A year ago a student borrowed our university library’s copy of Dennis O’Rourke’s classic film, Cannibal Tours, and never returned. The film is out of print and it has been tough to find a replacement—a big inconvenience because this film is so well done. I know of few films that so effectively make viewers aware of their own spectatorship—and offer a teachable and discussable critique of the tourist industry. I regularly give students a first taste of this film in my Introduction to Anthropology classes and then really spend some time dissecting and discussing it in my Pilgrims, Travelers and Tourists class.

I had been wondering what I was going to do about replacing the film in the fall, when a colleague told me he found it posted on YouTube.  I don’t know how long it will be there, but I thought I’d save a link here to share—and so I can find it in the fall if our library copy still hasn’t been returned.