Pierre Dominique Gaisseau was a French

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

film-maker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screenwritin ...

best known for his documentary '' Sky Above and Mud Beneath'', which was awarded the first

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

for a documentary. The film is an account of an expedition into the previously unexplored wilds of the

Netherlands New Guinea Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea (, ) was the Western New Guinea, western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas administrative territorial entity, overseas territory of ...

accomplished in 1959 by a small team of French and Dutch

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

s under Gaisseau's leadership, in the area where young

Michael Rockefeller Michael Clark Rockefeller (May 18, 1938; disappeared November 19, 1961) was a member of the Rockefeller family. He was a son of New York Governor and later U.S. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, a grandson of American financier John D. Rockef ...

later disappeared. The film's images of stone age life and mock birth rituals made indelible imprints on the Western mind, repeated in various art and theater forms. Gaisseau's films were not limited to remote areas. "Only One New York" contained intimate glimpses of New York City's

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

subculture. After completing a best selling autobiography "Vivre Pour Voir", Gaisseau died in Paris in 1997 of a heart attack. His widow, Kyoko, died in Paris in 2010.

Family

Gaisseau's first wife was Anne Marie Fichter with whom he had two children, Catherine and Nicolas. This marriage ended in divorce, and he subsequently married Kyoko Kosaka, with whom he had a daughter, Akiko Gaisseau.

References

External links

Forêt sacrée: magie et rites secrets des Toma
webGuinée *
Profile of Pierre Gaisseau from the Association for Cultural Equity

Audio archives of Pierre-Dominique Gaisseau
Unpublished and published audio records collected by Pierre-Dominique Gaisseau (or in collaboration with him) in Africa (Ogooue-Congo Expedition 1946, French Guinea 1952-1953), in South America (Orenoque-Amazone Expedition 1948-1950) and in Papua New Guinea (1952-1957 ?), archives preserved by the French Centre de Recherche en Ethnomusicologie {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaisseau, Pierre Dominique 1997 deaths French cinematographers French documentary filmmakers Year of birth missing