The purpose of this study guide is to provide students of anthropology with an ethnographic accompaniment to Robert Gardiner's film about the Dani tribesmen, "Dead Birds." The first section offers an ethnographic profile of Dani culture, describing its most important features. These include: 1) their material culture, covering matters like shelter, food, tools, weapons, and trade; 2) domestic groupings and life cycles, including marriage, child training, life stages, and descent groups; 3) conflict, involving feuding and warfare; and 4) religion. Section two is an account by the film maker of the making of the film and his feelings about it. The final section gives a detailed description of the film, containing a narration by Gardiner which constitutes a libretto to be used while viewing "Dead Birds." Each of the 663 shots in the film has been numbered and annotated. A set of ethnographic notes by Karl Heider and a brief bibliography are also included. (Author/LB)