Widening the Frame with Visual Psychological Anthropology

“The authors offer background materials and theoretical discussions focusing on a trilogy of films about trauma, gender violence, and stigmatization.  The films are heart-breaking, emotionally compelling, and beautifully presented, and this book provides crucial linkages to controversies about visual anthropology, cross-cultural psychiatry, and the representation of state and domestic violence.”

– Janet Hoskins, University of Southern California, Department of Anthropology, USA

This book uses visual psychological anthropology to explore trauma, gendered violence, and stigma through a discussion of three ethnographic films set in Indonesia: 40 Years of Silence (Lemelson 2009), Bitter Honey (Lemelson 2015), and Standing on the Edge of a Thorn (Lemelson 2012). This exploration “widens the frame” in two senses. First, it offers an integrative analysis that connects the discrete topics and theoretical concerns of each film to crosscutting themes in Indonesian history, society, and culture. Additionally, it sheds light on all that falls outside the literal frame of the screen, including the films’ origins; psychocultural and interpersonal dynamics and constraints of deep, ongoing collaborations in the field; narrative and emotional orientations toward editing; participants’ relationship to their screened image; the life of the films after release; and the ethics of each stage of filmmaking. In doing so, the authors widen the frame for psychological anthropology as well, advocating for film as a crucial point of engagement for academic audiences and for translational purposes.

Rich with critical insights and reflections on ethnographic filmmaking, this book will appeal to both scholars and students of visual anthropology, psychological anthropology, and ethnographic methods. It also serves as an engrossing companion to three contemporary ethnographic films.

Robert Lemelson, PhD is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles and the founder of Elemental Productions. Dr. Lemelson is co-author of Afflictions: Steps Toward a Visual Psychological Anthropology (2017), and a co-editor of Culture, Mind, and Brain: Emerging Contents, Models, and Applications (2020).

Annie Tucker, PhD is Researcher and Writer at Elemental Productions. Dr. Tucker is the co-author of Afflictions: Steps Toward a Visual Psychological Anthropology (2017).