Die Kopfjäger von Borneo is the film that marked the tragic end of one of ethnographic cinema’s true pioneers: Friedrich Dalsheim. Influenced by the visual aesthetic and narrative techniques of Robert Flaherty and Friedrich Murnau, as well as the montage theory of Sergei Eisenstein, Dalsheim’s four semi-documentary films are romanticised ethnographic works that consistently adopt the perspective of the people they depicted. His filmmaking was marked by deep collaboration with indigenous communities, following months of immersive field research. Die Kopfjäger von Borneo was no exception. Dalsheim arrived in Borneo – then a Dutch colony – without a finished script. Instead, the film’s structure took shape organically on location, in close dialogue with the Dayak people, who served as custodians of their own myths and traditions. Shot over the course of eight months, it tells the story of two young lovers from rival villages, interwoven with observational footage of the daily lives of the Dayak and the nomadic Punan peoples – the latter agreeing to appear on camera for the first time. After the international success of Die Insel der Dämonen(1933), this was the second and last collaboration between Dalsheim and Victor von Plessen, the expedition leader and the film’s co-producer. The expressionistic cinematography by Richard Angst – famous for capturing extreme landscapes in Arnold Fanck’s films – is remarkable. Yet, it was Angst who later refused to continue working with Dalsheim due to his Jewish heritage. When Nazi regulations formally banned Jews from participating in the German film industry, Dalsheim was barred from completing the editing and post-production. His name was ultimately removed from the film’s credits, and just two weeks after the Berlin premiere – financially ruined and exiled in Switzerland – he took his own life. For decades, his contributions were erased from public memory. But now, thanks to the efforts of the Deutsche Kinemathek, Friedrich Dalsheim’s name has been restored to the film’s credits, and his pioneering legacy is finally recognised.

Louise von Plessen