Gregory Bateson

An Ecology of Mind

Nora Bateson

Gregory Bateson, Nora Bateson

'An Ecology of Mind' is a filmic portrait of anthropologist, biologist, and psychotherapist Gregory Bateson. Bateson believed that, 'The major problems in the world are the result of the difference between the way nature works and the way people think.' Seen through the relationship between father and daughter, this documentary is an invitation into 'systems thinking' and interrelationships in the natural world. 'Looking at what holds systems together is a radical step toward sewing the world back together, from the inside.'

Trance and Dance in Bali

Gregory Bateson, Margaret Mead

Margaret Mead

Explores the themes of trance and dance in the rituals and religion of Bali. The famous Kris Dance is performed.

Childhood Rivalry in Bali and New Guinea

Gregory Bateson

This film consists of a series of scenes in which children of the same age in different cultures, in Bali and in New Guinea, respond to the fact that their mother gives her attention to another child.

Bathing Babies In Three Cultures

Gregory Bateson, Margaret Mead

Compares treatment of Balinese and Iatmul (New Guinea) babies with American practices. The different methods of bathing children is seen in three contrasting cultures. "New Guinea". A native mother is seen washing her own and a neighbour's children in a river. "U.S.A.". "The 1930's". In a small bathroom, the mother first carefully wipes the child's face with a flannel, before putting him into the bath-tub. "U.S.A.". the 1940's: Similar setting, similar routine, but mother is less protective, child more independent and interested in outside objects. "Bali": In a mountain village, a mother bathes her child in a small tub on a raised platform.