Main content

The Human Pyramid

The Human Pyramid

If you are not affiliated with a college or university, and are interested in watching this film, please register as an individual and login to rent this film. Already registered? Login to rent this film. This film is also available on our home streaming platform, OVID.tv.

At the Lycée Français of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Rouch worked with students there who willingly enacted a story about the arrival of a new white girl, Nadine, and her effect on the interactions of and interracial relationships between the white colonial French and Black African classmates, all non-actors. Fomenting a dramatic situation instead of repeating one, Rouch extended the experiments he had undertaken in Chronicle of a Summer, including having on-camera student participants view rushes of the film midway through the story. The docu-drama shows how working together to make the film changes their attitude towards each other.

Related Films

Moi, Un Noir

In this landmark documentary, Jean Rouch collaborates with his subjects…

Little By Little

Jean Rouch brings his Nigerien collaborators to France to perform a reverse…

The Punishment

An aimless young woman is sent home from school with nothing to do. Drifting…