Documentary Films on the Ethnic Studies of the Ainu People in the Collections of Sakhalin Museums and Archives

Abstract

The article is based on visual-anthropological materials from the Sakhalin archives and museums collected by the author during his expedition undertaken in June–August 2019. In\u202faddition to the general review of the filmography with respect to the Ainu ethnic studies of\u202fthe first half of the 20th century, this study is focused on two major documentary films: “Traditional Life and Rites of the Ainu people” (Japan, 1920) and “Across Sakhalin” (USSR, 1948). These films, being unique records of material and spiritual culture of the Ainu people living on Hokkaido and Sakhalin, who were earlier an authentic ethnic group, but currently assimilated into the Japanese environment, are introduced into the scientific discourse for the first time. The cinematic works are analyzed in the historical and anthropological context against the study results of the scholars studying the Ainu people. The paper provides a\u202fconclusion about the archival films being multi-layered documentary films of their time that upon proper scholarly criticism can be valuable historical sources of scientific interest with respect to a wide range of humanitarian studies.