Synopsis:
Through these eyes Directed by Charles Laird, 56’, Canada The documentary presents the efforts that were made through education to understand human behavior by getting children exposed to different indigenous cultures. It also sheds light on how, with time, the Eskimos’ lives changed, moving from igloos to houses, moving from their traditional way of living to a more modern one. In the Cold War period, Man: A Course of Study (MACOS), a project in social sciences, was initiated. The intention of the project was to show through ethnographic films and other materials different ways of living. The course was to be taught nationwide in schools. This was a quest in understanding what is distinctively human about human being as compared to others. First of all, children made contact with the indigenous people from the Pelly Bay region watching the “Netsilik Eskimos Series”, by Asen Balikci. Nevertheless, the content of the course was considered too dangerous or shocking by politicians, giving way to controversy, which led to the shutdown of the educational project.