A primer of Vincent Carelli's early activities, Video in the Villages (1989, 10 mins) examines how several Amazonian groups (Nambiquara, Gavião, Tikina, and Kayapó) have engaged video as a potent tool in their campaign for political and ethnic affirmation. Advancing a dramatic ethnography, Carelli went on to create a sumptuous trilogy that beautifully shows Amazonian people confronting the complexities of media as it captures culture. In The Spirit of TV (1990, 18 mins), the Waiãpi determine that video can host the memories of ancestors and serve as a reservoir for community history. This same medium, however, can also be harmful because auxiliary spirits reside within the TV screen. A mesmerizing cultural exchange occurs in Meeting Ancestors (1993, 22 mins) when Chief Wai-Wai of the Waiãpi views footage of the Zo'é, a tribe sharing a similar language, and then crosses the "Big River" for a visit. We Gather As a Family (1993, 32 mins) finds the chief of the Parakatêjê musing over the erosion of cultural integrity and, through an exchange with the more traditional Krahô, becoming inspired to reinvigorate tribal rites.