The Ax Fight

Directed by Timothy Asch

This ethnographic film records a conflict that took place on February 28, 1971, in the Yanomami village of Mishimishimabowei-teri during the fieldwork of Timothy Asch and Napoleon Chagnon. Constructed in four parts, the film first presents the complete unedited footage of the fight as it was witnessed by the filmmakers, followed by slow-motion analysis, kinship diagrams, and a final edited version. Through this structure, the film documents both the social dynamics of the conflict and the process by which ethnographic knowledge is produced from filmed events.