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The Anthropologist

Play trailer Poster for The Anthropologist Released Nov 11, 2016 1h 21m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 74% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
The film features the parallel stories of two women: Margaret Mead, who popularized cultural anthropology in America, and Susie Crate, an environmental anthropologist currently studying the impact of climate change. Uniquely revealed from their daughters' perspectives, Mead and Crate demonstrate a fascination with how societies are forced to negotiate the disruption of their traditional ways of life, whether through encounters with the outside world or through climate change.

Critics Reviews

View All (6) Critics Reviews
Katie Walsh Los Angeles Times [An] utterly winning documentary. Nov 18, 2016 Full Review Neil Genzlinger New York Times At this point no documentarian can possibly have a fresh take on climate change, right? Wrong. Nov 10, 2016 Full Review Amy Brady Village Voice The film is saved by its illuminating - if heartbreaking - examination of isolated locales rarely seen on film. Nov 9, 2016 Full Review Frank Lovece Film Journal International A highly human look at a single mother field scientist and her teenage daughter as they globetrot to study the effects of climate change. Nov 15, 2016 Full Review Avi Offer NYC Movie Guru One of the most easily accessible, engaging and inspiring docs about climate change for everyone, young and old. Rated: 9/10 Nov 14, 2016 Full Review Valeriy Kolyadych PopMatters It may not be handled with the rigor that climate change activists would like to see, but it's an entertaining way of putting a human face on a problem while still providing enough important facts to promote thought. Rated: 7/10 Oct 11, 2016 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member This documentary is fun, very interesting and extremely well-paced. If provides a genuinely fresh outlook on the much debated topic of climate change and its consequences. It gives a new perspective on the subject leaving the viewer with a profound sense of hope-that-leads-to-action instead of the usual dreaded feeling of paralyzing doom that surrounds this topic. This documentary masterfully weaves its central theme with the story of a family of anthropologists and their craft as applied not only to others but also to themselves, to render a well-layered, easy to understand yet very profound story. A must-see-twice. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member I saw this at the Cleveland International Film Festival. It was made over five years, which gives it an expansive global scale, but also an intimate human focus. The audience is treated to archival footage of Margaret Mead and interview footage of her daughter Mary Bateson, who followed in her mother's footsteps, to explain what an anthropologist is. Then we witness the more personal story of Susie and Katie, another mother/daughter pair. Susie is happy in her career studying other cultures and specifically researching the effect climate change is having on various cultures. During summer breaks from school Katie travels with her mom, seeing the world and observing this career path. Katie is your average American teenager who doesn't want to live the same life as her mother, but does have a natural skill for languages, and over the years develops more respect for the importance of her mother's work. While viewing exotic locations and customs, something not many people get to do, we witness a mother and daughter face universal interpersonal struggles, something everyone can recognize. From the tropics to the tundra, and from the enclosed cocoon of a car to the wide open truly border-less world, this is an intriguing documentary about the crucial problem of climate change. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Anthropologist

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis The film features the parallel stories of two women: Margaret Mead, who popularized cultural anthropology in America, and Susie Crate, an environmental anthropologist currently studying the impact of climate change. Uniquely revealed from their daughters' perspectives, Mead and Crate demonstrate a fascination with how societies are forced to negotiate the disruption of their traditional ways of life, whether through encounters with the outside world or through climate change.
Director
Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, Jeremy Newberger
Screenwriter
Daniel A. Miller
Distributor
Argot Pictures
Production Co
Ironbound Films, Gravitas Ventures
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 11, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 6, 2016
Runtime
1h 21m