Film Archive of Human Ethology
The cross cultural approach to human behaviour was initiated in pilot studies in the 1960s. Systematic documentation began in 1969. Until January 2002, a total of 279.699 kilometres of 16 mm-film and 3371,47 ( correspond to 38457,83 meters) minutes of videofilm (Mini DV, Hi 8, S-VHS) has been recorded. In the majority of cases film documents are accompanied by a sound track. This makes the Film Archive of Human Ethology the most extensive documentation of human behaviour world-wide. In contrast to the variety of ethnological or anthropological films, which in most cases deal with performed activities, the Film Archive of Human Ethology mainly records unstaged and minimally disturbed social behaviour. In order to achieve such records, the right-angle reflex lens technique was employed, as developed by Prof. Dr. Hans Hass. This permits the photographer to film subjects without pointing the camera at them.
