Margaret Mead Film Festival 2018 main content.
Visual Transcript: 2018 Margaret Mead Film Festival Trailer
[MUSIC BEGINS]
A man turns to face the camera while monarch butterflies fly all around him.
A hand reaches out into a sliver of sunlight.
A parade float with a giant man’s torso stretching out his arms moves towards the camera.
Monks pray in a red and gold room.
Extreme close-up of a pair of eyes covered in red glitter opening slowly.
A small motor boat sails across water strewn with ice.
A pair of feet kick off the side of a pool underwater.
A woman does a pushup and looks to the side.
A man picks up a mammoth tusk in a field.
A woman shows another woman how to use a handheld camcorder.
A man films himself in the reflection of a rearview mirror in a moving car.
A large crowd marches while holding signs and French flags.
A small crowd marches at night, holding candles.
Close up of a Carnaval attendee’s face painted in shimmering white, red, and blue paint.
Musician Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu looks ahead.
A man wearing a bright red coat looks into the camera with a cigarette in his mouth.
A man rings a large church bell by leaping down from a platform.
Stylistically animated women dance in a circle.
A girl’s hands run through tall flowers.
A crowd waves their hands in front of a stage.
A man runs his hands through a wheat field at sunset.
Fireworks explode in the sky above the lapping ocean waves at night.
The Margaret Mead Film Festival logo appears over footage of a blue sky with monarch butterflies flying all around.
Text reads: “Margaret Mead Film Festival, Thursday through Sunday, October 18-21, 2018.”
The American Museum of Natural History's Margaret Mead Film Festival screens documentaries that increase our understanding of the complexity and diversity of the peoples and cultures that populate our planet. The Mead Festival has evolved with the times while maintaining its important history and has grown steadily to reflect the ever-evolving incarnations of storytelling, technology and growing access to communities near and far. The Mead Festival presents the best in documentary, experimental films, animation, hybrid works, and more.
This year's festival reflects stories of resilience–portraits of strength and action by people who are rising up, breaking new ground, and pushing their communities forward. Collectively, our new centerpiece, highlights work from community organizations that train and support Indigenous and other filmmakers in telling their own stories. Take the theme of resilience beyond traditional film to virtual reality, oral histories, and more in the Mixed Media Lounge and visit a provocative installation by contemporary Haida artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas.
The Mead aims to connect viewers to cultures and communities around the world, creating empathy and understanding through visual media. Hundreds of filmmakers and scholars, thousands of moviegoers, and over 40 international nonfiction films and media converge over four thrilling days of screenings, conversations, and parties.
The 2018 Margaret Mead Film Festival was held October 18–21, 2018.