Beyond the Call of Duty in
Borneo
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Sometimes you just need to get out of the
office. National Geographic EXPLORER’s executive producer, Michael
Rosenfeld (right), is generally office-bound by screenings and meetings. So he
goes all out when he goes out. He’s pictured on location
producing “Borneo: Beyond the Grave,” a film on tiwah death rituals
practiced by the Ngaju Dayak people. (A previous excursion into the
field took Rosenfeld to the top of active volcanoes for the National
Geographic film “Volcano!”).
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As a welcoming gesture, the locals spread powder on the crew’s faces
to “cool us down and make us look beautiful,” recalls
Rosenfeld. The crew was also adorned with bracelets soaked
in chicken blood, meant to protect them from supernatural harm.
“There were moments sitting in the jungle when I was grateful for
mine,” says Rosenfeld.
Although the death ritual includes such macabre elements as
animal sacrifices and the exhumation of human remains, Rosenfeld found
the film shoot “beautiful, human, and touching—this was a
terribly intimate thing we were being allowed to observe, and it was
emotionally intense for us all.”
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“Borneo: Beyond the Grave” airs on
Sunday, March 30, at 7:00 p.m. ET on TBS SuperStation.
NGT crew (from left): Reuben Aaronson, Dennis Towns, Amy
Bucher, Michael Rosenfeld, Rich Confolone
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