Ethnographic Archives and First-Person Films – Notes on Research in Visual Anthropology

Notes on Research in Visual Anthropology

Abstract

This article explores aspects of my ethnographic production, centered on the film "The Enchanted Words of the Hupd'äh of the Amazon - Masters of Knowledge, narrated by Renato Athias," by WCD. The script, based on my field research and ethnographic archive among the Hupd'äh of the Upper Rio Negro (AM), emphasizes their memories and representations. Aimed at a broad audience, the film utilizes editing and first-person narration, following common strategies in visual anthropology. Furthermore, the text delves into the debate on contemporary ethnographic situations, human-nonhuman relations, the decoloniality of collections, and the crucial return of these materials to communities, also addressing authenticity and "ethnographic truth."