Review of The Anthropologist (2016) by Byron B — 13 Sep 2016

I saw this at the Cleveland International Film Festival. It was made over five years, which gives it an expansive global scale, but also an intimate human focus. The audience is treated to archival footage of Margaret Mead and interview footage of her daughter Mary Bateson, who followed in her mother's footsteps, to explain what an anthropologist is.

Then we witness the more personal story of Susie and Katie, another mother/daughter pair. Susie is happy in her career studying other cultures and specifically researching the effect climate change is having on various cultures.

During summer breaks from school Katie travels with her mom, seeing the world and observing this career path. Katie is your average American teenager who doesn't want to live the same life as her mother, but does have a natural skill for languages, and over the years develops more respect for the importance of her mother's work.

While viewing exotic locations and customs, something not many people get to do, we witness a mother and daughter face universal interpersonal struggles, something everyone can recognize. From the tropics to the tundra, and from the enclosed cocoon of a car to the wide open truly border-less world, this is an intriguing documentary about the crucial problem of climate change.