Keep the River on Your Right - A Modern Cannibal Tale (2000)

78% of critics liked it
(50 reviews)
48% of users liked it
(967 ratings)

In 1955, artist, author, and anthropologist Tobias Schneebaum fulfilled a life-long dream by visiting the jungles of Peru. Seven months later, the New York native returned with remarkable tales of living with a tribe of cannibals, watching their murderous raids on other tribes, and even eating human… More In 1955, artist, author, and anthropologist Tobias Schneebaum fulfilled a life-long dream by visiting the jungles of Peru. Seven months later, the New York native returned with remarkable tales of living with a tribe of cannibals, watching their murderous raids on other tribes, and even eating human flesh with them. In 1999, Schneebaum returned to Peru at the age of 78 with a camera crew in tow in hopes of finding the cannibals he lived with many years before. While Schneebaum prepares for his journey, he lectures on the rituals and lifestyles of indigenous peoples, shares his views on homosexuality and open marriage among the natives of West Papua (in one sequence, Schneebaum, who is gay, is reunited with a tribesman who became his lover), and shows footage from his expedition with the Asmat people, who are believed to have attacked and eaten Michael Rockefeller in 1961. Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale was shown at the 2000 L.A. Independent Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: David Shapiro, Laurie Gwen Shapiro
Written By: David Shapiro, Laurie Gwen Shapiro
Genres: Documentary, Special Interest

In Theaters: Apr 15, 2000 Wide
On DVD: Oct 29, 2002
Studio: IFC Films

Critic Reviews

Gary Dowell, Dallas Morning News
A fascinating if somewhat unfocused documentary.
Louis B. Parks, Houston Chronicle
Schneebaum, a dull and helpless-looking nonentity at first glance, proves to be an amazingly courageous, inquisitive, remarkable man.
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
May be a film of missed opportunities and unanswered questions, but it has an unsinkable man at its center who is never less than transfixing.
, Boston Globe
There's no denying the warmth of Schneebaum's encounters, or his engaging nature. Or the fact that you've never seen a documentary quite like this one, and aren't likely to again.
Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News
Makes for fascinating, compelling viewing.
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
What begins as a curious document, then, evolves into something more.
Jurgen Fauth, About.com
A moving portrait of an astounding life.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
... takes you to where Tobias Schneebaum has been and in an engrossing manner lets you see why he went there.
Phil Hall, Film Threat
Intriguing if somewhat leisurely documentary on anthropologist/artist Tobias Schneebaum.
Steven Mikulan, L.A. Weekly
The Shapiros ... ultimately reveal a frail but mentally robust old man whose gnawing hunger for knowledge led him to shun a safe, comfortable career in art for a series of radically transformative experiences at the world's edges.
Luisa F. Ribeiro, Boxoffice Magazine
An engaging testimony to the courage of one man's quest into the unknown.
Duane Dudek, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Along the way, Schneebaum reverts from a lonely old man singing for his supper in the salons of New York to the adventurer he once was and apparently will always be. And this metamorphosis is the film's real discovery.
Robert W. Butler, Kansas City Star
What's really intriguing is the journey into a man's heart and intellect.

Read all 13 critic reviews

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Cast

Mike Douglas

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