This Dialogue is part of the Margaret Mead Film Festival.

From acclaimed Montreal-based Felix & Paul Studios, the Nomads virtual-reality series transports you across the Earth into an intimate look at several nomadic cultures. Experience the way of life of yak herders on the Mongolian steppes, Maasai in Kenya, and Bajau sea nomads living off the coast of Borneo as they move from place to place across their ancestral territories.

Nomads can be seen as part of a longer history of cultural exhibition through previous “new” media forms, each of which helped enable the public’s exposure to our world’s communities: from nineteenth-century live displays, museum dioramas, or early cinematic portraits to TV and internet today.

Our discussion explores VR’s place on this continuum and addresses the ways in which Nomads moves beyond “anthropology safari” or “touristic voyeurism” to connect viewers with our human community.

Viewing of Nomads will be available beginning at 7pm.

Discussion with:
Moderator: Alison Griffiths, Department of Communication Studies, Baruch College. Author, Shivers Down Your Spine: Cinema, Museums, and the Immersive View
Pegi Vail (Anthropology Consultant, Nomads series and Nomads APP co-writer)
Serah Shani (Anthropology Advisor, Nomads: Maasai)

Samsung Gear VR Headsets provided courtesy of Samsung Electronics America.