Rites of Passage: Home

Maggie Steber was an only child. Madje Steber was a single parent. When Madje grew old and her dementia didn't allow her to live alone anymore, successful photojournalist Maggie took her from Texas to Miami to take care of her. Over the next few years, Maggie turned her professional eye on her own life, documenting Madje's life in an assisted living facility. The images speak to the pain of loss, the complexities of a mother-daughter relationship, and the fragility of life.

Using rare footage and interviews with leading historians, this program offers a revealing look at the ways different societies around the world and throughout history have dealt with death. Distributed by A&E Television Networks. (45 minutes) Distributed by A&E Television Networks

Much has changed in modern Ethiopia, but at least one thing remains the same: the Mursi are still among the fiercest warriors in Africa. This program, a study of life among the Mursi, features footage of a donga, a punishing yet graceful stick fighting competition through which young men display their bravery, establish their status, and perhaps even attract a young woman to marry. Mursi mysticism and faith healing are also considered, as well as customs such as the use of large ceramic lip disks by women as symbols of beauty and wealth.

This program documents the ritual of female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision, practiced among some African groups; explores its roots in myth; and discusses movements under way to ban the practice. Interviews with anti-circumcision activists, including medical personnel, describe the health ramifications, including hemorrhage, infection, and painful sex. Victims discuss both the physical and emotional pain of circumcision, and both males and females discuss why they support or reject circumcision as a valid cultural practice. Graphic scenes of an actual female circumcision are shown.