RAI Film Admin

ABU 2017 80'

RAI Basil Wright Directed by Arshad Khan .

Arshad always knew he was different. Soon after emigrating from Pakistan to Canada with his family, Arshad realized he was gay. With Abu, Arshad tells his own story self discovery at a cultural

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AWAKE, A Dream from Standing Rock 2017 89'

RAI Basil Wright Directed by Josh Fox James Spione Myron Dewey .

The native-led resistance to the construction of a pipeline across the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, North Dakota, captured the world’s attention. Awake tells the story of the defiant Water

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About Love on a Small Island 2018 26'

Directed by Elaheh Habibi .

The film About Love on a Small Island is a participatory and reflexive ethnographic film exploring the meaning of love among a Sunni Muslim community in an Iranian village on Qeshm Island. Following

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Abraham and Sarah II. Hosting the Gundagundo Pilgrims 2019 41'

Directed by Tesfahun Haddis .

The film is part of the Guardians of Productive Landscapes series and a sequel to 'Abraham and Sarah I: Creators of a productive landscape'. A Tigrean farmer and his wife, who host pilgrims to a

North and Northeast Africa Agriculture / Farming Food / Water Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage

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Abraham and Sarah. Creators of a productive landscape. 2017 53'

Directed by Ivo Strecker .

In the highlands of Tigray - northern Ethiopia - on the edge of the escarpment that descends steeply to the Danakil dessert, Hagos Mashisho and Desta Gidey have toiled and struggled for years to turn

North and Northeast Africa Rural Agriculture / Farming

The Absence of Apricots 2018 49'

Student Directed by Daniel Asadi Faezi .

In the Hunza Valley in the northern Pakistan there is a magnificent turquoise lake. But the lake hasn’t been always there: it is the result of a massive landslide that blocked a river, causing

South Asia Environment Memory Development projects Resettlement

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Across the Border: Afghan Musicians exiled in Peshawar 2008 54'

Directed by John Baily .

It is the year 2000 and most of Afghanistan is under the control of the Taliban. Hearing that many of Afghanistain’s musicians are now in exile across the border in Pakistan, ethnomusicologist John

South Asia Refugees / Displaced populations Music / Ethnomusicology Religion / Belief / Faith

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Across the Tracks - The Vlach Gypsies in Hungary 1988 52'

Directed by John Blake .

*'Across the Tracks' is a gripping film for the general viewer. It is beautifully filmed in observational style (lingering scenes of muddy courtyards) with enough subtitled interview material to

Central Europe Animals Labour Travellers / Roma

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Adhiambo - Born in the Evening 2001 66'

Directed by Ruth Prince Wenzel Geißler Ruth Tuchtenhagen .

‘Adhiambo’ means ‘the one born in the evening’ in the language of the Luo of western Kenya. The film follows NyaSeme, a married mother and grandmother in her late 30s, during the last month

East Africa Children / Young people Health / Health care / Healing

Aeroplane Dance 1994 58'

Directed by Trevor Graham .

December 1942: US bomber ‘Little Eva’ was returning to base after a bombing raid over New Guinea. It hit a storm and crashed at Moonlight Creek in Australia’s far north. Aeroplane Dance

Australia Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples War / Conflict / Reconciliation Memory

Afghan Exodus 1980 52'

Directed by André Singer .

When Granada Television visited Afghanistan to make the award-winning Disappearing World 'The Kirghiz', they were a proud, independent, nomadic people who made their living by rearing herds of yaks

South Asia Refugees / Displaced populations War / Conflict / Reconciliation Migration

After Prayers 2018 61'

Directed by Simone Mestroni .

The story of Kashmir's conflict narrated through various life stories.

After the Silence 2018 28'

Material Culture Directed by Natalie Cubides-Brady .

An affecting portrait of a small town on the Magdalena River in Colombia during Day of the Dead, exploring the spiritual impact of the forced disappearances that became endemic during the nation’s

Agave is Life 2014 59'

Directed by Meredith Dreiss David Brown .

Agave is Life is a documentary film about mankind’s 10,000 year-long symbiotic alliance with the marvelous agave plant, from which tequila, Mexico’s iconic distilled spirit, is derived. The

Central America Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany Food History

The Age of Reason 2004 87'

Directed by David MacDougall .

In this fifth and final film in the Doon School quintet, MacDougall focuses on the life of one student whom he discovers at the school. The film was made in parallel with 'The New Boys' and

South Asia Children / Young people Education / Knowledge Transmission Informant-researcher relationship

The Ainu Bear Ceremony 1931 27'

Directed by Neil G. Munro .

The RAI has reedited the original film of this ceremony among the Ainu people of Japan. In the bear ceremony, now no longer performed, a specially reared bear was reverently killed and its flesh and

Central Asia and Far East Ritual Animals Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples

The Albanians of Rrogam 1991 52'

Directed by David Wason .

With the fall of the Stalinist regime in Albania, one of the poorest countries in Europe, the people of a remote mountain village, Rrogam, are faced with the dilmma of how to re-allocate the land and

South-East Europe Post-communism Social Change Land Rights Rural

All Eyez on Me! 2021 30'

Shorts Directed by Robert Weijs .

Over a period of 15 years, the filmmaker visits the Loita Maasai in Kenya, becoming close friends with brothers Lenaai and Matinkoi. Lenaai, aware of how the outside world looks at the Maasai,

All God's Children 2022 67'

Werbner Award Directed by Robert Lemelson Chisako Yokoyama Adair .

Well over half a million children in Indonesia are on the autism spectrum and have varying difficulty with social interaction and communication. Idris is a nonverbal autistic boy living in rural Java

All that Glitters 2003 32'

Directed by Irene Petropoulou .

For the people of Olympos, a small mountain village on the Greek island of Carpathos, preserving tradition is of great importance, not least as a source of income. The parading 'brides' of the Virgin

South-East Europe Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage Intergenerational relations Ritual

Ama-san 2016 113'

RAI Basil Wright Directed by Cláudia Varejão .

A dive, the noon sunlight cuts through the water. The air in both lungs will have to be enough to rip the abalone from the rocks at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. With no aid from air tanks or any

Amazonimations 2018 7'

Shorts Directed by Camilla Morelli Sophie Marsh .

A compilation of three animated films written, voiced and illustrated by the Matses people of the Amazon rainforest, on the Peru-Brazil frontier. Made in collaboration with an indigenous artist, a

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Amir - An Afghan Refugee Musician's Life in Peshavar, Pakistan 1985 52'

Directed by John Baily .

The film investigates and portrays the life of Afghan refugees living in and around the city of Peshawar in northern Pakistan through the experiences of the musician Amir. The aspirations of Afghan

South Asia Music / Ethnomusicology Refugees / Displaced populations

Andrè Singer in conversation '

Talks
.

André and Nándi 2000 30'

Directed by Charlotte Grégoire .

Hungarian-born André Reinitz only discovered his Jewish identity when he moved to Brussels at the age of ten. Since then, in spite of the silence of his parents, he has become involved in the Jewish

Western Europe Eastern Europe and Baltic States Religion / Belief / Faith Music / Ethnomusicology Life Story / Life History

Animation 2023 60'

Special Programmes
Animation .

Screening online 3-31 March, and at Watershed (Bristol, UK) 25 March, 17:00-18:00

Anshan Diaries 2022 27'

Student Directed by Xiuzhi Dong .

Director Charles Xiuzhi Dong uses real family life as its backdrop. Casting his grandpa he investigates and retraces his family saga spanning three decades of Chinese post-cultural revolution history.

Anthropology, Creative Practice and Ethnography '

Talks
.

Anti-Racist Documentary Filmmaking Workshop '

Talks
Convened by Elena Guzman Miasarah Lai .

This workshop offers fundamental strategies for anti-racist documentary storytelling from concept to production. The need for anti-racist filmmaking has reverberated throughout the film industry with

Arandu - Listen to the Weather 2023 '

Special Programmes
.

A curated programme streaming online 3-31 March 2023. Click here to buy an online festival pass. Live in Bristol 22-25 March 2023. At ICA (London), Sunday 19 March 2023, 18:15 The aim of ARANDU -

The Archipelago 2015 41'

RAI Basil Wright Directed by Benjamin Huguet .

The Faroe Islands: a remote group of islands, battered by the ever-changing weather patterns of the North Atlantic. For centuries, the Faroese have lived proudly off the natural resources that

Archival resources and Ethnographic Film '

Workshop
Convened by Caterina Sartori .

This session brings together archivists and professionals who are involved in the preservation, cataloguing and digitisation of archival film and photographic material; and artists and ethnographers

Are You Listening! 2012 90'

Directed by Kamar Ahmad Simon Sara Afreen .

By the coastal belts of Bangladesh, in a small village named Sutarkhali, Rakhi, 27, lives with her husband Soumen, 32, and their 6 year-old son Rahul. Fighting against all the odds of the woods,

South Asia Environment Disasters Refugees / Displaced populations Development projects

Ariella Aïsha Azoulay 2023 '

Special Programmes
.

Arnav At Six 2012 28'

Directed by David MacDougall .

Filmed as a collaborative project with Arnav Koshy in 2008, this film explores the mind and activities of an intelligent and observant child of six. Arnav is fascinated by the geology, plant-life,

South Asia Children / Young people Education / Knowledge Transmission

The Art Of Moving 2016 88'

Directed by Liliana Marinho de Sousa .

Daya Al-Taseh, a video activist group made up of 4 Syrian friends, are producing anti-ISIS satirical videos in Gaziantep, a city in south-eastern Turkey. Despite being threatened, the group doesn’t

The Art of Andrew Omoding 2016 9'

Directed by Trevor H. J. Marchand .

Andrew Omoding is a Ugandan-British artist. Andrew enters into partnership with his materials, allowing their sensible properties to guide his exploratory gestures and fingerwork. In stitching and

The Art of Regret 2007 60'

Directed by Judith MacDougall .

Photography is known in China as the “Art of Regret”. In the rapidly changing city of Kunming, people are ambivalent about whether they want photography to be a medium of preservation and

South-East Asia Material Culture Film / Photography / Mass media

Artists’ Films and Ethnography '

Workshop
Convened by Marko Ray Wilkinson Al Cameron Barbara Knorpp .

Practitioners of ethnography and art have crossed paths multiple times in the 20th and 21st centuries - sometimes viewing each other with enthusiasm, sometimes suspicion. This programme consists

As Aye, 2022 26'

Student Directed by Sam Kenyon .

As Aye, is a fragment of correspondence with author and storyteller, Jess Smith, and with the ‘absent presence’ of Scottish Travellers in the archive and the landscape. Drawing on the memory and

Asante Market Women 1982 52'

Directed by Claudia Milne .

As retailers, wholesalers, and negotiators, Asante women of Ghana dominate the huge Kumasi Central Market amid the laughter, argument, colour and music. The crew of this Disappearing World film have

West Africa Marriage Trade Gender Role and Identity

At Low Tide 2016 63'

Directed by Anna Grimshaw .

Every day, carrying the simplest of tools, diggers across coastal Maine set out at low tide to dig for clams on the wide mud flats that stretch far into the bay. It is backbreaking work. But it has

North America Material Culture Labour Hunting / Gathering / Fishing

Atieno 2018 64'

Directed by June Ndinya Effie Awino Ruth Njoki Lavine Atieno Dorcas Akin .

Atieno is a collaborative fiction film scripted, acted and directed by DreamGirls, a group of adolescent girls and young women from Nairobi and Kisumu. The film tells of Atieno, a 16 year old girl

East Africa Health / Healthcare / Healing Children / Young people Gender Role and Identity Ethnofiction Dance / Theatre / Performance Participatory / Collaborative methods Sex / Sexuality

Authors at the Festival & Reception '

Gala event
Convened by Paul Henley .

A number of authors attending the Festival will present their books in the course of a Drinks Reception to which all Festival pass holders are cordially invited. Copies of the books will also be

Autumn’s Work 2013 47'

Directed by Anna Grimshaw .

"Autumn’s Work" follows Bill Coperthwaite as he prepares for winter. Wrestling with a large felled tree amidst its vast tangle of branches, Bill slowly and methodically breaks it down

North America Alternative culture Rural Everyday Life Art / Artists / Artisans

Awards Ceremony 120'

Gala event
Convened by Royal Anthropological Institute .

Join us to close the 16th RAI Film Festival as we announce the winners of this year's prizes and awards.

Awareness 2011 67'

Directed by David MacDougall Judith MacDougall .

Filmed in South India, Andhra Pradesh, at Rishi Valley School, founded by the 20th Century Indian thinker Krishnamurti, 'Awareness' explores the sensibilities of two groups of young Indian teenagers,

South Asia Education / Knowledge transmission Children / Young people

Ayouni 2020 75'

Directed by Yasmin Fedda .

Bassel was a successful open source developer and hacker in Damascus. Paolo was a well-known priest based in Mar Musa monastery. Both men were active in the 2011 Syrian revolution, and witnesses to

Middle and Near East War / Conflict / Reconciliation Memory Political Activists

Film list