ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the films Tim Asch produced over a period of twenty-five years in collaboration with various anthropologists and with his partner Patsy Asch. I argue that one can see in both their form and substance the changing epistemological perspectives regarding the production of knowledge taking place over the same period in anthropology more generally. In his essay “Out of Sync: The Cinema of Tim Asch”, Jay Ruby argued what might seem to be a paradoxical position, that Asch’s
consistent lack of interest in pursuing current fashion, as well as his lack of synchronicity with the received wisdom of the film world and anthropology, … allowed him to make significant contributions to both.
