Sky Above and Mud Beneath
1961 documentary film by Pierre Dominique Gaisseau
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sky Above and Mud Beneath (French: Le Ciel et la boue, lit. 'the sky and the mud'), also released as The Sky Above –The Mud Below,[2] is a 1961 French documentary film. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature[3][4] and was entered into the 1961 Cannes Film Festival.[5]
- Arthur Cohn
- René Lafuite
- Jean Bardes-Pages
- Gilbert Sarthre
| Sky Above and Mud Beneath | |
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Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Pierre Dominique Gaisseau |
| Written by | Pierre Dominique Gaisseau |
| Produced by |
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| Cinematography |
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| Edited by | Georges Arnstam |
| Distributed by | The Rank Organisation (France) |
Release date |
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Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Box office | $1.1 million (US/Canada)[1] |
The film documented a 7-month, thousand-mile Franco-Dutch expedition led by Pierre-Dominique Gaisseau, into uncharted territories of what was then Netherlands New Guinea.[2] The expedition began in the northern region of the Asmat. The group interacted with tribes of cannibals, headhunters and Pygmies; battled leeches, hunger, and exhaustion; and “discovered” and named the Princess Marijke River, named after Princess Maria Christina (Marijke) of the Netherlands.[6]
After its Academy Award win, Embassy Pictures released The Sky Above –The Mud Below in the United States in 1962.[7]
Cast
- Pierre-Dominique Gaisseau - team leader
- Gérard Delloye - co-leader
- Herve de Maigret - radio operator
- Jan Sneep - liaison officer
- Tony Saulnier-Ciolkkowski- photographer
- William Peacock - Narrator (English version)
