The Last Bonesetter: An Encounter with Don Felipe
Medical Anthropology film and discussion group
Tuesday 2 May 2023 15:30 to 17:00Location: |
EP Abraham Lecture Theatre, Green Templeton College |
About
The GTC Medical Anthropology Film and Discussion Group explores the extent to which film can complement, enrich and further the study of medical anthropology themes, topics and methods. After watching selected clips, we discuss a film’s content and approach, and interrogate its capacity to support the analysis of issues relating to illness, crisis, health and well-being. This term we focus on the theme of ‘Encounters’ between western medicine and traditional medicine and healing.
The Last Bonesetter: An Encounter with Don Felipe (2018. Directed by Adam Booher). In some remote areas of the Peruvian Andes, such as the highland hamlet of Chugurpampa, traditional healers have all but disappeared. This is due largely to an unstable subsistence economy brought on by climate change, forcing frequent trips and even permanent outmigration to the coast, with the result that young people are not able to devote the time to learn the healing arts. Yet, due to the rigors of peasant life, there is still a high demand for the musculoskeletal healing tradition of bonesetting. This film traces the career of one of the last ‘hueseros,’ or bonesetters, in the area – 80-year-old Don Felipe.
Convener: Paola Esposito paola.esposito@anthro.ox.ac.uk
Type: Film Screenings
