Kaba’s First Years

A series of scenes in the life of a Balinese child, It begins with a seventh-month birthday ceremonial, showing Kaba’s relationships to his parents, aunts, and uncles, including the child’s nurse, and other children, as he is suckled, taught to walk and dance, and teased and titillated. The film illustrates that a Balinese child’s responsiveness is muted if the parents stimulate him, but fail to respond.

Region of Origin

Year of Release

1952

Duration

19 minutes

Format

16mm, B/W

Directors

Margaret Mead Thumbnail

Margaret Mead

Margaret Mead, one of the most well known anthropologists worldwide, and celebrated student of Franz Boas, pioneered motion-picture film making in Samoa, New Guinea, and Bali, where she documented the lives of the indigenous people with an anthropological perspective. Her husband, Gregory Bateson, was also a field collaborator. Together they completed seven ethnographic films. She was much honored in her lifetime, serving as president of major scientific associations. She authored more than twenty important books and coauthored at least an equal number touching on a broad range of anthropological issues. The Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival honors her contribution to ethnographic film.
Learning to Dance in Bali (1978)、Bathing Babies in Three Cultures (1954)、Childhood Rivalry in Bali and New Guinea (1954)、First Days in the Life of a New Guinea Baby (1952)、Karba's First Years (1952)、Trance and Dance in Bali (1952)、A Balinese Family (1951)