Film and Ritual: epistemological dialogs between filmic anthropology and anthropological practice

this article discusses the dialog between filmic anthropology's procedures and methods and anthropological practice, with a focus on ritual, which is captured by the moving image in a more direct and fluid way. for this, the ritual of reproduction and preservation of cattle in santiago, a peasant village in the peruvian andes is used as an empirical base. as an anthropologist-filmmaker i will try to make explicit the relationship between the observed process filmed and the informant, combining two important epistemological grids: claudine de france's deferred observation, and clifford geertz's interpretation from the native's point of view. finally, based on this experience, i will make some observations about the use of methodological approximations from filmic anthropology in anthropological practice, between film and anthropology.