An Argument About a Marriage (1969) dir. John Marshall

In 1958, with assistance from the Marshalls, a group of Ju, hoansi returned home to Nyae Nyae after several years as unpaid, captive laborers on a farm. One woman, whose husband had escaped the farm and left her behind, had a child with another man. Upon the group s return to Nyae Nyae, an angry argument broke out over the matter. An Argument About a Marriage raises questions about the impact of European farms on the economic and the social life of the Ju, hoansi; about the complexities of marriage rules and brideservice in their traditional kinship system; and about the nature of conflict and its mediation among the Ju, hoansi. Despite the interpersonal anger, we see how oma s skillful intervention prevents this particular conflict from escalating to violence.