Four families

Canada, 1959

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Episode of Series “Comparisons”.
An on-the-spot comparison of family life in India, France, Japan and Canada, in which the internationally known author/anthropologist, Dr Margaret Mead, discusses with the film’s writer/director how the upbringing of children contributes to a distinctive national character. Centre of attention in each case is a year-old baby in the family of a farmer of average means. Dr Mead summarises the more typical national characteristics at the conclusion of the film.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

co-director

Fali Bilimoria

John Buss

Richard Gilbert

William Novic

producer

Ian MacNeill

production company

National Film Board of Canada

Duration

00:57:42:00

Production places

Canada

Production dates

1959

Appears in

Comparisons

Group of items

Comparisons

Explore

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

002297

Language

English

Subject categories

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Family - Canada

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Family - France

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Family - India

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Family - Japan

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Mead, Margaret, 1901-1978

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → National characteristics

Documentary

Documentary → Documentary films - Canada

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Ethnology

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Mead, Margaret, 1901-1978

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → National characteristics

Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Children - Family relationships

Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Family - France

Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Family - India

Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Family - Japan

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → National characteristics

People → Mead, Margaret, 1901-1978

Television

Television → Television series

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Black and White

Holdings

16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/66297--four-families/ |title=Four families |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=17 May 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}