Paper short abstract:

This paper refers to the production of the ethnographic film ‘Now I Am Dead’. It considers the evaluation of anthropology’s history in relation to the filmic encounter. How important are reflections on the discipline’s ethical conundrums to collaborators in the field?

Paper long abstract:

In 2018, I revisited my PhD fieldsite in Ghana for the third time, bringing with me a collaborator from Germany in order to make an ethnographic film based on my research on funerary practices in the town of Peki. The film was intended to address the encounter that is vital to the production of ethnographic knowledge, ultimately making ethnography and the discipline of anthropology its subject. In order to capture this encounter, I as the ethnographer had to be part of the picture, leading the viewer’s gaze and the camera as interface or guide. Ultimately, through a twist of fate which could not be foreseen, I was able to partially ‘switch sides’ and make use of local practices that I had studied for mourning my grandfather.

Now I Am Dead (2018) addresses questions of representation whilst yet being limited to a certain perspective. This paper refers to the production and planning of the film and considers the evaluation of anthropology’s history and moral obligation in relation to the encounter as captured on film. How important are reflections on the discipline’s ethical conundrums and historical shortcomings to collaborators in the field, in tangible situations of encounter? Where are implied ethical discourses limiting people from picking up new concepts or roles from the field, in the moment of encounter? The paper reflects on these questions and proposes approaches that may help to go beyond what de Castro has described as a narcissistic cul de sac.