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The Film: Framing the Other
Directed by Ilja Kok and Willem Timmers
Color, 25 min, 2011
In English and Mursi with English and French subtitles
Courtesy of Documentary Educational Resources
Framing the Other portrays the complex relationship between tourism and indigenous communities by revealing the intimate and intriguing thoughts of a Mursi woman from Southern Ethiopia and a Dutch tourist as they prepare to meet each other. This humorous yet simultaneously chilling film shows the destructive impact tourism has on traditional communities.
Why this clip is important:
People have always encountered humans, languages, and behaviors that are different from their own. These days opportunities for such encounters have proliferated for many reasons, including media, migration, globalization, and--the theme this film clip treats--international tourism. This clip exposes the complicated expectations and relationships across cultures that exist in touristic encounters in rural Ethiopia, specifically focusing on a Mursi woman’s explanation of how she and her co-villagers prepare for the arrival of European tourists. Touristic encounters like this one raise interesting questions about concerns that are central to the discipline of anthropology, including the status of cultural diversity in the world today; how people make sense of their encounters with cultural others; and the ethics of cross-cultural encounter.