Robert Lemelson

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{{Infobox person

| name = Robert Lemelson

| birth_name = Robert Bush Lemelson

| occupation = {{hlist|Anthropologist|educator|film producer|journalist}}

| alma_mater = University of Chicago (MA)
University of California, Los Angeles (PhD)

| organization = Elemental Productions}}

Robert Bush Lemelson is an American cultural anthropologist{{Cite web|url=http://www.anthro.ucla.edu/people/faculty?lid=1341|title = Faculty}} and film producer.{{Cite web|url=https://www.der.org/resources/filmmaker-bios/robert-lemelson/|title=Robert Lemelson | DER Filmmaker Bio|website=www.der.org}} He received his M.A. from the University of Chicago and Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Lemelson's area of specialty is transcultural psychiatry; Southeast Asian Studies, particularly Indonesia; and psychological and medical anthropology. He is a research anthropologist in the Semel Institute of Neuroscience UCLA, and an adjunct professor of anthropology at UCLA. His scholarly work has appeared in journals and books. Lemelson founded Elemental Productions in 2008,{{Cite web|url=https://www.elementalproductions.org/|title=Elemental Productions|website=Elemental Productions}} a documentary production company, and has directed and produced numerous ethnographic films.{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3199649/|title=Robert Lemelson|website=IMDb}}

Lemelson is involved in a number of philanthropic ventures. He is the president of The Foundation for Psychocultural Research,{{cite web |url=http://www.thefpr.org/about/founders.php |title=FPR: Board and Founder |website=www.thefpr.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100828085652/http://www.thefpr.org/about/founders.php |archive-date=2010-08-28}} a research foundation that supports work integrating the social and neurosciences. He also acts a director for The Lemelson Foundation,{{cite web |title=Members of The Lemelson Foundation's Board of Directors {{!}} The Lemelson Foundation |url=http://www.lemelson.org/about/board-directors |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091220155052/http://www.lemelson.org/about/board-directors |archive-date=2009-12-20 |website=www.lemelson.org}} a foundation started by his father Jerome Lemelson to support inventors, invention and innovation in the United States and the developing world. Lemelson has also funded a number of programs supporting scholarship and research in Anthropology through the Robert Lemelson Foundation, which is a separate foundation from The Lemelson Foundation.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} These include the Lemelson Anthropological Scholars program at UCLA, and the Lemelson-SPA conference fund and the Lemelson-SPA student fellows program administered by the Society for Psychological Anthropology.

Filmography

Film Title	Type	Release Date	Short Synopsis	TRT
class="wikitable sortable"
Tajen	Documentary short	2016	A sensory ethnography exploring multiple elements of the Balinese cockfight.	29 min
Bitter Honey	Documentary Feature	2015	Chronicles the lives of three polygamous families living in Bali, Indonesia. The film follows the wives from their introduction to the polygamous lifestyle to the emotional hardships and jealousies to their struggle for empowerment and equal rights.{{Cite news\|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/31/movies/bitter-honey-looks-at-multiple-spouses-in-bali.html\|title=The Pain of Polygamy (Published 2014)\|first=Andy\|last=Webster\|newspaper=The New York Times\|date=October 30, 2014}}	81 min
Standing on the Edge of a Thorn	Documentary short	2013	A portrait of a family in rural Central Java, Indonesia grappling with poverty, mental illness, and participation in the sex trade.{{Cite web\|url=http://www.unaff.org/2013/f_standing.html\|title=UNAFF 2013: Films: Standing on the Edge of a Thorn\|website=www.unaff.org}}	33 min
Jathilan: Trance and Possession in Java	Documentary Short	2012	A film about Jathilan, a folk dance practiced for centuries in Java that uses the power of music and dance to channel powerful and sometimes terrifying forces.{{Cite web\|url=http://societyforvisualanthropology.org/mediafestival/jathilan-trance-and-possession-in-java/\|title=Jathilan: Trance and Possession in Java\|access-date=2021-03-03\|archive-date=2017-03-05\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305142309/http://societyforvisualanthropology.org/mediafestival/jathilan-trance-and-possession-in-java/\|url-status=dead}}	27 min
Ngaben: Emotion and Restraint in a Balinese Heart	Documentary Short	2012	A film about the Balinese funerary ritual called Ngaben.{{Cite web\|url=http://www.ngabenfilm.com/\|title=Ngaben: Emotion and Restraint in a Balinese Heart \| A short documentary film takes an impressionistic look at a Balinese funeral ritual through the eyes of a mourning son\|website=www.ngabenfilm.com}}	27 min
Memory of My Face	Documentary Short	2011	Part of the documentary series Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 1, Psychotic Disorders.{{Cite web \|url=http://www.afflictionsfilmseries.com/ \|title=Afflictions: Culture & Mental Illness in Indonesia Home Page \|access-date=2012-05-04 \|archive-date=2012-08-18 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818031253/http://www.afflictionsfilmseries.com/ \|url-status=bot: unknown }} The film follows Bambang Rudjito and illustrates how the residues of colonialism and the pervasive influence of globalization affects the subjective experience of mental illness.[https://archive.today/20120913003421/http://www.tribecafilminstitute.org/filmmakers/reframe/news/147512795.html]	22 min
Ritual Burdens	Documentary Short	2011	Part of the documentary series Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 1, Psychotic Disorders. The film follows Ni Ketut Kasih and questions how communal spiritual obligations may be folded into personal schemas of stress to trigger episodes of mental illness {{Cite web \|url=http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/clinicalethno/category/uncategorized/page/2/ \|title=Archived copy \|access-date=2012-05-07 \|archive-date=2012-07-08 \|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708102637/http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/clinicalethno/category/uncategorized/page/2/ \|url-status=dead }}	25 min
Kites and Monsters	Documentary Short	2011	Part of the documentary series Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 1, Psychotic Disorders. The film follows Wayan Yoga from boyhood to manhood and discovers the aspects of culture that may guide developmental neuropsychiatric processes.	22 min
Shadows and Illuminations	Documentary Short	2010	Part of the documentary series Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 1, Psychotic Disorders. The film follows Nyoman Kereta and explores how non-normative mental events and behavior, including auditory and visual hallucinations, can be understood or interpreted in multiple ways.{{Cite web\|url=https://isr.umich.edu/news-events/news-releases/\|title=Institute for Social Research\|website=Institute for Social Research}}{{failed verification\|date=May 2023}}	35 min
The Bird Dancer	Documentary Short	2010	Part of the documentary series Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 1, Psychotic Disorders. The film follows Gusti Ayu Suartini and focuses on the social stigma of neuropsychiatric disorder and the human suffering it entails.{{cite journal\|doi=10.1111/j.1548-1433.2011.01382.x \| volume=113 \| title=Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia [The Bird Dancer, 40 min.; Family Victim, 38 min.; Shadows and Illuminations, 35 min.] by Robert Lemelson \| journal=American Anthropologist \| pages=655–656 \| last1 = Nakamura \| first1 = Karen\| year=2011 \| issue=4 }}	40 min
Family Victim	Documentary Short	2010	Part of the documentary series Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 1, Psychotic Disorders. The film follows Estu Wardhani and examines the bi-directional influences{{technical inline\|date=May 2023}} between an individual considered to have a disruptive or troublesome personality and his social world.	38 min
40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy	Documentary Feature	2009	The first documentary to explore the personal effects of the mass killings 500,000 to over a million people in Indonesia in 1965–66. The film follows the testimonies of four individuals and their families.{{cite web \|url=http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/vicindonblog/2009/07/40_years_of_silence.html \|title=Adrian Vickers' Indonesia blog \|website=blogs.usyd.edu.au \|url-status=dead \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090810051116/http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/vicindonblog/2009/07/40_years_of_silence.html \|archive-date=2009-08-10}}	96 min
Movements and Madness	Documentary feature	2006	The story of an anthropologist's search to understand a person with a severe neuropsychiatric disorder in rural Indonesia, and the ethical dilemmas involved when a research scientist attempts to aid his subject.http://deadcenter.bside.com/2007/films/movementsandmadnessgustiayu_deadcenter {{Dead link\|date=March 2022}}	71 min

Select Journal Articles

{{cite journal | last1 = Lemelson | first1 = R. | last2 = Tucker | first2 = A. | year = 2015 | title = Steps Toward an Integration of Psychological and Visual Anthropology: Issues Raised in the Production of the Film Series Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia | journal = Ethos | volume = 43 | issue = 1| pages = 6–39 | doi=10.1111/etho.12070}}
{{cite journal | last1 = Lemelson | first1 = R | last2 = Suryani | first2 = L.K | year = 2006 | title = Cultural Formulation of Psychiatric Diagnoses: The Spirits, Penyakit Ngeb and the Social Suppression of Memory: A Complex Clinical Case from Bali | journal = Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry | volume = 30 | issue = 3| pages = 389–413 | doi=10.1007/s11013-006-9026-y| pmid = 17089200 | s2cid = 22024051 }}
{{cite journal | last1 = Lemelson | first1 = R | year = 2004 | title = Traditional Healing and its Discontents: Efficacy and Traditional Therapies of Neuropsychiatric Disorders in Bali | journal = Medical Anthropology Quarterly | volume = 18 | issue = 1| pages = 48–76 | doi=10.1525/maq.2004.18.1.48| pmid = 15098427 }}
{{cite journal | last1 = Lemelson | first1 = R | year = 2003 | title = Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Bali: The Cultural Shaping of a Neuropsychiatric Disorder | journal = Transcultural Psychiatry | volume = 4 | issue = 30| pages = 377–408 | doi = 10.1177/13634615030403004 | pmid = 14649851 | s2cid = 36844273 }}

Select Book Chapters

"Afflictions: Psychopathology and Recovery in a Cultural Context" by Lemelson, R., and Tucker, A., in Kirmayer, L., Lemelson, R., and Cummings, C. eds. in Revisioning psychiatry: Cultural Phenomenology, Critical Neuroscience and Global Mental Health. 483–514. 2015.
"Fear and Silence in Burma and Indonesia: Comparing Two National Tragedies and Two Individual Outcomes of Trauma" by Lemelson, R., Thein-Lemelson, S. in Ataria, Y., Gurevitz, D., Pedaya, H., and Neria, Y. eds. in Interdisciplinary Handbook of Trauma and Culture. 2016.
"Anak PKI!: Multigenerational Trauma in a Javanese boy" by Lemelson, R., Ng, Emily and Supartini, N. in Worthman, C., Plotsky, P., Schecter, D. and Cummings C. Formative Experiences: The Interaction of Caregiving, Culture, and Developmental Psychobiology Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010
"Children and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" by Lemelson, R. in Shweder, R. et al. Ed. Chicago Companion to the Child. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009.
"Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Traditional Healing in Indonesia: The Question of Efficacy" by Lemelson, R. in Maldonado, M. ed. Psychiatrists and Traditional Healers: Unwitting Partners in Global Mental Health. London, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
"Trauma in Context: Integrating Biological, Clinical and Cultural Perspectives" by Lemelson, R., Kirmayer, L, Barad, M. in Kirmayer, L, Lemelson, R., Barad, M. eds. Understanding Trauma: Integrating Cultural, Psychological and Biological Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
"Epilogue: Trauma and the Vicissitudes of Interdisciplinary Integration" by Kirmayer, L, Lemelson, R., Barad, M. in Kirmayer, L, Lemelson, R., Barad, M. eds. Understanding Trauma: Integrating Cultural, Psychological and Biological Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2007

Edited Volumes

Understanding Trauma: Integrating Cultural, Psychological and Biological Perspectives. Kirmayer, L, Lemelson, R., Barad, M. eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Re-Visioning Psychiatry: Cultural Phenomenology, Critical Neuroscience and Global Mental Health. Kirmayer, L, Lemelson, R., Cummings,C. eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.]

Books

Afflictions: Steps Toward A Visual Psychological Anthropology. Lemelson, R. Tucker, A. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2017.]

References

External links

{{IMDb name|3199649}}
[http://www.40yearsofsilence.com 40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy (Official Website)]
[http://www.afflictionsfilmseries.com Afflictions: Culture & Mental Illness in Indonesia Film Series (Official Website)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818031253/http://www.afflictionsfilmseries.com/ |date=2012-08-18 }}
[http://www.jathilanfilm.com Jathilan: Trance and Possession in Java (Official Website)]
[http://www.der.org/films/filmmakers/robert-lemelson.html Documentary Educational Resources (Educational Distributor's Website)]
[http://www.anthro.ucla.edu/faculty/robert-lemelson UCLA Department of Anthropology faculty page]
[http://www.thefpr.org/ The Foundation for Psychocultural Research]

Category:Visual anthropologists

Category:American documentary filmmakers

Category:American philanthropists

Category:Psychological anthropologists

Category:American anthropologists

Category:University of Chicago alumni

Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni

Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)