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Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale

Play trailer Poster for Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale R Released Apr 15, 2000 1h 30m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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78% Tomatometer 51 Reviews 50% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
This documentary tells the tale of Tobias Schneebaum, a gay Jewish New York painter who traveled to New Guinea and Peru in 1955, soon eschewing his western ways, living as a cannibal and tribesman. The camera follows Schneebaum at age 78, as he returns to the jungle.

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Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale

Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale

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Critics Consensus

Keep the River on Your Right places the spotlight on a fascinating individual, Tobias Schneebaum.

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Critics Reviews

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Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Rated: A- Sep 7, 2011 Full Review Gary Dowell Dallas Morning News A fascinating if somewhat unfocused documentary. Oct 11, 2001 Full Review Louis B. Parks Houston Chronicle Schneebaum, a dull and helpless-looking nonentity at first glance, proves to be an amazingly courageous, inquisitive, remarkable man. Aug 10, 2001 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 3/5 Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Aug 19, 2005 Full Review Jurgen Fauth About.com A moving portrait of an astounding life. Rated: 4/5 Oct 8, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Long winded, repetitive, and rarely insightful. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Fascinating and courageous person, honest, funny and refreshingly candid.....Tobias Schneebaum. Fresh, interesting, fun, informative, riveting.....Keep the River on Your Right-A Modern Cannibal Tale. Highly recommend it! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member I thought a movie titled "A Modern Cannibal Tale" would have more than 5 minutes of the movie be about cannibalism. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Last night's queue roulette winner was this doc from 2000. The title is a bit misleading. This isn't really about modern day cannibalism but focuses on artist and anthropologist Tobias Schneebaum, whose fascination with primitive cultures lead him to Peru where he encounter the cannibals. It's was more incidental than any thing else and, in fact, he wasn't aware the tribe were cannibals until he was taken on a raid of a neighboring tribe (he thought they were just out hunting, something they'd done on various occasions previously). The film is his, often reluctant, recollections and coming to grips with those events, including partaking in the consumption of human flesh, which lead him to leave the tribe and country without so much as a word to the friends he made there. He is a complex subject and interesting subject and the film is definitely worth the time. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Fascinating subject, mediocre documentary. Could've been much better researched and editted, but the man is so interesting it's hard to really fault the filmmakers too much for capturing his legacy. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Tobias Schneebaum certainly engaged in some interesting research on indigenous tribes and their views on homosexuality and marriage but this film was centred on his return to the areas of his initial study..which makes it slightly dull. Perhaps the focus could have been placed on the research rather than a nostalgic trip. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale

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Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale

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Movie Info

Synopsis This documentary tells the tale of Tobias Schneebaum, a gay Jewish New York painter who traveled to New Guinea and Peru in 1955, soon eschewing his western ways, living as a cannibal and tribesman. The camera follows Schneebaum at age 78, as he returns to the jungle.
Director
David Shapiro, Laurie Shapiro
Producer
David Shapiro, Laurie Shapiro
Distributor
IFC Films
Production Co
Next Wave Films, Stolen Car Productions, Lifer Films
Rating
R (Mature Thematic Material)
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 15, 2000, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 10, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$348.5K
Runtime
1h 30m
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