03-07
Nine filmmakers each profile a young girl from a different part of the world to weave a global tapestry of youth in the 21st century.
61%
Naqoyqatsi(en)
2002-09-02
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
61%
Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste(en)
2022-11-05
A sexual wellness company gains fame and followers, then members come forward with shocking allegations.
64%
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus(en)
2009-10-01
After a carnival troupe saves his life, a man agrees to help its immortal leader collect five souls and win a bet with the devil.
61%
God Is a Bullet(en)
2023-06-22
Vice detective Bob Hightower finds his ex-wife murdered and daughter kidnapped by a cult. Frustrated by the botched official investigations, he quits the force and infiltrates the cult to hunt down the leader with the help of the cult’s only female victim escapee, Case Hardin.
72%
The Night Caller(fr)
1975-04-09
A serial-killer frightens Paris by phoning young ladies at night, telling them insults about their lives. Minos, as he calls himself, wants to prevent the world from free women and he targets at first these ones. Commissaire Letellier is given the investigation and he has hard work with the maniac.
75%
McQueen(en)
2018-06-08
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
73%
Powaqqatsi(en)
1988-04-29
An exploration of technologically developing nations and the effect the transition to Western-style modernization has had on them.
Similar Movies
70%
Los posibles(es)
2013-04-01
Santiago Mitre co-directs his first movement following The Student together with choreographer Onofri Barbato. Although it would have been more accurate to say “his first film-story-adventure-movie-great movie following The Student”, the word movement fits perfectly in Los posibles, the most overwhelmingly kinetic work Argentine cinema has delivered in many, many years. The film deals with the adaptation of a dance show directed by Onofri together with a group of teenagers who came to Casa La Salle, a center of social integration located in González Catán, trying to find some refuge from hardship. Already entitled Los posibles, the piece opened in the La Plata Tacec and was later staged in the AB Hall of the San Martín Cultural Center. Now, it dazzles audiences out of a film screen, with extraordinary muscles and a huge heart: Los posibles is a rhapsody of roughen bodies and torn emotions. Precise and exciting, it’s our own delayed, necessary, and incandescent West Side Story.
67%
Rize(en)
2005-01-15
A documentary film that highlights two street derived dance styles, Clowning and Krumping, that came out of the low income neighborhoods of L.A.. Director David LaChapelle interviews each dance crew about how their unique dances evolved. A new and positive activity away from the drugs, guns, and gangs that ruled their neighborhood. A raw film about a growing sub-culture movements in America.
53%
Appalachian Spring(xx)
1959-01-14
A filmed version of Aaron Copland's most famous ballet, with its original star, who also choreographed.
73%
National Gallery(en)
2014-10-08
A portrait of the day-to-day operations of the National Gallery of London, that reveals the role of the employees and the experiences of the Gallery's visitors. The film portrays the role of the curators and conservators; the education, scientific, and conservation departments; and the audience of all kinds of people who come to experience it.
0%
Skin Pain(es)
2013-09-12
Piel dolor (Skin Pain) explains how power is structurally sustained in violence. Its nature and the relationships it establishes in society are based more on the imposition and use of force than on building consensus, dialogue, and respect for diversity. In that sense, power is a behavior that seeks dominance through force and man as a gender, becomes an instrument of violence that is exercised against the weakest. Extinguishing the socially constructed violence means eliminating the current power and its historical sustenance, questioning the source of origin, religion, ideology, the system and its values. Is that utopia possible?
58%
The Devil on Trial(en)
2023-10-17
Explore the first – and only – time “demonic possession” has officially been used as a defense in a U.S. murder trial. Including firsthand accounts of alleged devil possession and a shocking murder, this extraordinary story forces reflection on our fear of the unknown.
0%
On Freedom of Movement (wi de muv)(en)
2024-09-26
The film considers what it means to be free to move, not as in leave or flee, but to move. It explores the ability of the environments we live in – especially cities – to create the space people need to move. Shot in Freetown, Sierra Leone, it explores the power of the creative sectors in the city and their immense potential.
71%
The Story of the Weeping Camel(mn)
2004-08-12
When a Mongolian nomadic family's newest camel colt is rejected by its mother, a musician is needed for a ritual to change her mind.
0%
The Masseurs(ja)
1963-12-31
Anma (The Masseurs) is a representative and historical work by the creator of Butoh dance, Tatsumi Hijikata in his early period in the 1960s. The film is realized not only as a dance document but also as a Cine-Dance, a term made by Iimura, that is meant to be a choreography of film. The filmmaker "performed" with a camera on the stage in front of the audience. With the main performers: Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno, the film has the highlights such as Butohs of a soldier by Hijikata & a mad woman by Ohno. There is a story of the mad woman, first outcast and ignored, at the end joins to the community through her dance. Inserted descriptions of Anma (The Masseurs) are made for the film by the filmmaker, but were not in the original Butoh. The film, the only document taken of the performance, must be seen for the understanding of Hijikata Butoh and the foundation of Butoh.
62%
Madonna: Truth or Dare(en)
1991-05-10
From the rains of Japan, through threats of arrest for 'public indecency' in Canada, and a birthday tribute to her father in Detroit, this documentary follows Madonna on her 1990 'Blond Ambition' concert tour. Filmed in black and white, with the concert pieces in glittering MTV color, it is an intimate look at the work of the icon, from a prayer circle before each performance to bed games with the dance troupe afterwards.
90%
The Euphoria of Being(hu)
2019-08-12
Alone, Eva Fahidi returned home to Hungary after WWII. At 20 years of age, she had survived Auschwitz Birkenau, while 49 members of her family were murdered, including her mother, father, and little sister. Today, at age 90, Eva is asked to participate in a dance theatre performance about her life's journey. This would be her first experience performing on a stage. Reka, the director, imagines a duet between Eva and a young, internationally acclaimed dancer, Emese. Reka wants to see these two women, young and old, interact on stage, to see how their bodies, and stories, can intertwine. Eva agrees immediately. Three women - three months - a story of crossing boundaries. Whilst the extraordinary moments of Eva's life are distilled into theater scenes, a truly wonderful and powerful relationship forms among the three women.
90%
Lord of the Dance/Destroyer of Illusion(en)
1985-01-01
The documentary focuses on the annual Mani Rimdu festival of Tibet and Nepal, an event which encapsulates the Himalayan Buddhist experience.
56%
Bobbi Jene(en)
2017-09-22
A love story, portraying the dilemmas and inevitable consequences of ambition. It is a film about a woman's fight for independence, a woman trying to succeed with her own art in the extremely competitive world of dance.
65%
Sacred(en)
2016-11-01
Sacred explores cultural and religious ritual as it relates to life’s cycles: birth, adolescence, marriage, aging and other key passages of life.
52%
Carmencita(xx)
1894-03-14
The first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and possibly the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United States. In the film, Carmencita is recorded going through a routine she had been performing at Koster & Bial's in New York since February 1890.
60%
Antonio Gades, la ética de la danza(es)
2007-03-18
Documentary that reconstructs the professional life of the dancer through the thread of his own voice. A work that travels to the fundamental landscapes of the personal history of Gades with unpublished documents and the testimony of those who shared with him many pages of the book of his life and the history of Spanish dance in recent decades.
0%
Busby Berkeley: A Journey with a Star(en)
2007-02-20
Profile of famed dance director Busby Berkeley's career, in particular "The Gang's All Here"
70%
No Maps on My Taps(en)
1979-10-31
The remarkable spirit of tap dancers and their history provides a joyous backdrop for intimate portraits of hoofers Sandman Sims, Chuck Green, and Bunny Briggs.