Arte Distribution

From India to the Bijagos archipelago, discover the last of the world’s matriarchies through the stories of the women who run them. Each of the five films in the collection is an immersion into one of these societies, through the eyes of a woman.

Fire dancing in Papua New Guinea or climbing to the top of the Ethiopian cliffs to introduce one’s child to God: this series reveals how some people today still practice rituals that structure their lives and become, beyond a simple social bond, a structuring force and a source of culture.

In societies that struggle to find their bearings, rituals - whether pagan or mysterious - are of particular importance when people are confronted with the unknown, illness, death, not knowing what tomorrow is made of. Rituals help organise chaos, warding off our fears and bringing to light the meaning in our lives.
Anthropologist, Anne-Sylvie Malbrancke, helps us understand and experience these moments with those who practice them.​

Hernin and Marcellin Abong are two Vanuatu twin brothers with very different backgrounds: one has become the “Very Great Chief” of his tribe, while the other is an ethno-archaeologist. 

Their culture is slowly but surely disappearing forever. To keep a record of it, they both delve into the most remote parts of Vanuatu in search of the customs and rites of their people. On foot and by canoe, their journey takes them to grandiose and isolated territories, to discover spectacular and unknown rituals, even for them.

All along the Arctic coast of Norway, there's a bloody battle going on between three different species: orcas, whales…and humans! And it's all over the vast schools of herring that migrate to the Frozen North to seek shelter there in the fjords.! 

Follow Didier Noirot, one of the world's greatest underwater cameramen, as he tracks down the giants of the deep - using 8K underwater cameras and drones - and dives right into the heart of the hunt. Orcas – or "killer whales" – have developed what is called the "carousel" technique for catching herring: they surround them with bubbles then drive them up to the surface. But now the other whales are no longer scared of joining in to claim their share of the booty. Then there are the humans, with their huge nets: they too are after the same prize. Who is going to win the Herring War?

In Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, the Minangkabau are a matriarchal society. While Koranic law attributes only one-third of the inheritance to girls, the property of a Minangkabau family is passed on from mother to daughter and men can be repudiated by their wives.

Reini is a young woman from the Minangkabau ethnic group in West Sumatra. She is getting married. She goes to pick up her future husband from his parents’. According to their tradition, she is the one who has to lead him to the ceremony where the guests are waiting. After the wedding, the young husband will move in with his in-laws and take care of the children of his clan, while Reini will work in the fields.
 
But in Indonesia, in recent years, Islam has become more rigid. Nowadays more and more men want to restrict women's freedom. Reini knows that the Minangkabau way of life and traditions are in danger, but she plans to fight to protect them.

In this true "Kingdom of Women", the female presence is visible, unavoidable even. In Shillong, they are everywhere on the front lines: in banks, schools and even in parliament.  

They are the ones who sell meat or cigarettes behind tiny street stalls, and the ones who sell vegetables or fruit on the side of the road. Men most often meet each other playing cards or rocking a baby while accompanying another child to school.
But this ancestral model of society could well falter: among the Khasi, men are not necessarily satisfied with their fate and have begun to rebel.
A movement for the liberation of men was launched a few years ago – it is called Symbai Rimbai Tong Hai. It demands property rights for male children and a greater role for men in the family. “We find it unfair that women have all the power and we have none. We have no role to play except to feed our babies and change their diapers. I have friends who were so frustrated that they started drinking and taking drugs. We want to feel useful to society. After all, we have rights too”; some men in the community are now protesting.
 
Will the Khasi, this rare bastion of women's power in India, resist this surge in activism?

In the heart of the Amazon rainforests of Brazil, the Sateré-Mawé people have a rite of passage to adulthood where a show of bravery turns boys into men.

Some 20 years ago, Sergio left his tribe to study in the city. This year, he is returning to the community with his son Jackson, aged 12. It is time for the young boy to join the ranks of the Sateré-Mawé. To earn this status, Jackson must suffer the worst the jungle has to offer – the ritual of Da Tucandeira: Placing his hand inside a glove woven with hundreds of bullet ants whose venom is said to be the most painful in the world.
 
According to tribe members, this painful initiation prepares the young men for life and proves they are capable of fulfilling their reproduction obligations. The boys must endure the ordeal 20 times in their lives. For the Sateré-Mawé, virility is demonstrated through one’s resistance to pain, with no tears and no weakness.

Among the Moso people in southwest China, women are the heads of households, the farm managers, they pass on their names and property to their daughters, they choose their lovers, and they do not marry. The very ideas of fatherhood and marriage are almost unknown, sexuality is free.

The Moso say that “man is like the effect of rain on the grass, no matter who does it, what counts is that the grass is watered”.
 
They are a model community for the UN, yet their way of life is threatened.
Nowadays, the Chinese government is cracking down on cultural minorities – notably attacking them through finance. Tourism is developing in this region and advantageous bank loans are being granted to married couples. Western-style marriage has become a fashionable phenomenon.
 
Lamu is an Ama – a mother, the head of her household. She is faced with a problem that is eating away at her. Her niece Erchema wants to marry and live with her husband... This decision is totally incomprehensible to Lamu.
  For the Moso people, marriage is a threat to harmony, an essential value that comes before anything else, including money.
What will become of the Mosos?

“First marriage and then love.” This Indian proverb describes Indian society fairly accurately, and how the tradition of marriage is experienced in the country. In India, people don’t just marry whoever they want. It is the family that decides, and most marriages are arranged. It is called the Shaadi.

Meenal lives in Jaipur, in the state of Rajasthan, is a modern, educated, young woman, who has traveled, who is financially independent, and who asked her mother to find her a husband. 
They used a web application to find Vineet. He responds to all the criteria but most importantly, the two families are from the same caste, the Brahmin.
Meenal has only met him twice, and in a few days’ time, she’s going to give up her entire life to follow him.

After disappearing from the region because of relentless hunting, the jaguars are about to be reintroduced in northeastern Argentina.
 

 A breeding station has been set up on a remote marshy islet to raise jaguars; they will later be released into the wild. This endeavor is unique not only for Argentina, but also for the world.

Holy Week is one of the most important rituals in Christianity. During the week before Easter, it celebrates the death and then resurrection of Christ. In Seville, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, dozens of processions take place, each one led by one of the 60 brotherhoods in the city. 

Every brotherhood has its own tradition, and has one or more altars carried on the backs of the men along the way. 
 
José is a costalero. Along with the other members of the brotherhood, he carries an immense paso through the city. The paso is a float weighing more than two tons. Beneath its weight, they all suffer in silence.
 
Doing penitence is a practice shared by many religions. By suffering, one makes amends for one’s sins, it is an act of hope that confirms that nothing is lost. Just like Christ, who suffered for the seven days of the passion, the Sevillians who participate in this ritual are able to go beyond themselves and repent.

Wale is still considered to be a child in his tribe, but at age 20, he is now old enough to face the challenge that will make him a man. “Ukuli Bula” is a bull jumping ceremony. The idea is to jump three times over a series of bulls lined up in a row, without falling over.

If the young man, or Ukuli fails, he will be mocked by the village and will not be able to marry.
 
Khaya, Wale’s little sister, is also undergoing a trial. Hamar tradition says that she must prove her devotion to her brother by having her back whipped. The day of the ceremony, the young women, friends and family of the Ukuli go to the site of the ritual, singing and dancing. Then, the whipping starts.
 
The young women tease them men until they agree to whip them. For Hamar women, this is both proof of personal courage, and a mark of love for the Ukuli. Finally, it’s time to jump. The cattle are lined up, flank to flank, held by the horns. Now the Ukuli will know if he’ll become a man or not.