Film list

[the-bastard-sings-the-sweetest-song--Film-image]
The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song 2012 71'
    Directed by Christy Garland .
'The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song', using direct cinema style, introduces us to the Smith family in Georgetown, Guyana, where both Muscle, and his mother Mary, each struggle to fight the family
South America Elderly people Family / Kinship Intergenerational relations
[born--Film-image]
Born 2008 56'
    Directed by Andy Lawrence Judith Kurutuac .
*Our hope is to create a magical-real environment in which to go beyond the limits of our historical perspective on childbirth and its culturally bound rites, and to demonstrate an emotionally
British-Irish Isles Health / Health care / Healing Family / Kinship Children / Young people
[breaking-the-yard--Film-image]
Breaking the Yard 2018 21'
  Directed by Richard Werbner .
"Breaking-the-Yard" documents the court hearings and troubled affairs of a quarrelsome young couple, a stay-at-home farmer and his police constable, town-savvy wife. They claim to be still
Southern Africa Family / Kinship Gender Role and Identity Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy Love Marriage
[caught-in-between--Film-image]
Caught in Between 2016 56'
  Directed by Richard Werbner .
The focus is on a leading village elder, John Lelatlhego, a retired Human Resources administrator trained in settling disputes in the South African mines. John gets entangled in the long troubled
Southern Africa Family / Kinship Gender Role and Identity Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy Love Marriage
[celso-and-cora--Film-image]
Celso and Cora 2000 109'
    Directed by Gary Kildea .
The film is about one family who live in the slums of Manila. Gary Kildea and a Filipino collaborator enter this family's life, filming them as they eat, as they care for their children, as they work
South-East Asia Squatter Settlements / Homelessness Family / Kinship Urban
[a-colombian-family--Film-image]
A Colombian Family 2020 80'
    Main Competition Directed by Tanja Wol Sørensen .
A powerful mother-daughter drama is at the centre of this film. Rooted in disagreement—both personal and political—the film follows the consequences of a war that leaves them with an impossible
South America War / Conflict / Reconciliation Family / Kinship Gender Role and Identity Intergenerational relations Memory Migration Personal Narrative Political Activists Refugees / Displaced populations Social Conflict
[divorce-iranian-style--Film-image]
Divorce Iranian Style 1989 80'
    Directed by Kim Longinotto .
This film is set in the Family Law Courts in central Tehran. The three main characters are Jamileh who punishes her husband for beating her, Ziba, a 16 year old girl who is trying to get a divorce
Middle and Near East Marriage Gender Role and Identity Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy Family / Kinship
[dukas-dilemma--Film-image]
Duka's Dilemma 2001 87'
    Directed by Jean Lydall Kaira Strecker .
Filmmaker and anthropologist Jean Lydall has been making films with the Hamar community of southern Ethiopia since the 1970s. In 2001 she returned with her daughter and grandson to follow the
North and Northeast Africa Family / Kinship Marriage Gender Role and Identity
[every-good-marriage-begins-with-tears--Film-image]
Every Good Marriage Begins With Tears 2007 63'
    Directed by Simon Chambers .
East London Muslim girl Shahanara is changing form pink hot pants into a sari to meet her husband at the airport. She has only met him once before, when she was married in a union arranged by her
London Family / Kinship Gender Role and Identity Marriage Intergenerational relations Social Norms
[extended-family--Film-image]
Extended Family 2016 31'
    Student Directed by Ramona Sonderegger .
This films offers an intimate insight into the lives of two same-sex families who found a way to create themselves within a legal grey area in Switzerland. Swiss law bans adoption and access to
Western Europe LGBTQI* Family / Kinship Sex / Sexuality Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy
[the-guest--Film-image]
The Guest 2012 20'
    Student Directed by Kira de Hemmer Jeppesen .
Following the personal story of a Danish first-time surrogate mother, 'The Guest' explores issues of maternal bonding, modern families, relatedness, and desired control over body and mind. We follow
Scandinavia LGBTQI* Sex / Sexuality Reproduction (biology) Family / Kinship
[life-chances-four-families-in-a-greek-cypriot-village--Film-image]
Life Chances: Four Families in a Greek Cypriot Village 1974 43'
    Directed by Peter Loizos .
A careful account of social change in a prosperous Greek Cypriot village, which follows four closely related families before the Turkish made them all refugees. Their lives reflect the possibilities
South-East Europe Social Change Life Story / Life History Rural Family / Kinship
[link-up-diary--Film-image]
Link-up Diary 1997 86'
    Directed by David MacDougall .
The filmmaker goes on the road with Link-Up, an organisation which re-unites Aboriginal families separated in earlier decades by the New South Wales government. As the film shows, being reunited
Australia Resettlement Family / Kinship Collective / Community identity Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
[promise-and-unrest--Film-image]
Promise and Unrest 2010 79'
    Directed by Alan Grossman Áine O’Brien .
Separated from her daughter Gracelle at 7 months, Noemi Barredo left the Philippines for work in Malaysia before arriving in Ireland in 2000. Filmed over a five-year period, 'Promise and Unrest' is
South-East Asia British-Irish Isles Family / Kinship Labour Migration Linguistics / Language
[seed-and-earth--Film-image]
Seed and Earth 1989 36'
  Directed by Lina Fruzzetti Alfred Guzzetti Ned Johnston Ákos Östör .
Seed on Earth is a film about everyday life in rural Bangladesh (village of Janta, near Bishnupur town). It follows the daily schedule of two families and observes the complementary and difference of
South Asia Rural Family / Kinship Gender Role and Identity
[sophia-and-her-people--Film-image]
Sophia and Her People 1985 35'
  Directed by Peter Loïzos .
Sofia and her family lost their village home in 1975 when Turkey invaded Cyprus. The film, mainly set in Nicosia in 1983, shows the pressures of refugee economic recovery through shift work in a
South-East Europe Refugees / Displaced populations Social Change Family / Kinship
[totegrandfather--Film-image]
TOTE_Grandfather 2019 80'
    Main Competition Directed by María Sojob .
This film portrays an unexpected encounter between an old Tzotzil man, who is going blind, and his granddaughter, who does not remember her childhood well. The granddaughter, having grown up in the
Central America Indigenous Filmmaking Gender Role and Identity Family / Kinship Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Elderly people Love Intergenerational relations Linguistics / Language Memory
[tempus-de-baristas--Film-image]
Tempus de Baristas 1993 100'
  Directed by David MacDougall .
This film depicts the characters, and social dilemmas of three generations of Sardinian mountain shepherds. Although born roughly 20 years apart, Franchiscu (62), his son Pietro (17) and their
Western Europe Herding Social Change Family / Kinship Rural
[treasured-moments--Film-image]
Treasured Moments 2016 33'
    Student Directed by Ravi Hart Lloyd .
This is the personal story of a boy who grew up mixed in every aspect of his life, his parents, where he was from, his race. The black kid who thought that he was white. The white kid who thought
Caribbean Islands North America Family / Kinship Race / Racism / Antiracism Collective / Community identity Film / Photography / Mass media
[without-fathers-or-husbands--Film-image]
Without Fathers or Husbands 1995 26'
  Directed by Hua Cai .
The Na are an ethnic group in south-east China. Their particularity is that all the members of each household are consanguineous relatives; their social organisation is absolutely matrilineal and as
South-East Asia Family / Kinship Collective / Community identity Gender Role and Identity Sex / Sexuality
[wives--Film-image]
Wives 2017 85'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Lisbet Holtedahl .
Alhajji Ibrahim is an Islamic scholar who has served as judge at the Sultanate of Ngaoundéré in Northern Cameroon for 46 years. The film follows Alhajji during the last years of his life, focusing
West Africa Family / Kinship Everyday Life Gender Role and Identity Marriage Personal Narrative Religion / Belief / Faith Social Norms