Pierre Dominique Gaisseau was a French documentary film-maker 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 * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

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 ( nl, Nederlands-Nieuw-Guinea, id, Nugini Belanda) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the Kingd ...

accomplished in 1959 by a small team of French and Dutch

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

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

Michael Rockefeller Michael Clark Rockefeller (May 18, 1938 – presumed to have died November 19, 1961) was the fifth child of New York Governor and former U.S. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. He was the grandson of American financier John D. Rockefeller Jr ...

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 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.

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Unpublished and published audio records collected by Pierre-Dominique Gaisseau (or in collaboration with him) in Africa (Ogooue-Congo Expedition 1946, French Guinea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