ABSTRACT
A casually dressed man walks into a mid-sized university auditorium packed with students. Most of the students are seated behind their small desks while others are standing, chatting with their classmates. The man makes his way to the podium in the front of the auditorium. Anthropology is no longer the sole proprietor of ethnographic film. Film has become more like video, and video has become film-like. Recording technologies have advanced to the point that even independent ethnographic filmmakers can compete with professional studios. Three years later Life Off Grid was released through Vimeo on Demand. Giving it away for free on YouTube, we thought, would imply it had no value. A few weeks later we were contacted by a distributor who offered to pick it up. We had nothing to lose in agreeing to the offer.
