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Remembering John Marshall


“Gives a beautiful sense of Marshall’s life” — Faye Ginsburg, Director, Center for Media, Culture & History, New York University

“An arresting tribute to to the foul-tempered Hub brahmin who after spending 50 years filming the people of Namibia might be America’s greatest barely known documentarian.” – Gerald Peary, The Boston Phoenix

“Alice Apley and David Tamés, combining anthropological and filmmaking expertise, have rescued the reputation of an important anthropological filmmaker from his own obsessive perfectionism with this brief, graceful and intensely moving tribute to the late John Marshall.” – Tim Wright, filmmaker & educator

“An hour long version would be well received if the 16 minute version is any indication” — Sam Kauffmann, Associate Professor, Boston University College of Communication

“Expertly-edited, fascinating glimpse into the psyche and politics of a trailblazing filmmaker” — Kim Romano, filmmaker

The Film

Remembering John Marshall (2006, Alice Apley & David Tamés, 16 min.) is a short film that weaves together photographs, film clips, archival footage, and interviews with family, friends, and colleagues to present a brief portrait of John Kennedy Marshall (1932-2005) who spent fifty years documenting the lives of the Ju/’hoansi people of Namibia. Marshall began his filming in 1951 and in the 1980s became an activist helping the Ju/’hoansi fight for their land and water rights. Marshall produced over 20 films on the Ju’/hoansi beginning with The Hunters (1957) and culminating with A Kalahari Family (2003).

Interviewees include Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (John’s sister and author of The Harmless People), Robert Gordon (Anthropologist and author of The Bushman Myth), Alexandra Eliot Marshall (John’s Wife), Cynthia Close (Executive Director, Documentary Educational Resources), Sandeep Ray (Editor, A Kalahari Family), Karma Foley (Editor, A Kalahari Family), Jayasinhji (Bapa) Jhala (Visual Anthropologist), and Rakhi Jhala (Filmmaker).

Distribution

The film is being distributed by Documentary Educational Resources (DER) and currently available for exhibition in Betacam SP (NTSC) or DVD-Video (NTSC), other exhibition formats may be available upon request.

You can order the DVD from DER for either personal or institutional use and see the beginning of the film online on Google Video.

Screenings

Beginnings & Next Steps

The project began as an article Alice Apley and David Tamés wrote shortly after John’s death and then it evolved into a series of video interviews. This 16 minute piece is just the tip of the iceberg as we continue to interview family, friends, and colleagues and plan to complete a longer version of the film in the future. This project is a labor of love being produced on a shoestring. If you would like to offer some form of support to the project, please contact us by calling 617.216.1096 or sending an email to david[at]kino-eye[dot]com.

Press Kit

A Mini Press Kit are available for download.

Press Clips

“Remembering John Marshall,” IMAGINE, Vol. 9, No. 97 (May 2006) [link]
“What’s Happened,” New England Film, May 2006 [link]
“Northampton Film Festival,” The Boston Phoenix(December 1-7, 2006)

Details

Credits: Directed & Edited by Alice Apley & David Tamés; Produced by David Tamés & Cynthia Close; Associate Producer: Tamar Skowronski; Assistant Editors: Cristina Bauer, Sharon Perpignani, Tamar Skowronski; Archival Research: Cristina Bauer, Sharon Perpignani, Alice Apley; Interview Production Crew: Cristina Bauer, Stephen Oldford, Sharon Perpignani, Tamar Skowronski; Special Thanks: Karma Foley, Glorianna Davenport, Brittany Gravely, Eric Rolph, Robert Gardner, Jane Wiener, Boris Carreté, Aimee Corrigan, Richard Leacock, Beth Epstein, Alex Huth, Rule Broadcast Systems, Sweet Finnish in Jamaica Plain; Produced with generous support from Documentary Educational Resources and CDIA @ Boston University; Photographs courtesy of Alexandra Eliot Marshall, Cynthia Close, Karma Foley, Documentary Educational Resources, and Marshall Family Archives; Archive footage courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Human Studies Film Archives; Film clips from The Hunters, A Joking Relationship, N/um Tchai: The ceremonial Dance of the !Kung Bushmen, If It Fits, A Kalahari Family, N!ai: Story of a !Kung Woman, and Pittsburgh Police Series, courtesy of Documentary Educational Resources.

Key Words: Ethnographic Film, John Marshall, John K. Marshall, John Kennedy Marshall, Ju/’hoansi, Bushman, Bushmen, Namibia, South West Africa, Bushmanland, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, Robert Gordon, Alexandra Eliot Marshall, Cynthia Close, Activist, Sandeep Ray, A Kalahari Family, Karma Foley, Jayasinhji (Bapa) Jhala, Rakhi Jhala, The Hunters, If It Fits, Pittsburgh Police Series, A Joking Relationship, Documentary, Documentary Film, Documentary Educational Resources, Filmmaking, Filmmaker, Film, History, Africa, Southern Africa

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