To Find the Baruya Story

This multi-faceted film illustrates anthropologist Maurice Godelier's fieldwork methods and personal relationships among the Baruya, a group of peoples living in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. The film follows Dr. Godelier as he explores the complexities of food production and the effects of new technologies, and details the Baruya's traditional salt-based economic system. Godelier comments: "I have to find and bring together the different pieces of Baruya culture... That's my job, to find the story."

About the Digitally Remastered DVD Edition: A crucial segment of To Find the Baruya Story, missing from all previously distributed VHS and DVD versions of the film, was recently found on an original 16mm master print. The sequence – Godelier's visit to the women's menstrual huts and the subsequent decontamination ritual his male informants insisted that he undergo – is a key to understanding Godelier's ability to study both Baruyan men's and women's worlds.