DEEP HEARTS

...Gardner must be thanked for bringing back such spectacular images, so lovingly filmed. `Deep Hearts' allows the opportunity to observe the Bororo, a culture heaven-made for the film maker's camera. And, at least with his camera, Gardner does the Bororo justice and provides viewers with a wonderful documentary gift. M. Lieber

53 minutes Colour 1979
Film maker: Robert Gardner

53 minutes Colour 1979

Film-maker: Robert Gardner

The Bororo of Niger are a nomadic group of the Fulani people. They travel about the inhospitable Sahel, moving their cattle and camels in search of water and grass. The Bororo deep heart is, Gardner tells us, where the Bororo hold their pride, where they hold their desire for perfection. In their deep heart they can preserve their love of self and control their envy of others. The Bororo know they are a special people and, during the rainy season, they gather to celebrate their culture by celebrating Geerewol. Geerewol is a contest to find the most perfect moral and physical specimen among the men.  It is a contest between two lineages and between men. The man with enough beauty and charm to win Geerewol will arouse ardour in women who see him and raise his status in the group. The men take great care in preparing themselves. Their head dress, make-up and clothing come as close as possible to their concept of perfection. At Geerewol the men wear skirts made of women's cloth. The men dance, facing the sun so that the audience can see them better, and the dance continues in the heat and in the sun for seven days. Old women of the opposing lineage have the privilege of insulting the dancers, and three young women of that lineage, chosen for their attractiveness, make the public choice of the perfect man. The make-up which the men wear is a kind of mask: it attracts attention, but it also protects the wearer. One of a Bororo's greatest fears is to be devoured by another's mouth or eyes, by the way another looks or speaks.

Deep Hearts tries to capture the feeling of Geerewol. The undulating music, and the constant movement of the dancers, is intoxicating. The dancing is the constant theme of the film, but Gardner intersperses it with the quiet of women preparing for the ritual, women gathering water and milk, men preparing themselves for Geerewol. Gardner moves the camera from the movement of the dancers to the silent running of the camels, graceful both upon the desert.

This is not a film for the ethnographer who wishes to learn specific information about Geerewol and the society of the Bororo. This film is a poetic image directed towards aesthetic sensibilities rather than toward the intellect and analysis. For another view of the Bororo and additional bibliographic references, see the entry for The Wodaabe. Catalogue number (16mm): 5RA128 £18.

C. Beckwith, 1983. `Niger's Wodaabe: People of the Taboo'. National Geographic, Vol. 164, No. 4, pp. 482-509. [Excellent photographs, but article explains little.]

H. Brandt, 1956. Nomades du Soleil. Clairfontaine, Lausanne.

M. Dupire, 1967. Peuls Nomades: Etudes Descriptives des Wodaabe du Sahel Nigérian. Institut d'Ethnologie, Paris.

M. Lieber, 1980. Review of the film. American Anthropologist, Vol. 82, pp. 224-25.

M. Van Offelen, 1983. Nomads of Niger. N. Abrams, New York. [C. Beckwith, photographer.]

C. White, 1984. `Herd Reconstruction: The Role of Credit Among WoDaabe Herders in Central Niger'. Cambridge Anthropology, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 30-42.