Pam Kuso Kar (Breaking Pam's Vases)

Pam Kuso Kar (Breaking Pam's Vases)

1974 · 12 min · ★ 9.0 · Documentary

In February 1974, Pam Sambo Zima, the oldest of the priests of possession in Niamey, Niger, died at the age of seventy-plus years. In his backyard, the followers from the possession cult symbolically break the dead priest's ritual vases and cry for the deceased while dividing up the clothes of the divinities.

Directed by Jean Rouch

Your Rating

Cast

Make it a double feature

1h 31m together

Pam Kuso Kar (Breaking Pam's Vases)

The Ordinary Madness of a Daughter of Ham

Both from Jean Rouch.

More from Jean RouchSee all →

The Ordinary Madness of a Daughter of HamThe Ordinary Madness of a Daughter of Ham · 1986
The Ordinary Madness of a Daughter of Ham
10.01986
MovieDrama
In Jean Rouch's cinematic reinterpretation of Julius-Amédée Laou's theatrical work, a freshly appointed nurse steps into the chaotic world of a psychiatric ward. Tasked with nurturing the minds within, she forms a profound connection with a patient from Martinique who has been confined within the institution's walls for half a century. As their relationship deepens, the lines between reality and delusion blur, weaving a complex narrative of human connection and psychological intrigue.
Margaret Mead: A Portrait By a FriendMargaret Mead: A Portrait By a Friend · 1978
Margaret Mead: A Portrait By a Friend
9.01978
Movie
Jean Rouch filmed this loving and humorous portrait of anthropologist and filmmaker Margaret Mead in September 1977 while he was a guest of the first Margaret Mead Film Festival. As both a friend and colleague, Rouch reveals a glimpse of the legendary Mead in her later years.
Ciné-Portrait of Raymond DepardonCiné-Portrait of Raymond Depardon · 1983
Ciné-Portrait of Raymond Depardon
9.01983
MovieDocumentary
A fortuitous meeting, late one afternoon, in the garden of the Tuileries, of one or two cameras, a tape recorder, and three cameramen/directors, Raymond Depardon, Jean Rouch, and Philippe Costantini.
HorendiHorendi · 1972
Horendi
8.61972
MovieDocumentary
A seven-day initiation ceremony is documented in which two women undergo ritual healing following a diagnosis of spirit possession, presented without narration, intertitles, or explanatory commentary.
I, a NegroI, a Negro · 1959
I, a Negro
7.41959
MovieDocumentary
Winner of the prestigious Prix Louis Delluc in 1958, "Moi, un noir" marked Jean Rouch's break with traditional ethnography, and his embrace of the collaborative and improvisatory strategies he called "shared ethnography" and "ethnofiction". The film depicts an ordinary week in the lives of men and women from Niger who have migrated to Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire for work.
VW-VoyouVW-Voyou · 1973
VW-Voyou
7.31973
MovieComedyDocumentary
A man rides a VW Beetle through the plains of Niger.
Chronicle of a SummerChronicle of a Summer · 1961
Chronicle of a Summer
7.21961
MovieDocumentary
Paris, summer 1960. Anthropologist and filmmaker Jean Rouch and sociologist and film critic Edgar Morin wander through the crowded streets asking passersby how they cope with life's misfortunes.
That Tender AgeThat Tender Age · 1964
That Tender Age
7.01964
MovieDrama
A film in four episodes presenting teenage girls chosen as representative of their country and our time, in Italy, France, Japan and Canada. In spite of the stylistic peculiarities of the filmmakers, we find in each of them the same desire not to affirm anything, not to judge, but to quite simply show.
Funeral at Bongo: The Death of Old AnaiFuneral at Bongo: The Death of Old Anai · 1979
Funeral at Bongo: The Death of Old Anai
7.01979
MovieDocumentary
In 1972, the Dogon of the Bandiagara cliff in Mali celebrated the funeral of Anaï Dolo, head of the Bongo Masks Society, who died at the age of 122. On this occasion, the large Bongo mask, is erected and for twenty days, family members, elders, men from neighbouring villages purify the village.
JaguarJaguar · 1967
Jaguar
6.81967
MovieDocumentary
Jaguar, a kind of road movie on foot, tells of the journey of three friends, Damouré, Lam and Illo, on their way to the Gold Coast where they hope to make a fortune in order to return to their village in a few months.
Brise-glaceBrise-glace · 1990
Brise-glace
6.61990
MovieDocumentary
Collaborative experimental project on which three director made different films about the Swedish icebreaker "Frej".
Six in ParisSix in Paris · 1965
Six in Paris
6.61965
MovieComedyDrama
Six vignettes set in different sections of Paris, by six directors. St. Germain des Pres (Douchet), Gare du Nord (Rouch), Rue St. Denis (Pollet), and Montparnasse et Levallois (Godard) are stories of love, flirtation and prostitution; Place d'Etoile (Rohmer) concerns a haberdasher and his umbrella; and La Muette (Chabrol), a bourgeois family and earplugs.
The Year 01The Year 01 · 1973
The Year 01
6.51973
MovieComedyAction
The film narrates a utopian abandonment, consensual and festive of the market economy and high productivity. The population decides on a number of resolutions beginning with "We stop everything" and the second "After a total downtime will be revived-reluctantly-that the services and products including lack will prove intolerable. Probably: water to drink, electricity for reading at night, the TSF to say "This is not the end of the world, this is an 01, and now a page of Celestial Mechanics". The implementation of these resolutions is the first day of a new era, Year 01. The Year 01 is emblematic of the challenge of the 1970s and covers such diverse topics as ecology, negation of authority, free love, communal living, rejection of private property and labor.
The Human PyramidThe Human Pyramid · 1961
The Human Pyramid
6.51961
MovieDocumentaryDrama
Jean Rouch gives a group of black and white teenagers a "what if" question: what if they socialised with each other? The teenagers then improvise their own characters and situations.
Battle on the Great RiverBattle on the Great River · 1950
Battle on the Great River
6.51950
MovieDocumentary
After an unsuccessful attempt in 1946 to film a traditional bangaoui (hippopotamus hunt) on the Niger River, Jean Rouch returns several years later to document the ritual in full. The film records the ceremonial preparations, spiritual practices, and seasonal hunt conducted by Sorko fishermen, situating the event within its cultural and ritual context rather than as spectacle.
Babatou, Three Pieces of AdviceBabatou, Three Pieces of Advice · 1976
Babatou, Three Pieces of Advice
6.31976
MovieWar
Once upon a time, in the middle of the last century, a great warrior named Babatou. Nigerian jumper from the region Dounga Gurunsi invaded the country and settled there. The brave prisoners were integrated into the army, women espoused. For fifty years, the adventurous young people from Niger Babatou went to live in the epic.

More Like This

Couldn't load this row right now.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter