''Karamoja'' was a 1954 film produced by exploitation filmmaker

Kroger Babb Howard W. "Kroger" Babb (December 30, 1906 – January 28, 1980) was an American film producer and showman. His marketing techniques were similar to a travelling salesman's, with roots in the medicine show tradition. Self-described as "America's ...

. A

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

of a native tribe from

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

, the film was marketed by Babb to focus on the imagery that would be shocking to an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

audience, including advertising which claimed that the tribe wore "only the wind and live on blood and beer."David F. Friedman, ''A Youth in Babylon: Confessions of a Trash-Film King'' (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1990; ). Scenes in the film included "the bleeding of cattle and drinking of the warm blood, and

self-mutilation Self-harm is intentional behavior that is considered harmful to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues usually without a suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-injury and self-mutilatio ...

as a form of ornamentation,"Eric Schaefer, ''Bold! Daring! Shocking! True!: A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959'' (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1999; ). as well as a full-color

circumcision Circumcision is a surgical procedure, procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin ...

scene. ''Karamoja'' proved to be less controversial than many of Babb's other films, grossing less in

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...

revenue as a result.

References

External links

* 1954 films Mondo films American documentary films Documentary films about Uganda 1954 documentary films 1950s American films {{US-documentary-film-stub