Trance and Dance in Bali

A portrait of Gregory Bateson, celebrated anthropologist, philosopher, author, naturalist, and systems theorist. His story is lovingly told by his youngest daughter, Nora, with footage from Gregory's own films shot in the 1930s with his wife Margaret Mead in Bali and New Guinea, along with photographs, filmed lectures, and interviews.

This short ethnographic film presents a comparative study of infant bathing practices in three cultural settings: Bali, Iatmul communities along the Sepik River in New Guinea, and the United States. Through observational sequences, the film documents differing methods of mother–child interaction, caregiving routines, and degrees of maternal protection, situating everyday domestic practices within broader patterns of cultural socialization.

This short ethnographic film presents comparative scenes of children of the same age in Bali and New Guinea responding to maternal attention given to another child. Produced as part of Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead’s Character Formation in Different Cultures series, the film documents culturally distinct approaches to sibling rivalry through observational sequences involving infant care, ritual ear-piercing, and experimental interaction with a doll.