Film list

#deaftravel: Deaf Tourism in Bali 2021 110'
    Disability Futures Directed by Erin Moriarty Jorn Rijckaert .
An ethnographic film that explores the experiences of deaf tourists who visited Bali in the summer of 2018. The tourists from Europe, the USA, and India joined tours guided by two deaf tour guides,
18 Feet 2015 77'
  Directed by Renjith Kuzhur .
Karinthalakoottam is an indigenous band that propagates the music of soul to connect people with a sense of historic resolution. 18 feet symbolizes the holy distance dalits, the downtrodden, were to
The 18-Year-Old Assembly Line 2016 30'
  Directed by Luojunnan Yin .
We happened to make friends with this group of factory workers in the "post-90s" generation while we were working on another projects. We were quite fascinated by many things that we
37 Uses for a Dead Sheep 2006 85'
    Directed by Ben Hopkins .
The Pamir Kirghiz are a tribe of some 2,000 people from the Pamir region of Central Asia. For the last 27 years they have lived in exile in Eastern Turkey. In 2005 an Anglo-Turkish film crew arrives
Middle and Near East Film / Photography / Mass media Animals Migration
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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
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
  .
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
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
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
BE' JAM BE the never ending song 2017 85'
    Directed by Cyprien Ponson Caroline Parietti .
In Sarawak (Borneo), “the ones who live upstream” are the first affected by deforestation. The Penan, (ex) nomadic hunters, must figure out how to go on living when one’s entire world is being
BROKEN SKIN 2018 24'
    Directed by Lidija Burcak .
An emotionally charged poetic encounter between the filmmaker and other psoriasis sufferers, exploring skin as a metaphor of strength, belief, belonging and alienation.
Ballad for Syria 2017 49'
    Directed by Eda Elif Tibet Maisa Al Hafez .
A musical documentary about Maisa Alhafez, a musician and a Syrian refugee living in Istanbul. Separated from many of her loved ones, she builds a multicultural community: “The Oriental Istanbul Mosaic Choir”.
Ballad on the Shore 2017 98'
    Intangible Culture Directed by Chi-hang Ma .
On the small isle of Tap Mun, Hong Kong, veteran fishermen sing ballads with pitches and tones that alternate and repeat themselves as if they were synchronising with the ocean waves. But as fewer
Hong Kong Hunting / Gathering / Fishing Music / Ethnomusicology
Barbara and Her Friends in Candombleland 1997 52'
    Directed by Sylvie Timbert Carmen Opipari .
In the divine Afro Brazilian cult Candomble is an initiation religion centred around possession. The filmmakers concentrate on children who introduce and guide us to this world. The children play
South America Children / Young people Dance / Theatre / Performance Possession Ritual
Bariz (Paris) Street Camp Days 2020 69'
    Werbner Award Directed by Nicolas Jaoul .
Summer 2015. La Chapelle neighbourhood, Paris. Hundreds of exiled people from East Africa survive on the streets, chased violently by the police, yet seeking to defend their rights as asylum seekers.
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
Bath People 2015 60'
    Special Interest Directed by Stefania Bona Francesca Scalisi .
A small red-brick building carrying a big neon sign: "bagni". This is the last public baths in a city where everybody can take a shower in their own home. It is a microcosm of people's
Batusha's House 2016 70'
  Directed by Tino Glimmann Jan Gollob .
KADRI BATUSHA has been building his tremendous house in the outskirts of Prishtina (Kosovo) for 15 years without any plans or permits. The architecture of this enormous building, with its towers,
Bearing 2021 29'
    Shorts Directed by Rosie Reed Hillman .
The everyday frustrations, heartache and joy of early motherhood are revealed through intimate, observational vignettes, offering a frank and raw account of the filmmaker’s life as a new mum over
Beats of the Antonov 2014 68'
    Global Racialisations Directed by Hajooj Kuka .
Sudan has been in an almost constant state of civil war since it achieved independence in 1956, and it split into a pair of sovereign states in 2011. On the border between the two, Russian-made
Belle River 2022 11'
    Shorts Directed by Guillaume Fournier Samuel Matteau Yannick Nolin .
It is 2019. Spring flooding in Mississippi hits record highs. In Louisiana, the residents of Pierre-Part are preparing for the worst. Barring an unexpected turn of events, local authorities will soon
Benin Kingship Rituals 1963 20'
    Directed by Frank Speed Ray Bradbury .
Until it was conquered by the British in 1897, the city of Benin, in what is now Nigeria, was the centre of a powerful kingdom. Its rulers, the Obas of Benin, were mysterious, secluded figures who
West Africa Ritual Dance / Theatre / Performance History
Between Islam and the Sacred Forest 2017 52'
    Directed by Martin Gruber Frank Seidel .
An investigation into the rituals in a small village on the coast of Guinea, West Africa to commemorate a recently deceased woman (a Muslim celebration of the 40th day after death conducted by a
Between Jirina and Anna 2015 5'
  Directed by Tereza Stehlikova .
My grandmother Jirina explains the history of a traditional costume that her own mother made. As Jirina's great granddaughter Anna tries the dress on, assisted by her own mother and grandmother, the
Between Memories 2015 34'
    Directed by Martha-Cecilia Dietrich .
Eudosia is still searching for her husband’s remains in the highlands of Ayacucho; Lucero has been in prison for 25 years now for the crime of terrorism against the Peruvian state; since 2009 the
South America Memory War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Between two Villages 2003 94'
    Directed by Muriel Jaquerod Eduardo Saraiva Pereira .
Between two Villages tells the story of Aldeia da Luz, population of 330, bound to disappear with the construction of the Alqueva dam in the south of Portugal. A new village is being built a few
Western Mediterranean Resettlement Development projects Infrastructure / Transport
Beyond Life - Cooling and Cleansing, in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania 2018 25'
    Directed by Frode Storaas Knut Chr. Myhre Myhre .
On the rural slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, a young man takes his own life, leaving a wife and small children behind. On the third day after his burial, a ceremony is conducted to cool and cleanse the
Beyond observation '
Talks
  .
Beyond observation: A history of authorship in ethnographic film. A discussion with Paul Henley. More than just introducing the best in new ethnographic films, the RAI FILM Festival also aims to take
Bill Reid Remembers 2021 24'
    Lifetime Achievement Award - Alanis Obomsawin Directed by Alanis Obomsawin .
Bill Reid Remembers is a beautiful tribute from Alanis Obomsawin to her friend’s remarkable life and rich legacy. Despite spending his early life away from his nation’s culture, renowned Haida
Biographies of Struggle 2015 43'
  Directed by Matteo Saltalippi Greca Campus .
Biographies of Struggle is a documentary analysing the longest steelworkers' strike in Italy since the last wave of labour unrest in the 80s. The Terni ThyssenKrupp factory threatened by 550 job cuts
Black Mountain 2008 84'
    Directed by Charlotte Whitby-Coles Amin Hajee .
A once unremarkable site of multi-faith pilgrimage to a Sufi Saint has been transformed and its local history rewritten - the film documents the journey of Charlotte, a student undertaking her PhD
South Asia Religion / Belief / Faith Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage Inter-religious relations
The Block 2016 60'
    Student Directed by Maria Șalaru .
From neighbourly disputes over garlic-heavy cooking to memories of Ceaușescu’s heatless winters, "The Block" explores the rich social and material universe of a Romanian apartment
Eastern Europe and Baltic States Urban Post-communism Infrastructure / Transport
The Blooms of Benjeli: Technology and Gender in West African Ironmaking 1997 29'
    Directed by Carlyn Saltman .
The filmmaker and two historians went into the village of Banjeli in 1985 to recreate for the film the traditional iron smelting techniques (which are no longer used) of the area. By focusing on the
West Africa Art / Artists / Artisans Archival material / Museum displays History Material Culture
Body Games - Capoeira and Ancestry 2014 87'
    Student Directed by Richard Pakleppa Matthias Röhrig Assunção Christine Dettmann .
The film follows master Cobra Mansa and his friends in the search for the African roots of the Brazilian martial art Capoeira. A powerful myth links Capoeira to a legendary Angolan game called Engolo
South America Southern Africa Dance / Theatre / Performance Music / Ethnomusicology Festivals / Carnival
The Body Won't Close 2020 74'
    Main Competition Directed by Mattijs van de Port .
Our bodies are semi-permeable. All over the world, stories are being told about heroes who magically “close” their bodies, so as to become invincible. This film follows one such story, as it is
South America Essay film Gender Role and Identity Folklore Reflexivity
Bonfires 2017 6'
    Shorts Directed by Martin Bureau .
Huge bonfires are lit by Protestants in Northern Ireland on July 12 each year, as part of the celebrations of the 1690 Battle of the Boyne. They are made from wooden pallets, tires, and garbage. To
The Book of the Sea 2018 85'
    Material Culture Directed by Aleksei Vakhrushev .
An intimate look inside day-to-day life on the frozen fringe of the Bering Strait in Russia, home to the Inuit and Chukchi. We follow community leader Alexei, his wife Galya (a nurse) and their son
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
Boya Boya (Shine Shine) 2014 18'
    Directed by Karen Boswall Ruba Al Akash .
A portrait of Syrian refugee Mohammed, a 12-year-old shoe shine boy, 'Boya Boya (Shine Shine)' looks at the reality of the growing population of urban refugees from a child's point of view. While
Middle and Near East Children / Young people Refugees / Displaced populations Labour
Breaking the Chains 2015 64'
    Student Directed by Erminia Colucci .
The practice of using shackles and chains to physically restrain people with mental illness (known as pasung) is widespread in Indonesia (as in many other developing/low middle income countries) and
South-East Asia Prison Health / Health care / Healing Political Activists Development projects
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
Breeding Cells 2009 39'
    Directed by Anna Straube .
Breeding Cells is a film about a reproductive laboratory. A fertility clinic is a place where human reproduction is separated from sex and anatomized into bio/technological components. There
Western Europe Reproduction (biology) Science / Technology
The Bride of the Nile 2015 63'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Edouard Mills-Affif .
A secluded village in the Nile Delta, a traditional Egyptian family. A drama of tragic proportions is being played out. Like millions of young girls throughout the world, Heba must marry a man that
Bridewealth for a Goddess 2000 72'
    Directed by Chris Owen .
A unique insight into a secret spirit cult among the Kawelka people in the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea. After a dream, a clan leader initiates a long and complex 'work’, when he and a
Melanesia Ritual Marriage Possession
Bridging the Gap 2021 7'
    Animation Directed by Nina Ross Meg Barrett .
Aged 18, Meg started hearing a voice. She tried ignoring it, didn’t tell a soul, yet the voice grew. More abusive, more delusional and often completely out of her control. Eventually, her paranoia
Broken Gods 2019 42'
    Werbner Award Directed by Dakxinkumar Bajrange (Chhara) Alice Tilche .
Set among the Rathava and Bhil Adivasi communities of western India, Broken Gods documents the social impact of Hindu religious evangelism among India’s Indigenous groups. As Indigenous people join
Calcutta Calling 2006 16'
    Directed by André Hörmann .
“Business Process Outsourcing” is the fastest growing industry in the world. In India, approximately 350,000 people are currently working in call centres to maintain the contact between western
South Asia Labour
Camels of the Pitjantjara 1969 45'
  Directed by Roger Sandall .
From the 1920s onwards, when motor vehicles displaced camels as a mode of supply in central Australia, camels gradually went feral. As this film shows, however, in the 1960s, the Pitjantjara were
Australia Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Infrastructure / Transport Animals
Cantadoras: Musical Memories of Life and Death in Colombia 2017 70'
    Intangible Culture Directed by María Fernanda Carrillo Sánchez .
A portrait of life in rural Colombia, towards its Carribean coast, told through the words and songs of the resilient Afro-colombian singers that farm there. Through intimate interviews and the
Cara Romero: Following the Light 2022 27'
    Shorts Directed by Kaela Waldstein .
An enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Romero was raised between contrasting settings: the rural Chemehuevi reservation in Mojave Desert, CA and the urban sprawl of Houston, TX.
Careers in Ethnographic Film '
Workshop
  Convened by Ed Owles .
What do people do with a degree in visual anthropology? A panel from a variety of roles across academia, TV and independent filmmaking discuss their career paths and how their training in
Carnival King of Europe '
Workshop
  Convened by Giovanni Kezich .
European winter festival masquerades possess a number of common elements - relating to character and content as well as structure - that are astonishingly similar across great geographical distances,
Casado's Legacy 2009 49'
    Directed by Valentina Bonifacio .
For 100 years Maskoy people worked in Carlos Casado’s tannin factory. The factory, which had been founded on their land, based its production on the exploitation of local natural resources. After
South America Political Activists Labour Land Rights
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 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
Centenary of Jean Rouch '
Gala event
  Convened by Paul Henley .
After a brief introduction to the work of Jean Rouch, there will be a screening of one of his major works, "Moi, un Noir". This will be followed by a Round Table discussion and Q&A,
A Chair: in six parts 2013 42'
    Student Directed by Anna Grimshaw .
A poem about a chair. In 1960, Bill Coperthwaite bought 300 acres of wilderness in Machiasport, Maine. Influenced by the poetry of Emily Dickinson and by the back to the land movement of Scott and
North America Material Culture Alternative culture Art / Artists / Artisans
The Chalice. Of Sons and Daughters 2022 85'
    Werbner Award Directed by Catalina Tesar Dana Bunescu .
In a traditional Transylvanian Roma community, boys alone inherit the family’s badge, the tahtais (chalices), silver cups that come from their ancestors. As a result, couples often resort to sex
Cham in the Lepcha Village of Lingthem 2007 52'
    Directed by Dawa Tsering Lepcha .
Every winter, over a period of six days, the lamas of Lingthem's village monastery hold their annual cham. These dramatic ritual masked dances impart elementary Buddhist teachings while providing
South Asia Ritual Dance / Theatre / Performance Religion / Belief / Faith
Changa Revisited 2016 60'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Peter Biella Leonard Kamerling .
This is the story of Tanzania Maasai elder Toreto ole Koisenge and his passage through three decades of cultural and economic change. Seen from two points across a thirty year divide, the film uses
Chantal's Choice 1990 30'
    Directed by Priscilla Hinckley Carlyn Saltman .
Adolescents in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, create a play for their peers in Europe and the USA. They enact an African folktale about a girl who faces a painful dilemma because she is determined to stay in school.
West Africa Dance / Theatre / Performance Children / Young people Reproduction (biology)
Chasing Houses 2017 60'
    Directed by Justin Time .
The experimental road movie enters the contradictory space between home and mobility. Through the vastness of the US American West, CHASING HOUSES follows mobile homes on their journey from tear down
Chasing Shadows 2019 70'
    Werbner Award Directed by Roger Canals .
This film is an intimate portrait of the Kyangyang prophetic movement in Guinea-Bissau. The members of the movement communicate with their ancestors, who transmit messages from the high God through
The Chateau 2018 113'
    Directed by Lisbet Holtedahl .
A portrait of one of the richest Cameroonian industrialists Al Hajji Mohamadou Ousmanou Abbo. Filmed over a period of more than ten years, the red thread of the story is the construction of Al
The Child's Eye 2018 '
  Directed by David MacDougall .
This video is a series of 12 short films that are the result of ethnographic filmmaker David MacDougall’s a five-year project video workshop project with Indian children. In six workshops held in
South Asia Children / Young people Informant-researcher relationship Participatory / Collaborative methods
Chosen People 2016 18'
  Directed by Qihui Wu .
Responding to systematic racism and historical erasure, the African diapora has developed a multitude of tactics for mitigating oppressive ideological conditions. Among them, the Hebrew Israelite
Christmas at Moose Factory 1971 13'
    Lifetime Achievement Award - Alanis Obomsawin Directed by Alanis Obomsawin .
This lyrical short documentary marked the directorial debut of legendary Abenaki director Alanis Obomsawin. Filmed at a residential school in northern Ontario, it is composed entirely of drawings by
The Chronotopes of Palestine 2015 38'
  Directed by Dominika Blachnicka-Ciacek .
The Chronotopes of Palestine (38’) is a collection of five ethnographic short films, which explore different modes of remembering the homeland among three generations of exiled Polish and British
Cine Rabeca 2022 55'
  Directed by Marcia Mansu .
Time dimensions emerge from the relation between the visible and the imagined, between memory and the experience of the present. A unique place emerges through the entanglement of music and archive
Latin America Music / Ethnomusicology Art / Artists / Artisans Dance / Theatre / Performance
The Cinema Travellers 2016 96'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Shirley Abraham Amit Madheshiya .
An affectionate but melancholy ode to a vanishing phenomenon in rural India: the travelling cinema. The huge projector has been repaired countless times by its ingenious operator. The tent and screen
The City Beautiful 2003 78'
    Directed by Rahul Roy .
Sunder Nagri (Beautiful City) is a small working class colony on the margins of India’s capital city, Delhi. Most families residing here come from a community of weavers. The last ten years have
South Asia Urban Labour Socioeconomic conditions
Closing Reception & Awards Ceremony '
Gala event
  Convened by Paul Henley .
Steven Hughes, chair of the panel of judges will invite his fellow judges to announce the 2017 film prizes and to give a brief explanation of the reasons for their decision. After each prize
A Cobra 2016 19'
  Directed by Carlos Sautchuk .
What we call Amazonia is actually a diversity of environments, artifacts, actions and actors. These elements are in a constant relation of genesis, producing each other in particular places and
Collum Calling Canberra 1983 59'
    Directed by David MacDougall Judith MacDougall .
An account of Aboriginal people steering their way through the often frustrating processes of official decision-making, as it is seen from their viewpoint far away from Canberra. Gordon Smith, head
Australia Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
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
Concrete Sea 2021 15'
    Shorts Directed by Julia Naidin .
As an exercise of resistance, Sônia follows the process of destruction caused by the sea, which day by day, advances into the beach and approaches her home. She makes daily records of this process
Confluences - Emerillon of French Guiana 2007 78'
    Directed by Perle Møhl .
Like self-fulfilling prophecies, scientific reports have hitherto depicted the Emerillon of French Guiana as cultureless and doomed to disappear. With this film, an anthropologist proposes to defy
South America Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Everyday Life
Conversations with Dundiwuy Wanambi 1984 50'
    Directed by Ian Dunlop Philippa Deveson .
A series of interviews with Dundiwuy Wanambi, shot over twelve years. They reveal the struggles of one man in the face of the huge changes brought about by the coming of a mining project, and
Australia Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Health / Health care / Healing Social Change
Copperworking in Santa Clara del Cobra, Michoacán, Mexico - Artisans Facing Change 2001 52'
    Directed by Beate Engelbrecht .
Santa Clara del Cobre, a village in Mexico's province Michoacán, is well-known for its copperwork, a craft originating from pre-Spanish times. In the late 1940s the people of Santa Clara tried to
Central America Material Culture Labour Art / Artists / Artisans
Cornershop Beats 2022 8'
    Shorts Directed by Bassam Al-Khaled Abdel Malek Al Ali Saja Awad .
In a family run grocery shop in Saida, Lebanon a father and son try to make their dreams come true.
Cracks 2018 54'
  Directed by Dimitra Kofti .
Shiny supermarkets stand next to dilapidated factory buildings in the Bulgarian city of Pernik, one of the Balkans once most important industrial areas. Pernik used to be a symbol of
Creative Mentorship - Session 1 105'
Forum
  Convened by Caterina Sartori .
This special event provides a chance to glimpse exciting new ethnographic film projects in the making. In these sessions, filmmakers will pitch their projects and share a short extract from their
Creative Mentorship - Session 2 105'
Forum
  Convened by RAI Film Festival .
A chance to glimpse exciting new ethnographic film projects in the making. In these sessions, filmmakers will pitch their projects and share a short extract from their works-in-progress. They will
Cruces 2020 23'
    Student Directed by Carlos Tobon Franco .
An immersive expedition throughout the geographies and stories composing the Latin American journey to reach US soil. By weaving together oral histories and the landscape, the film is structured to
Cultivating Death 2003 23'
    Directed by Martin Gruber .
Cemeteries are not only places for the dead. They are also spaces in which the living interact with each other – and with the dead. “Cultivating Death” depicts the different ways in which
British-Irish Isles Death Ritual
Cuyagua - Devil Dancers 1987 52'
    Directed by Paul Henley .
The men of the Afro-Caribbean population of Cuyagua enact a ritual that occurs 60 days after Easter. The film is a portrait of two men who direct the devil dancing. They tell the history of the
South America Ritual Religion / Belief / Faith
Cuyagua - the Saint With Two Faces 1987 56'
    Student Directed by Paul Henley .
The film centres on the predominantly female celebration of the feast of Saint John. The women sing the songs associated with the Feast, describe their beliefs and how they organise the feast.
South America Ritual Religion / Belief / Faith Festivals / Carnival
Cycles 2022 9'
    Shorts Directed by Nisreen Hazineh Anas Al Sheikh Shawki Al Hallak .
We have fallen and are trying to stand. We keep on going… The world keeps spinning and we spin along with it in search for our daily bread in the current economic situation. We have become like the
Daba - Portrait of a Na Shaman 1999 40'
    Directed by Hua Cai .
After more than a quarter of a century without any form of religious ceremony, the Na, an ethnic group living on the Himalayan plateau, began openly practising their religion again in the early
South-East Asia Education / Knowledge transmission Religion / Belief / Faith Shamans and Shamanism
Damiana Kryygi 2015 94'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Alejandro Fernández Mouján .
The year is 1896. In the Paraguayan forest, a three-year-old Aché girl survives the massacre of her family by white settlers. She is baptised 'Damiana' by her captors. At the age of 14, she is
The Dancer and the Dance 1988 44'
    Directed by Felicia Hughes-Freeland .
This film is an invitation to see Javanese palace dancing as performed in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and to go beyond appearances to discover what the dance means to those who continue the tradition. In
South-East Asia Dance / Theatre / Performance
David MacDougall 2023 90'
Special Programmes
  .
This conversation will take place on Monday 6 March 2023 10:00 - 11:30, UK time, online. It will be live streamed here. Click here to buy a Full Festival Pass for entry to all the festival’s
The Day I Will Never Forget 2002 92'
    Directed by Kim Longinotto .
The documentary explores the local dimensions of the female circumcision debate in Kenyan societies. In a region of Kenya that is home to Muslims, Massai and Somali and crosscut by Christian
East Africa Gender Role and Identity Ritual Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy Political Activists
The Day the Sun Fell 2015 78'
    Special Interest Directed by Aya Domenig .
Swiss-Japanese filmmaker Aya Domenig, the granddaughter of a doctor on duty for the Red Cross during the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, approaches the experience of her deceased grandfather by
South-East Asia History Memory Health / Health care / Healing War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Death of the One who Knows 2020 82'
    Werbner Award Directed by Dana Rappoport .
In the Toraja highlands of Sulawesi (Indonesia), Lumbaa is one of the last masters of ritual speech. After his forced conversion to Pentecostalism, he is compelled to stop all his ritual activity and
Decolonising the Archive shorts #1 70'
Shorts Programme
    Shorts .
Rethinking how collections are made and remembered
Decolonising the Archive shorts #2 73'
Shorts Programme
    Shorts .
Rethinking how collections are made and remembered
Delhi at Eleven 2013 82'
    Directed by Ravi Shivhare Anshu Singh Kumar Kashyap Shikha Kumar .
This film presents the work of four young filmmakers of New Delhi. From March to May 2012 they took part in a video workshop at the CIE Experimental Basic School, a government primary school. Each of
South Asia Film / Photography / Mass media Children / Young people Education / Knowledge Transmission
A Delicate Weave 2017 61'
    Intangible Culture Directed by Anjali Monteiro KP Jayasankar .
A fascinating tapestry of four different musical journeys across Gujarat, India: we meet a group of young men in Bhujodi who meet every night to sing the verses of 15th-century Indian mystic and poet
Democracía Indígena 2000 39'
    Directed by Bruce Pacho Lane .
This film examines the indigenous rights revolution sweeping Mexico through the municipal elections in Huehuetla, Puebla. In 1989, the Huehuetla Totonacs formed the Organización Independiente
Central America Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Political Activists
Depending on Heaven 1988 56'
    Directed by Peter Entell .
The film is in two parts and focuses on the Mongols living in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. Part One (28 minutes) follows the life of a nomadic Mongol family on their yearly journey
Central Asia and Far East Environment Nomads and Nomadism Herding Everyday Life
Desterro Guarani 2011 38'
    Arandu - Listen to the Weather Directed by Vincent Carelli Ernesto de Carvalho Patrícia Ferreira Ariel Duarte Ortega .
The Mbya-Guarani’s history of contact and expulsion from the land. As Ariel Ortega thinks about the history of contact of the Myba-Guarani, he tries to understand how his people got expelled from
The Devil and the Holy Water 2016 12'
  Directed by Diego Maria Malara .
For centuries, exorcism has been a daily practice in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. But as Ethiopia has undergone extensive social change, exorcism has been revolutionized. New problems produce new
The Devil’s Mills. Roundabouts don't Build Houses any more 2006 56'
    Directed by János Tari .
The everyday life of migrant fun fair operators is the filter through which we view the social and economic factors of the 20th and early 21st century that define the life and work of this social
Central Europe Labour Social Change Trade Festivals / Carnival
Disability Futures 2023 '
Special Programmes
  .
Don’t miss the plenary session with Anneleis Kusters and Erin Moriarty: Birth of a genre: Re-framing language in deaf ethnographic film
Distant Temple 2002 90'
    Directed by János Tari .
The last orthodox synagogue in Makó was renewed and inaugurated in 2002. The little temple, as they call it, is more than hundred years old and represents the link between the Jews who emigrated
Middle and Near East Migration Religion / Belief / Faith
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
Diya 2001 55'
    Directed by Judith MacDougall .
A diya is a small terra cotta oil lamp used throughout India in Hindu ceremonies. The film follows the life history of an object through the every day experience of people who make, sell and use it
South Asia Trade Material Culture Religion / Belief / Faith Art / Artists / Artisans
Doctors of Two Worlds 1989 55'
    Directed by Natasha Solomons .
In the Bolivian highlands an English doctor is setting up a network of health care for remote mountain villages. While teaching the inhabitants the essentials of Western medicine the doctor is
South America Health / Health care / Healing Informant-researcher relationship Development projects
A Donation to the Museum 2015 25'
    Directed by Teri F. Brewer .
Human remains from the California Channel Islands were donated to an English city museum nearly a century ago. More recently research began into how they came to be there, and whose remains they
North America Western Europe Archaeology Archival material / Museum displays
Dor, Low is Better 1988 47'
    Directed by Robert Boonzajer-Flaes .
The film offers an experimental approach to the comparative study of cultures: the monks of a Tibetan monastery compare their own flutes with the Swiss alphorn and the Dutch windhorn introduced to
South Asia Music / Ethnomusicology Ritual
Dream Girls 1993 50'
    Directed by Kim Longinotto Jano Williams .
This award-winning film opens a door into the amazing world of the Takarazuka Revue, the all-female theatre troupe in Japan. Thousands of young women aspire to perform in the Revue’s glitzy musical
Central Asia and Far East Public Figure Popular Culture Dance / Theatre / Performance Gender Role and Identity
Dreamcatcher 2015 98'
    Directed by Kim Longinotto .
A film set in Chicago about an inspirational woman who has defied her past and now rescues girls and young women from a life on the streets.
North America Gender Role and Identity Labour Sex / Sexuality
Dreaming The Memories of Now 2018 92'
    Directed by Geska Helena Brečević Robert Brečević .
Journeying into the mythical space of southern Mexico, visual artists Geska and Robert Brecevic and their five-year old daughter Katja unearth complex stories in which time, memory and nostalgia are
Drokpa 2016 79'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Yan Chun Su .
Drokpa is an intimate portrait of the lives and struggles of nomads on the eastern Tibetan plateau. With rare access to a small community of nomads living on the vast yet rapidly degrading
Drugs & Prayers 2009 55'
    Directed by Helene Basu .
The Sufi shrine of Mira Datar in North Gujarat is a large pilgrimage centre specialising in healing possession and mental illness. It has become a site of experimenting with new forms of community
South Asia Health / Health care / Healing Ritual Religion / Belief / Faith
Duende 2022 27'
    Student Directed by Lucia Barrenetxea Lopez .
Duende takes us through one of the most awaited festivals in Granada, Spain: Easter week. Duende is an intimate, unexpected tale of an encounter with the afterlife, a series of miracles that can only
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
Duminea: A Festival for the Water Spirits 1966 20'
    Directed by Frank Speed Robin Horton .
The communal rituals of most villages of the Eastern Niger Delta focus on two great classes of spirits - the heroes and the water people. The heroes once lived with the men, founded their
West Africa Ritual Possession
Dust 2016 44'
    Material Culture Directed by Deepak Tolange .
Every winter, thousands of Nepalis and Indians migrate to various parts of Nepal to work in brick factories. Many of these labourers are children who drop out of school, engage in hard labour and
The Eagle Huntress 2016 87'
    Special Interest Directed by Otto Bell .
Aishol-pan, a 13-year-old girl, trains to become the first female in 12 generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle hunter and rises to the pinnacle of a tradition that has been handed down
Eat the Kimono 1989 60'
    Directed by Kim Longinotto Claire Hunt .
A compelling biography of Hanayagi Genshu, a feminist and dancer who spent her lifetime defying the conservative traditions of Japanese society with her radical politics and unconventional
Central Asia and Far East Public Figure Gender Role and Identity Art / Artists / Artisans Dance / Theatre / Performance Alternative culture
Eid AI-Fitr 2015 70'
  Directed by Xiangchen Liu .
Kirghiz people in western China celebrate the end of Ramadan with religious ceremonies, meals and other activities.
Elder sister 2017 96'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Zheng Long .
From the 1970s, the "family planning" policies of the Chinese state limited its citizens to having one child. These policies are well-known. Lesser known are the smaller stories of how
Elder's Corner 2020 96'
    Music Docs Directed by Siji Awoyinka .
From the colourful, celebratory sounds of Juju to the politicized urgency of Afrobeat, Nigerian musicians have spearheaded some of Africa's most prominent musical movements. For over a decade,
Employment Office 2015 74'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Anne Schiltz Charlotte Grégoire .
An office interior, a row of desks, people facing each other. This is where unemployed people come to meet with their advisers. What is at stake are their benefit payments. Here everyone has to abide
The Enemy: a Partisan Hymnbook 2015 80'
  Directed by Federico Spinetti .
A gunshot echoes from 1944, leading Italian post-punk musician Massimo Zamboni to uncover his family’s past. Long after the break-up of C.S.I., the historic band that he co-founded, Zamboni calls
Enet Yapai - an Ambonwari Girl 2008 25'
    Directed by Daniela Vávrová .
Enet Yapai was six years old when Vavrova met her for the first time in 2005 in Ambonwari village, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. Between November 2007 and April 2008 she followed Enet and
Melanesia Children / Young people Rural Everyday Life
Engaging Media Worlds [NYU] '
Talks
  .
Engaging/Empowering Image-Voices '
Conference
  Convened by Raminder Kaur Mariagiulia Grassilli .
How can anthropologists and filmmakers engage with and empower marginalised individuals and communities? Since the 1950s, ethnographic filmmakers and theorists have advocated for participatory
Entretejido 2015 33'
  Directed by Patricia Alvarez .
Peruvian alpaca wool is a material of significance among Andean highland communities and their rich textile traditions. Within global fashion worlds, it is considered a luxurious material,
Eoha 2015 22'
    Intangible Culture Directed by Vladimir Perovic .
In a timeless rocky mountain landscape evoking the time of Creation, a shepherd communicates with his goats and sheep. Twenty or so different cries, screams, chirps, babbles, mumbles, whispers,
Ernesto, gracias 2022 71'
    Main Competition Directed by Laura Ángel .
From her intimate gaze, Laura portrays her brother Ernesto and the dilemmas surrounding autism. Liliana, their mother, has carried the burden of a complex motherhood. Laura is afraid to repeat her mother’s story.
The Ethnographer 2012 86'
    Directed by Ulises Rosell .
John Palmer arrived in a Wichí community, located in Argentina, thirty years ago as an anthropologist - today he has married a Wichí woman with whom he has five sons in the last 5 years, who babble
South America History of Anthropology Everyday Life Informant-researcher relationship
Ethnographic Film and Mental Health: Transformations and Impact '
Workshop
  Convened by Mike Poltorak .
This interactive workshop explores the challenges and possibilities that emerge when visual anthropologists engage with ideas and experiences associated with mental health – and, in particular,
Ethnographic Film in the Marketplace '
Forum
  Convened by André Singer .
This Forum will consider the distribution of films of an anthropological nature to broad general and international audiences as well as within the academic sphere. Chaired by André Singer, President
Even Asteroids Are Not Alone 2018 17'
  Directed by Jón Bjarki Magnússon .
Eve Online is a computer game in which players mine, trade and fight their way through computer-generated galaxies. Whilst computer game aficionados are often depicted as isolated, this game is
Internet
Even When I Fall 2017 95'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Kate McLarnon Sky Neal .
Sheetal and Saraswoti met as teenagers in a Kathmandu refuge, both survivors of child trafficking to Indian circuses. They had been rescued and brought back across the border to Nepal- but what does
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 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
An Extraordinary Wedding: Marriage and Modernity in Highlands, Papua New Guinea 2018 55'
    Directed by Rosita Henry Daniela Vavrova .
An Extraordinary Wedding is a film about contemporary marital exchanges in the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea. The film presents the complex relationships entangled in a web of bridewealth
The Eye Begins in The Hand 2022 16'
    Shorts Directed by Yehuda Sharim .
El Ojo Comienza En La Mano is a tribute to campesino histories in rural California through the artwork of an artist largely absent from critical conversations on Chicanx art, Ruben A. Sanchez, as
The Face Behind the Mask 2015 54'
    Intangible Culture Directed by Nirmal Chander Dandriyal .
Weaving between past and present, performances and daily routine, this film focuses on the life and struggle of Shashadhar Acharya, a member of the fifth generation of a family of traditional Chhau
Fad'jal (Safi Faye Special Focus) 1979 112'
    Special Interest Directed by Safi Faye .
The work of pioneering Senegalese filmmaker and ethnologist Safi Faye is the subject of our Special Focus at the 16th RAI Film Festival. In Fad'jal, Faye tells the story of a Serer village in the
Familiar Places 1980 50'
    Directed by David MacDougall .
Anthropologist Peter Sutton is taken by an Aboriginal family, the Naponans, to map hereditary clan country in northern Queensland where they hope to live one day. To the children it is all new; to an
Australia Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Land Rights Education / Knowledge Transmission
A Family Portrait 2022 5'
    Student Directed by Shubham Sharma .
“After finding a family portrait on my phone one evening in Germany, I felt a longing for my hometown. I wanted to make a film about it. But how can you talk about your family portrait without
The Family and the Animals 2015 15'
  Directed by Jacob Hesmondhalgh Marie-Josephine Hobson .
Sunrise to set. An ethnographic film, using no subtitles or narration to depict and illustrate the co-existence of a rural Zimbabwean family and their animals.
Father's Prescription 2017 11'
    Shorts Directed by Enke Huang .
A personal exploration of traditional Chinese medicine that considers the importance of its sensory qualities. Huang vividly recalls the extreme bitter taste and smell of the teas consumed by her
Fatmawati's Wedding: the Weddings of two Sisters, the Preparations 1998 50'
    Directed by Fiona Kerlogue .
This film records the preparations for the wedding of two sisters in eastern Sumatra in December 1996. There is an emphasis on the importance of the role of women in the village. Ritual exchanges
South-East Asia Gender Role and Identity Marriage Ritual Material Culture
Fatuma and Asya. Two Afar Girls in Ethiopia 2014 59'
    Directed by Francesco Sincich .
Two young Afar girls, Fatuma (10) and Asya (13), show us their daily life in two different contexts of the Afar Region in Ethiopia. Both of them face hard challenges: finding an alternative way to
West Africa Gender Role and Identity Marriage Children / Young people Rural
The Feel of History 2017 29'
    Directed by Lise Zurné .
Each year, on the 1st of March, a historical society called the Komunitas Djokjakarta 1945 re-enacts one of the last battles with the Dutch colonizers of 1949 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Following
A Feeling Greater Than Love 2017 93'
  Directed by Mary Jirmanus .
In her directorial debut, Mary Jirmanus Saba deals with a forgotten revolution, saving from oblivion bloodily suppressed strikes at Lebanese tobacco and Gandour chocolate factories. These events from
Fighting for Nothing to Happen 2015 48'
    Student Directed by Nora Wildenauer .
After the volcanic eruption of Mount Rokatenda, the people of the island of Pulau Palue in east Indonesia are to be relocated. But are the planned relocation and the "new" life at the
South-East Asia Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy Refugees / Displaced populations Development projects Disasters
Film, Identity and Nation-Building '
Workshop
  Convened by Jeremy MacClancy .
This workshop will consist of two presentations that query the relations between film, identity, and nation-building. They will interrogate the connections between an ever-developing technology, a
Filmmaking for Fieldwork '
Talks
  .
Fire Mouth 2017 9'
    Shorts Directed by Luciano Pérez Fernández .
A film about a football match in Pernambuco, Northeastern Brazil, in which we see none of the action, or even a single player. We only catch glimpses of the fans as they bake, rather sluggishly,
Fireball '
    Lifetime Achievement .
Firth on Firth 1993 49'
    Directed by Rolf Husmann Peter Loizos Werner Sperscheinder .
In a series of interviews in his London home and the London School of Economics, Sir Raymond Firth talks about his life and some of his personal views. The film focuses thus on his Maori studies,
British-Irish Isles History of Anthropology Public Figure
The Five Breakfasts of Mr Podgoretsky 2016 21'
  Directed by Carl Rowlinson .
In the shadow of Brexit an expat is deported from a country that he has made his home over the last 50 years. This documentary asks what it means to make a country a home.
Five Faces of Shiva 2018 60'
    Directed by R.A. Fedde .
Five Faces of Shiva follows the rise and fall of the popularity of Hindu god lithographs, arguably India’s first mass media. Lithography — a printing technique which allowed for highly detailed
Floating Raft 2018 29'
    Directed by Zhang Chong .
Floating Raft takes an observational look at the life of a vibrant Chinese Buddhist monk Shi Yanyi and his Buddhist brothers, in Los Angeles. The Shaolin Temple is famous for its 1500-year Buddhist
Flores, little Jamaica 2017 49'
  Directed by Maude Katz .
The fact that a type of music specific to one place could touch a distant listener has always intrigued me. When I met young people of my generation who were fans of reggae music at Flores, a small
The Forgotten Generation 2015 40'
  Directed by Deepa Dhanraj .
In the Forgotten Generation older people aged over 60 in urban Tamil Nadu, rural Rajasthan and tribal Maharashtra reveal the realities of their lives, relationships and work as well as their
Forms of Care 2022 7'
    Animation Directed by Charlotte Kühlbrandt Maayan L. Matz .
A stop-motion animation following the story of a mundane death, and the forms of care that accompany it. The script is taken verbatim from an interview conducted as part of an ethnographic research
Fragments from the Past 2006 27'
    Directed by Vedide Kaymak Hakan Demiralay .
In the days before DVD and satellite television, the cinema was important to London’s Turkish speaking population as a place to meet and as a link with home. Eight individuals recount their
British-Irish Isles Popular Culture Migration Film / Photography / Mass media
From Ikpeng children to the world 2001 35'
    Arandu - Listen to the Weather Directed by Kumaré Ikpeng Karané Ikpeng Natuyu Yuwipo Txicão .
A video letter from four Ikpeng children introducing their village, in response to the children of the Sierra Maestra in Cuba. With grace and lightness they show their families, their games, their
Future Remembrance - Photography and Image Arts in Ghana 1998 54'
    Directed by Tobias Wendl Nancy du Plessis .
The film portrays a vibrant range of contemporary and historical images by artists and photographers in Ghana. While glancing through the history of black & white photography in Ghana, the film
West Africa Film / Photography / Mass media Art / Artists / Artisans Memory
The Future of Work? 2022 21'
    Student Directed by Yihao Yan .
Digital nomads are a highly mobile group of people who travel while working. Digital nomadism is considered a utopian life and a liberation from sedentary society, but it can also become a privilege.
Gaea Girls 2000 106'
    Directed by Kim Longinotto Jano Williams .
A film about courage, transformation and dreams in the extraordinary world of Japanese women's wrestling. Gaea Girls focuses on the hopes and fears of the beleaguered Gaea Japan squad, whose
Central Asia and Far East Gender Role and Identity Sport
Gali (Street) 2017 52'
    Directed by Shabani Hassanwalia Samreen Farooqui .
Gali, delves into a world of hip-hop in Delhi, a community that role-plays participation, as well as, dissent, against a mainstream that continues to exclude them. The documentary catches them in
Gambote 2022 24'
    Shorts Directed by Sofia Bensadon .
The clay mountains of the Chuquiago Valley are transformed into brick every day on the outskirts of La Paz City, Bolivia. Irineo and Rosa grind the clay, mould, dry, and burn the bricks every day, in
Gandhi's Children 2008 185'
    Directed by David MacDougall .
A monolithic building on the outskirts of Delhi provides food and shelter for 350 boys. Some are orphans, some have been abandoned, others have run away from home. About half are held under a court
South Asia Children / Young people Squatter Settlements / Homelessness Socioeconomic conditions
Garden Days: Village in Papua New Guinea 1988 25'
    Directed by Ariane Lewis Jon Jerstad .
A detailed account of domestic life in the Sepik area of Papua New Guinea, mainly from the women’s point of view. It describes their everyday activities in the ‘gardens’ in order to produce
Melanesia Agriculture / Farming Children / Young people Ritual
Gelede: A Yoruba Masquerade 1970 30'
    Directed by Frank Speed Peggy Harper .
Among the Yoruba of Western Nigeria and Dahomey the Gelede cult honours the earth spirits, the ancestors and especially the Great Mother. The festival filmed here emphasises the status of women and
West Africa Gender Role and Identity Ritual Festivals / Carnival Social Conflict
The George Brandt Lecture - An Open Conversation with Hugh Brody '
Gala event
  Convened by Jacqueline Maingard Angela Piccini .
The RAI Life Achievement Award, which has been given at a number of RAI Film Festivals since 1990, has been awarded in 2017 to anthropologist, filmmaker and writer Hugh Brody. In collaboration with
Ghetto PSA 2016 15'
    Special Interest Directed by Rossella Schillaci .
Jacob arrived in Italy alone from French Guinea when he was 11 years old. Today he is 27, and hip hop music is his whole world: it is his way to express dreams, hopes and frustrations, and to not
Western Europe Music / Ethnomusicology Migration Education / Knowledge Transmission
Global Racialisations shorts 57'
Shorts Programme
    Shorts Convened by Mahdi Fleifel .
Global racialisations - Q&A with directors '
Talks
  .
Gods and Satans 2005 87'
    Directed by Martine Journet Gérard Nougarol Gabriel Chabanier .
Among the Wana people, semi nomads from the Indonesian (Sulawesi) forest, Indo Pino is a shaman recognized by everybody. Her nephew, who is also a shaman’s son, converted to Christianity some
South-East Asia Religion / Belief / Faith Shamans and Shamanism Inter-religious relations
The Golden Beach 2008 58'
    Directed by Hasse Wester .
A small group of farmers belonging to the Halakki Gowda tribe live near a small beach in a valley in southern India. When the Swedish film maker Hasse Wester was first there twenty years ago the
South Asia Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage Rural Social Change
The Good Wife of Tokyo 1992 52'
    Directed by Kim Longinotto Clare Hunt .
Kazuko Hohki goes back to Tokyo with her band, the ‘Frank Chickens’, after living in England for 15 years. This wry and delightful film records her re-experiencing of Japan after a long absence,
Central Asia and Far East Music / Ethnomusicology Gender Role and Identity Marriage Social Change
Good-bye Old Man 1977 70'
    Directed by David MacDougall .
A last request of a Tiwi man on Melville Island was that a film be made of the pukumani (bereavment) ceremony to follow his death. The film follows his family, from the days of preparation to their
Australia Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Death Elderly people Film / Photography / Mass media Ritual
Got High With Only One Day Singing 2015 33'
  Directed by Meng Ziwei .
Huaer sing the oldest and most renowned folk songs in Gansu Province, China.
The Granary of Salcete 2017 37'
    Directed by Vince Costa .
Curtorim is located on the banks of the river Zuari, in Goa, India. The people of this village have over centuries built a bond with rice, so profoundly that it earned the village the title of
Green River. The time of the Yakurunas 2017 70'
    Directed by Alvaro Sarmiento Diego Sarmiento .
Guided by ayahuasca chants, GREEN RIVER. THE TIME OF THE YAKURUNAS is a poetic journey into the depths of the Amazon. The film explores the perception of time in three small villages intertwined by
Gringo Trails 2013 79'
    Special Interest Directed by Pegi Vail .
For many the tourist pathway across South America, Africa and Asia known as the “gringo trail” offers life-altering adventures. For host nations, it offers financial security. But this trail
Guardians of the Night 2018 17'
    Shorts Directed by Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier Eleonora Diamanti .
A survey of the happenings in Guantánamo, Cuba during nighttime. We see neighbourhood watchmen on lonely streets, bustling crowds of revellers in illuminated squares, families as they relax at home
The Guardian of the Forces 1991 52'
    Directed by Anne Laure Folly .
'The Guardian of the Forces' introduces the viewer to the world of Sikavi, a ‘fetish priest’ in Lome, Togo. He controls the spirits of several voodoos or gods. The film explores the significance
West Africa Health / Health care / Healing Possession Ritual
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
The Guga Hunters of Ness 2010 59'
    Directed by Mike Day .
This film follows a vanishing community’s beloved and unique tradition. The Gaelic speakers of Lewis and Scotland are the only people in the EU exempt from a ban on hunting gannets, but they are
Western Europe Hunting / Gathering / Fishing Animals Ritual
Guru, a Hijra Family 2016 75'
  Directed by Laurie Colson Axelle Le Dauphin .
Guru documents the work and daily life of a family of hijras in a small village in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. Silky, Mahima, Trisha, Durga, Kuyili, Priyanka, Vasundhara and Yamuna,
Gushegu Exile 2017 52'
    Directed by Emil Nørgaard Munk .
In the shadow of a tree Salamatu separates pebbles from the beans she has found at the local market square. Nighttime is coming and her children are hungry. Gmanun is packing 14 years of life in
Gyalmu's House 2016 18'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Asmita Shrish Gavin Carver .
In 2015 an earthquake shook the mountains of the Langtang Valley, Nepal, causing landslides and avalanches taking hundreds of lives from the small community. A year later Nima Gyalmu, a woman of
H is for Harry 2018 81'
    Directed by Ed Owles Jaime Taylor .
A coming of age story about Harry, a charismatic 11-year old boy, who arrives at secondary school in suburban London unable to read or write. With the help of Sophie, his extremely dedicated teacher,
HARMONI: HEALING TOGETHER 2021 98'
  Directed by Erminia Colucci .
As a nation of 270 million, Indonesia is facing the grave task of caring for millions of people living with mental illness. Many have experienced human rights abuses in their lifetime. In communities
South-East Asia Health / Health care / Healing Religion / Belief / Faith
Habilito - Debt for Life 2010 52'
    Directed by Chuck Sturtevant .
This documentary explores many of the conflicts and tensions that arise at the point of contact between highland migrants and lowland indigenous peoples, focusing particularly on the system of debt
South America Socioeconomic conditions Migration Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Labour
Half Elf 2020 64'
    Main Competition Directed by Jón Bjarki Magnússon .
A lighthouse keeper prepares his earthly funeral while trying to reconnect the elf within. Hulda and Trausti have shared a roof on Icelandic shores for over seventy years. Her love of books is
Heal the Whole Man 1974 50'
    Directed by Paul Robinson .
The ‘Barolong boo Ratshidi’ are one of the group of Tswana peoples, who together form a culturally homogeneous population of over two million. The Barolong themselves number about 75’000 and
Southern Africa Religion / Belief / Faith Health / Health care / Healing
The Healer and the Psychiatrist 2019 74'
    Werbner Award Directed by Mike Poltorak .
This film explores the tensions, contradictions, and resonances between traditional and psychiatric treatment in the South Pacific Island group of Vava’u. We meet two main characters: the
Heartbound 2018 90'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Janus Metz Sine Plambech .
In a small, wind-swept fishing community on the Northern coast of Denmark live 926 Thai-women. 25 years ago there were none. Heartbound is a unique study of this unprecedented network of Thai/Danish
Herat Films: The City of Herat 1983 21'
    Directed by John Baily .
These videos were edited from seven hours of Super 8 film shot by John Baily during two years of ethnomusicological fieldwork carried out in the Herat region of western Afghanistan between 1973 and
Middle and Near East Urban Trade
Herat Films: The Annual Cycle of Music in Herat 1983 54'
    Directed by John Baily .
These videos were edited from seven hours of Super 8 film shot by John Baily during two years of ethnomusicological fieldwork carried out in the Herat region of western Afghanistan between 1973 and
Middle and Near East Dance / Theatre / Performance Music / Ethnomusicology
Herat Films: The Shrines of Herat 1983 30'
    Directed by John Baily .
These videos were edited from seven hours of Super 8 film shot by John Baily during two years of ethnomusicological fieldwork carried out in the Herat region of western Afghanistan between 1973 and
Middle and Near East Religion / Belief / Faith Urban
Hidden Faces 1990 52'
    Directed by Kim Longinotto .
This film reveals contradictions in the lives of Egyptian women in Muslim society. Living abroad, Safaa Fathy returns to Egypt to interview the internationally renowned feminist writer Nawal El
North and Northeast Africa Gender Role and Identity Development projects
Hold Me Tight Let Me Go 2007 99'
    Directed by Kim Longinotto .
*The main reason I wanted to shoot is that when the kids misbehave, the teachers don’t punish them but try to find out why they are acting in such a way. The driving idea behind the school is to
British-Irish Isles Children / Young people Education / Knowledge Transmission Health / Health care / Healing
Holy Men and Fools 2005 61'
    Directed by Michael Yorke .
The film narrates the story of Uma Giri, a Swedish woman who has become a Hindu nun, called Uma Giri. She is one of the few western women to be accepted into the most radical order of wandering
South Asia Religion / Belief / Faith Inter-religious relations Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair 2021 29'
    Lifetime Achievement Award - Alanis Obomsawin Directed by Alanis Obomsawin .
As the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Senator Murray Sinclair was a key figure in raising global awareness of the atrocities of Canada’s residential school system. With
Honouring Professor Stephen Nugent '
Conference
  Convened by Renato Athias .
Professor Stephen Nugent, a major figure in the field of Visual Anthropology, passed away in November 2018. At Goldsmiths, Steve set up the pioneering MA in Visual Anthropology, and more recently
Horror in the Andes 2019 33'
    Special Interest Directed by Martha-Cecilia Dietrich .
Horror in the Andes is a behind-the-scenes documentary that follows the process of making a horror movie in Ayacucho, Peru. Directed by audio-visual anthropologist Martha-Cecilia Dietrich, it
South America Art / Artists / Artisans Dance / Theatre / Performance Ethnofiction Film / Photography / Mass media Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
A Hospice in Amsterdam 2005 62'
    Directed by Steef Meyknecht .
At the end of Van Goghstraat in Amsterdam is the Veerhuis. A normal residential house in a normal urban area, where children play outside in front of the door. But people come to the Veerhuis to die.
Western Europe Health / Health care / Healing Elderly people
The House-Opening 1980 45'
    Directed by Judith MacDougall .
When Geraldine Kawanka’s husband died, she and her children left their house at Aurukun on Cape York Peninsula. In earlier times a bark house would have been burnt, but today a ‘house-opening’
Australia Ritual Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Death
How to Save a Dead Friend 2022 103'
    Main Competition Directed by Marusya Syroechkovskaya .
Muzzled by the increasingly autocratic regime of the “Depression Federation”, 16-year-old Marusya decides to join her generations’ suicide statistics by year’s end. Then she meets Kimi and a
I (heart) Jack Lalanne: A Cartoon Memoir 2022 14'
    Animation Directed by LeAnn Erickson .
The filmmaker, a lesbian, feminist baby boomer, shares her coming out story with the help of exercise guru Jack LaLanne. Combining animation with the written memoir, I (heart) Jack LaLanne pushes the
I Am Belmaya 2020 80'
    Main Competition Directed by Sue Carpenter .
Belmaya is desperate for independence. Born a dalit in Nepal, orphaned aged 9, barely educated, and trapped in an abusive marriage with a baby daughter, Belmaya, 21, has given up hope of finding
I Am the World 2022 9'
    Shorts Directed by Che Applewhaite .
A speculative documentary that explores how an archive of networked moving images, featuring famed ballroom hosts Selvin “MC Debra” Mizrahi and Kelly Gorgeous Gucci, enables worldly ways of seeing.
I am Sheriff 2017 28'
    Directed by Teboho Edkins .
“I am Sheriff” follows a young man as he travels the mountain kingdom of Lesotho showing his film in remote villages, schools and communities. Sheriff was born with a girl’s body, but as the
I've already become an image 2008 32'
    Arandu - Listen to the Weather Directed by Zezinho Yube .
A group of Hunikui men tell of the five ages that mark their most recent past: from ‘the time of the Indian lodge’, to first contact with the Nawá, the non-Indian people who came looking for
IT WAS TOMORROW 2018 53'
    Student Directed by Alexandra D'onofrio .
After living in Italy for almost ten years without documents, three Egyptian men - Ali, Mahmoud and Mohamed - are suddenly awarded legal residence. As a whole new world of opportunities opens up to
Western Mediterranean Animation Art / Artists / Artisans Dance / Theatre / Performance Film / Photography / Mass media Life Story / Life History Memory Migration Research methods Participatory / Collaborative methods
Ignacio's Legacy 2016 52'
    Special Interest Directed by Titus Fossgard-Moser .
Between 1960 and 1992, the acclaimed documentary filmmaker Brian Moser made four films concerning indigenous peoples of northwest Amazonia: "Piraparana" (1960), "War of the Gods"
South America Film / Photography / Mass media Social Change Reflexivity Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Imagine(ing) migration '
Talks
  .
Imagine(ing) migration. The aesthetics of borders and resistance [SOAS]. What is migration? Is this the “age of migration”? What is diaspora? What challenges do diasporic communities bring to
Imbalu: Ritual of Manhood of the Gisu of Uganda 1988 69'
    Directed by Richard Hawkins .
An insightful documentary, constructed with visual restraint, about the male circumcision ritual among the Gisu of Uganda. The narrative follows one male participant through the ritual and contrasts
East Africa Ritual Gender Role and Identity
In the Devil's Garden 2018 25'
    Directed by Pavel Borecký .
The film situates the viewer within the makeshift space of an animal market in Algeria. Drifting between feeding and waiting, one attunes to the bodies of goats and camels, the oldest companions of
In the Land of the War Canoes 1972 47'
    Directed by Edward S. Curtis .
The film was made in 1914 by Edward Curtis. The plot concerns the efforts of a young man, Motana, son of a great chief, to obtain a bride and how he is thwarted by a wicked sorcerer. Many of the
North America Archival material / Museum displays Marriage Film / Photography / Mass media
In the Light of Memory 2010 40'
    Directed by Alyssa Grossman .
'In the Light of Memory' explores evocations of memory in contemporary post-socialist Bucharest, nearly twenty years after the fall of Romanian communism. The film is shot in Cismigiu Gardens, one of
South-East Europe Memory Post-communism
In Search of Bidesia 2019 65'
    Music Docs Directed by Simit Bhagat .
In the Indian language of Bhojpuri the name ‘Bidesia’ refers to a person who has migrated to a foreign land. However, Bidesia is also the name of a genre of Bhojpuri folk music, which reflects
In Search of the Hamat’sa: A Tale of Headhunting 2004 33'
    Directed by Aaron Glass .
The Hamat’sa (or “Cannibal Dance”) is the most important—and highly represented ceremony of the Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl) people of British Columbia. This film traces the history of
North America Archival material / Museum displays Dance / Theatre / Performance Ritual Informant-researcher relationship Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
In Search... 2018 90'
    Main Competition Directed by Beryl Magoko .
As a young girl growing up in a rural village in Kenya, Beryl thought that all women in the world have to be “circumcised” by going through Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) at a young
In and Out of Africa 1993 59'
    Directed by Ilisa Barbash Lucien Taylor .
A classic in ethnographic filmmaking, In and Out of Africa traces the transnational trade of African Art between West Africa and the USA, providing an insight into how value, commoditization and
North America Art / Artists / Artisans Trade Material Culture
Indo Pino 2002 84'
    Directed by Martine Journet Gérard Nougarol Gabriel Chabamier .
The small ethnic group of the Wana Wewaju live in Indonesia in the eastern part of Sulawesi (Celebes Island) among the dense equatorial rain forest of the Tokkala Mountains. The film documents the
South-East Asia Shamans and Shamanism Health / Health care / Healing
The Intelligent Hand 2015 21'
  Directed by Trevor H. J. Marchand .
The Intelligent Hand introduces us to a first-year cohort of British fine woodwork trainees at the Building Crafts College in Stratford, East London. Through the narratives of the course tutor and
Interactive Documentary and Ethnographic Film '
Workshop
  Convened by Judith Aston Paolo Favero .
This workshop will aim to generate a constructive dialogue between innovative or emerging non-linear (or interactive) documentary practices and the terrain of ethnographic film. It will be structured
The Intersection 2021 30'
    Shorts Directed by Daniel Quintanilla Jessamine Irwin .
Cecile reconnects with the French of her childhood, thanks to recently-arrived Franco-African immigrants, like Trésor, seeking asylum in Cecile’s hometown of Lewiston, Maine. Cecile’s Franco
Istanbul Notes 2016 69'
  Directed by Özlem Sariyildiz Yunus Emre Aydin .
‘Istanbul Makamı’ is a cinematographic improvisation with 5 musicians from abroad who fall in love with the Maqam Music (Classical Ottoman Music) and decide to live in Turkey believing that
J. C. Abbey, Ghana's Puppeteer 2016 55'
    Intangible Culture Directed by Steven Feld .
This film presents an exceptional fifty-year artistic career, from Accra’s streets to Ghana’s villages to international TV. In fifteen delightful puppet shows, Mr. Abbey chronicles Ghana's music
Janitzio its fishing, its pinatas 2015 31'
  Directed by Jose Figueroa Paola Rodriguez David Figueroa Omar Foglio .
Since the 80s around 250 Purepecha families settled in Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico. They traveled more than 2,500 miles from Janitzio island, where they were fishermen and weavers of nets,
Je ne suis pas moi-même 2009 50'
    Directed by Alba Mora Anna Sanmartí .
Shot in Cameroon and Brussels, 'Je ne suis pas moi-même' examines the complex network surrounding the international market of African antiquities, and the contradictions in a European art market
Central Africa Western Europe Art / Artists / Artisans Trade
The Jerusalem Dream 2016 54'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Meni Elias .
In the late 1970s, after thousands of years of praying and longing for Jerusalem, the first Ethiopian Jews arrived in Israel. Was it worth it? in this film the question is posed for the first time
The Jiama Paper of Bai With My Heart 2016 21'
  Directed by He Zi Jian Li .
Traditional Jiama imprinted paper production in the Bai cultural region, southwest China, presented through the experiences of one particular family.
John Baily Masterclass - Afghan Music '
Masterclass
  Convened by Barley Norton .
In this revelatory masterclass John Baily will trace his ‘career’ as an ethnomusicological film maker, starting with the films he made as a result of research in Herat, Afghanistan, in the 1970s:
Journey into Europe 2015 122'
  Directed by Akbar Ahmed .
In Journey into Europe, Akbar Ahmed, a world-renowned anthropologist, Islamic scholar, and filmmaker who the BBC has called “the world’s leading authority on contemporary Islam,” explores Islam
Central Europe Western Europe South-East Europe History Religion / Belief / Faith Collective / Community identity
Journey of the Maggot Feeder 2015 68'
    Directed by Liivo Niglas Priit Tender .
This film tries to solve the mystery of a bizarre Arctic fairy tale. Priit Tender, an Estonian animator, makes a film about an old Chukchi legend – The Maggot Feeder. The unconventional narrative
Central Asia and Far East Animation Film / Photography / Mass media Myths / Fairy tales
Journey to the Maggot Feeder 2015 68'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Liivo Niglas Priit Tender .
This film tries to solve the mystery of a bizarre Arctic fairy tale. Priit Tender, an Estonian animator, makes a film about an old Chukchi legend – The Maggot Feeder. The unconventional narrative
A Kabul Music Diary 2003 52'
    Directed by John Baily .
Ethnomusicologist John Baily returns to Kabul to see what is happening in the world of music one year after the defeat of the Taliban. The film documents a variety of musical activities, including
Middle and Near East Music / Ethnomusicology War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Kalanda - the Knowledge of the Bush 2014 62'
    Directed by Lorenzo Ferrarini .
In some parts of West Africa, hunting is much more than killing animals. A donso is no common hunter, but a healer, a diviner, a ritual specialist and amulet maker. Kalanda is a unique initiatory
West Africa Hunting / Gathering / Fishing Religion / Belief / Faith Education / Knowledge Transmission Ritual
A Kali Temple Inside Out 2018 83'
    Werbner Award Directed by Dipesh Kharel Frode Storaas .
Religious boundaries in India are not necessarily as sharp and antagonistic as news media lead us to believe. This film portrays everyday life inside and around a Kali temple in the city of Kanpur,
South Asia Religion / Belief / Faith Collective / Community identity
Kalès 2017 63'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Laurent van Lanker .
A film of wind and despair, of fire and solidarity, of hope and hell. An intimate and inside perspective of the ‘jungle’ of Calais, evoked through a polyphony of bodies, tales, and
Western Europe Migration Refugees / Displaced populations Squatter Settlements / Homelessness Participatory / Collaborative methods
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance 1993 119'
    Lifetime Achievement Award - Alanis Obomsawin Directed by Alanis Obomsawin .
In July 1990, a dispute over a proposed golf course to be built on Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk) lands in Oka, Quebec, set the stage for a historic confrontation that would grab international headlines
Kanraxël: the Confluence of Agnack 2015 52'
    Student Directed by Remigiusz (aka Remi) Sowa .
**DVD copies are available for secondary teaching and home use at the following prices: £35 (plus VAT) schools and colleges; £20 (plus VAT) individual / home use licence** Agnack is a
West Africa Linguistics / Language Social Change
Kashi Labh 2018 43'
    Directed by Rajat Nayyar .
This film explores the aesthetics of dying, family as a unit of care, and taking the last vital breath in Kashi, India’s sacred city. With Kashi Labh, Nayyar reflects upon his work with families
Kat Cizek 2023 90'
Special Programmes
  .
This conversation is taking place online on Friday 10 March 2023 17:00 - 18:30, UK time, online. This event will be live streamed on https://www.facebook.com/raifilmfest Why co-create – and why
Keepers of the Faith: The Buddhist Nuns of Sagaing Hills 1996 51'
    Directed by Hiroko Kawanami .
In the Sagaing Hills, 12 miles from the ancient capital of Mandalay are hundreds of pagodas, stupas, monasteries and nunneries which form a focal point of worship for Buddhism in Burma. In 1986 the
South-East Asia Religion / Belief / Faith Collective / Community identity Gender Role and Identity
Keynote by Faye Ginsburg '
Talks
  .
Indigenous Media and Archival Imaginaries This talk considers archives created by Indigenous mediamakers who, over the last three decades, have produced an astonishing array of work -- from
Keynote by Stephanie Spray '
Talks
  .
Stephanie Spray, Director, Center for Visual Anthropology at USC Dornsife, Los Angeles, USA.  She is a filmmaker, phonographer, and anthropologist whose work explores and exploits the poetics of
Khayyam in Bushehr 2021 56'
    Ethnomusicology Directed by Yasin Mohammadi .
Khayyam in Bushehr highlights the life story of those who show their passion and joy for life by chanting Omar Khayyam’s poems with music and dance.
Kim Longinotto 120'
Gala event
  Convened by Angela Piccini .
This year, the RAI Lifetime Achievement Award will be awarded in 2019 to multi award winning filmmaker Kim Longinotto. Marking this occasion, Longinotto will give the 2019 George Brandt Lecture at a
King On, Brasil! 2018 15'
    Special Interest Directed by Luiza Folegatti .
King On, Brasil! is a short documentary featuring six Brazilian Drag Kings and their use of social media to share their work, knowledge and performances which in turn strengthen their community. The
The King of the Cockroaches 2016 70'
    Student Directed by Timothy Cooper .
The degraded surfaces of mass-copied films - the glitches, scanlines, errors, and coding artifacts - rather than the filmmaker’s imprint, reveal the material culture and social life of film
Kisêdjê Manifesto 2012 11'
    Arandu - Listen to the Weather Directed by Kamikia P.T. Kisedje .
Kisêdjê women’s manifesto against deforestation and river pollution. Filmmaker Kamikia Kisêdjê and the Kisêdjê Cinema Collective decided to send a message from their people to the United
Kivalina 2016 64'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Gina Abatemarco .
More than a hundred miles above the Arctic Circle, an Inupiaq Eskimo community is living on an island that is fast disappearing into the ocean. With no resources to move and only a precarious sea
Knots and Holes. An Essay Film on the Life of Nets. 2018 74'
    Special Interest Directed by Mattijs van de Port .
A singular anthropological essay film that observes the various nets we find across different contexts in Bahia (from fishing nets to delicate nets of lace), and the emotions and sensations
South America Essay film Reflexivity Love
Kokota: The Islet of Hope 2015 29'
  Directed by Craig Norris .
Mbarouk Mussa Omar is from an East African Island called Pemba. Nearly ten years ago he visited a tiny neighbouring islet called Kokota and was shocked by what he saw. Kokota was teetering towards
Komian 2015 72'
  Directed by Jordi Esteva .
Four years after the filming of “Return to the Land of Souls”, about the rituals of trance and possession, the narrator travels to Ivory Coast in search of a priestess possessed by the Spirit of
West Africa Possession Ritual Music / Ethnomusicology
Koriams Law and the Dead who Govern 2005 110'
    Directed by Gary Kildea Andrea Simon .
In ‘Koriam's Law’ Australian anthropologist Andrew Lattas meets his match in philosopher-informant Peter Avarea of Matong village, Pomio, Papua New Guinea. Motivated by their lively dialogue the
Melanesia Religion / Belief / Faith Collective / Community identity Possession
Kusum 2000 69'
    Directed by Jouko Aaltonen Antti Pakaslahti .
Kusum is a 14-year-old Indian girl. She lives and attends school in Delhi. Kaushal, her father, drives a motorised rickshaw and works his fingers to the bone to support his family. Sumitra, Kusum’s
South Asia Children / Young people Health / Health care / Healing Possession
Kwagh Hir 1975 30'
    Directed by Frank Speed Peggy Harper .
Four million Tiv people form the major culture of the Benue state of southern Nigeria. They are popularly known as the greatest democrats in Africa as their society is based on fraternal cooperation
West Africa Festivals / Carnival Dance / Theatre / Performance Ritual
La Nave 2021 52'
    Main Competition Directed by Carlos Maria Romero .
Colombian artist and first-time filmmaker Carlos Maria Romero (aka Atabey Mamasita), translates the meaning and spirit of Carnaval de Barranquilla during a year in which gatherings were forbidden.
La Tumba Mambi 2022 28'
    Ethnomusicology Directed by Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier DJ Jigüe .
As a result of the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804), many French settlers travelled to Eastern Cuba with their slaves to escape the revolt. The Tumba Francesa Societies, known as a brotherhood and a
Lampedusa in Winter 2015 93'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Jakob Brossmann .
The Italian "refugee island" of Lampedusa is in the firm grip of winter's tristesse. The tourists have left, the remaining refugees fight to be taken to the mainland. As a fire destroys the
The Land Beneath Our Feet 2016 60'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Sarita Siegel Gregg Mitman .
The Land Beneath Our Feet weaves together rare archival footage from a 1926 Harvard expedition to Liberia with the journey of a young Liberian man, uprooted by war, seeking to understand how the past
Land of Udehe 2015 26'
    Student Directed by Ivan Golovnev .
This film takes us into the world of Udehe – indigenous people of the Far East of Russia. According to the census of 2010, their population dropped to 1,490 souls…
Central Asia and Far East Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Social Change
Last Days. Last Shot 2016 52'
  Directed by Sumira Roy .
In ancient Eastern thought, there are no absolute truths and even in death there is no one model. Through the film’s two characters and their simple acts of daily life we explore two contrasting
The Last Navigator 1989 50'
    Directed by André Singer .
This is the story of two cultures and two technologies. An American navigator is taught the skills of navigation by a traditional Micronesian navigator on Satawal island. The American tries to
Micronesia Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage Infrastructure / Transport Education / Knowledge Transmission
Last Round of Jaldi Five 2017 26'
  Directed by Ellen Lapper .
2017 marked seventy years since the decolonisation and Partition of India, sparking one of the largest mass migrations in history. One particular community uprooted by this event were the
Law and War in Rural Kenya 2010 64'
    Directed by Suzette Heald .
In 1998, a new movement swept through Kuria, in south western Kenya with dramatic effect. Cattle raiding fuelled by the increasing presence of guns had led to a situation of total insecurity, with
East Africa War / Conflict / Reconciliation Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy
Leaving Greece 2013 79'
    Directed by Anna Brass .
When entering the EU for the first time, a refugee must submit an application for asylum. So much is clear. Less well known, however is the fact that for 90% of all refugees, the Aegean is the
Western Mediterranean Children / Young people Migration Love
Legacies 2018 34'
    Student Directed by Clair Maleney .
The pioneering approach of Jubilee School in West Philadelphia seeks to empower its students (mainly black, and from low-income households), via a curriculum which highlights the arts, social
Lessons from Gulam 1986 52'
    Directed by John Baily .
A detailed study of musical enculturation within the Asian community of Bradford in northern England. Gulam Musa is the principal character and he is shown as a teacher and as a musician. The film
British-Irish Isles Music / Ethnomusicology Education / Knowledge Transmission
Let Him Fly 2021 29'
    Ethnomusicology Directed by Ethiraj Gabriel Dattatreyan .
Let Him Fly draws on footage shot over eight years to lyrically document the rise and exponential growth of the Delhi hip hop scene. The film spotlights some of the most influential artists on the
Letter to the Dead 2002 62'
    Directed by Andre Iteanu Eytan Kapon .
The film is about the encounter between tradition and modernity. In a small village of Papua New Guinea three exceptional men rival with each other in the field of rituals and artistic creation in
Melanesia Social Change Art / Artists / Artisans Death
Letters from Palestine 2011 35'
    Directed by Ludovica Fales .
What if in your great-grandfather's letters there is a mystery your family doesn't want to talk about? In 1920 Angelo Levi Bianchini set out to Palestine on an Italian diplomatic mission and never
Western Mediterranean Middle and Near East War / Conflict / Reconciliation Memory History
La forma del mundo 2017 88'
  Directed by David Delgado San Ginés .
A sound is born from the root of the earth. Those are the voices that sing for the animas of Purgatory. Every year for centuries los Cantadores de Arbejales, in the misty mountains of the island of
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
The Life of Others 2017 45'
    Directed by Robert McNamara .
The film is a compilation of scenes from Kazakh Mongolian life outside of Bayan Olgii in Western Mongolia. It was made during a one month period where I lived with and filmed a group of families
A Life with Slate 2006 59'
    Directed by Dipesh Kharel .
Alampu is a beautiful and exceedingly remote village in Nepal. The majority of the settlers there are Thami people, one of the indigenous groups of Nepal. More than 90 percent of them have been
South Asia Labour Socioeconomic conditions
Limpiadores 2015 39'
  Directed by Fernando Mitjáns .
Migrating is seldom an easy solution. It is rather a journey that begins with a journey. After more than eight years of campaigning, the immigrant cleaners outsourced at the School of Oriental and
The Lindisfarne Causeway 2022 20'
    Student Directed by Sammy-Lena Stasse .
The Lindisfarne Causeway is a road that disappears into the sea twice a day. The filmmaker uses boredom and daydreaming as a method to get to know this place. A poetic world of tarmac silence,
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
Little Palestine, Diary of a Siege 2021 89'
    Main Competition Directed by Abdallah Al-Khatib .
During the Syrian civil war, Yarmouk, a district of Damascus where thousands of Palestinians are refugees, was the site of fierce fighting. Little Palestine, Diary of a Siege is a filmed diary that
Little Waterfall 2002 52'
    Directed by Joshka Wessels .
Shallalah Saghirah ('Little Waterfall') is a small village of about 20 households located in the Khanasser valley, in north Syria. The village has no electricity and still uses an ancient ganat
Middle and Near East Infrastructure / Transport Material Culture Development projects
Living Here 2017 16'
    Shorts Directed by Sarah Baril Gaudet .
In Aupaluk, Northern Quebec, a small cluster of primary coloured buildings cluster amidst the blinding white tundra. We are introduced to the tiny town (population 200, mainly Inuit) by a thoughtful
Living with Boko Haram 2016 37'
    Special Interest Directed by Trond Waage .
January 2015. Boko Haram's violent insurgency is approaching Mogdé, on the Nigerian/Cameroonian border, where Antoniette lives. Just outside Oslo, Norway, lives her son Vakote, worried and afraid
West Africa Scandinavia Religion / Belief / Faith Social Conflict War / Conflict / Reconciliation Migration
Living with the Invisibles 2003 52'
    Directed by Dirk Dumont .
When they emigrated to Europe in the 60’s and 70’s, Moroccans brought with them their culture and their “diseases” ( caused by the the jinn that inhabit some of them). In Europe, most North
North and Northeast Africa Health / Health care / Healing Possession Migration
The Log Rafters of Lake Aegeri 2016 29'
    Material Culture Directed by Thomas Horat .
Aegeri, in a remote part of Switzerland, is one of the few lakes in Central Europe where professional log rafters can still be found. This film is based on the gentle observation of the work of a
Western Europe Material Culture Labour Rural
MASTER FENG, TAOIST MONK IN CHINA TODAY 2018 72'
    Directed by Adeline HERROU .
This ethnographical film paints the portrait of a Taoist monk in central China. Forced to return to a lay life during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), he was sent to work in the fields for 15th
Maboan - notes on the construction of a dam 2015 25'
  Directed by Ana Luísa Luz Joana Sousa Zaino Zauad Ansomane Dabo Braima Indjai .
The colonial military offensive and consequent population exile during the Independence Struggle in Guinea-Bissau (1963-1974) led to the destruction of many mangrove rice fields. In every corner of
Mabo: Life of an Island Man 1997 87'
    Directed by Trevor Graham .
On June 3rd 1992, six months after Eddie ‘Koiki’ Mabo’s tragic death, the High Court upheld his claim that Murray Islanders held native title to land in the Torres Strait. The legal fiction
Australia Public Figure Colonialism / Postcolonialism Life Story / Life History Political Activists Land Rights Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy
MacDougall Masterclass - Turkana Conversations Revisited '
Masterclass
  Convened by Michael Stewart .
Marking 40 years since its original release as well as its more recent digital remastering, David MacDougall will present the classic trilogy he made with his wife Judith on the Turkana pastoralists
Mahdi Fleifel Trilogy 103'
Shorts Programme
    Shorts .
Affects and Imaginaries of Racialisation
Majma 2001 54'
    Directed by Rahul Roy .
Aslam sells medicines for sexual problems on the pavements of Meena Bazar near Jama Masjid in Delhi. Khalifa Barkat presides over an wrestling gym (akhara) in the adjacent park and puts a group of
South Asia Gender Role and Identity Sport Socioeconomic conditions
Making It as Embroiderers 2022 10'
    Student Directed by Rachel Schaetzel Barber .
In the Tsotsil and Tseltal communities in Chiapas, Mexico, weaving and embroidering has traditionally been women’s work, practised in the home and made to be used by the family. As global demand
Making a Living in the Dry Season 2016 35'
  Directed by Ines Ponte .
Set in the highlands village of Katuwo, the film is an intimate portrait of the day-to-day life of a family living in an agro-pastoralist farm in Namibe, Angola. Through my request to my host
Masks of Mer 2010 37'
    Directed by Michael Eaton .
The film Alfred Haddon made in 1898 in the Torres Straits, lasting for less than a minute, is the world's first example of anthropological cinema. 'The Masks of Mer' tells the extraordinary story of
Australia History of Anthropology Film / Photography / Mass media Archival material / Museum displays Ritual
Masterclass: Laurent Van Lancker 105'
Masterclass
  Convened by Chris Wright .
This year's RAI Film Festival Masterclass will be delivered by award-winning filmmaker Laurent Van Lancker, in conversation with Chris Wright. Van Lancker won the Basil Wright Prize at the RAI
Matai Samoa 1989 65'
    Directed by George Milner .
The film is a valuable treatment of archival footage that George Milner shot while conducting fieldwork in 1955 and 1959. The footage (18 minutes of the total film) focuses on the traditional Samoan
New Zealand and Polynesia History of Anthropology Film / Photography / Mass media Social Organisation Archival material / Museum displays Ritual
Messages by Music - Senegal in Transition 2013 76'
    Directed by Cornelia Strasse .
The traditional musicians in Senegal were in charge of retaining the history of their ethnic group, along with ways of thinking and behaving. Their aim was to conserve the society. Nowadays the
East Africa Music / Ethnomusicology Colonialism / Postcolonialism Social Change Political Activists Resistance
Midnight Ramblers 2017 57'
    Directed by Julian Ballester .
Night after night, Kye, Tobie, Paul, Kim and Tattoo wander through the streets and alleys of Montreal. They support each other, and they are all drug users. It is their only way of escaping a harsh
Migrants of ther Dunes 2017 28'
    Directed by Erica Pomerance .
The dramatic sanding-over of arable land caused by climate change now threatens the very survival of many ancestral Dogon communities along the magestic Bandiagara Cliffs in Mali. The Dogon people
Milano Milanovaç (with Make a Silence) 2021 49'
    Music Docs Directed by Elisa Piria .
The film follows the life of Kristina, an extraordinary Serbian professional violinist. Music is everything in her family, any time is good for playing and everyone plays a musical instrument. But
Mirror Mirror 2006 58'
    Directed by Zemirah Moffat .
Mirror Mirror is based on an audio-visual ethnography of London’s queer Club Wotever. Begun in the autumn of 2003, it promoted itself as a club that welcomed all genders and sexualities – a
British-Irish Isles LGBTQI* Sex / Sexuality Gender Role and Identity
A Miscellany of Families 2015 36'
  Directed by Eluned Zoe Aiano .
This multi-layered documentary explores the way we navigate the stories that are presented to us during childhood and how we choose to pass them on through ideological influences and shifting values.
Mobail Goroka 2018 17'
    Shorts Directed by Jackie Kauli .
Glossy advertisements for telecommunications company Digicel abound in Goroka, a town in Papua New Guinea’s eastern highlands. This film takes a close look at the footsoldiers of this multinational
The Modern Jungle 2016 72'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Charles Fairbanks .
The Modern Jungle is a portrait of globalization filtered through the fever dream of its main character – a Mexican shaman, don Juan – who falls under the spell of a pyramid-scheme-marketed
A Month in the Life of Ephtim D. 1999 56'
    Directed by Antonii Dontchev .
Ephtim D., 73 years old, is a retired postman. He lives in Sofia with his wife Ghinka in a three room suburban apartment. As a socialist he feels confused by the ‘crazy’ democracy and the
South-East Europe Health / Health care / Healing Post-communism Socioeconomic conditions
Mossane (Safi Faye Special Focus) 1996 105'
    Special Interest Directed by Safi Faye .
The work of pioneering Senegalese filmmaker and ethnologist Safi Faye is the subject of our Special Focus at the 16th RAI Film Festival. Mossane is one of her greatest achievements, and we present
Mother of Many Children 1977 57'
    Lifetime Achievement Award - Alanis Obomsawin Directed by Alanis Obomsawin .
In her first feature-length documentary Alanis Obomsawin honours the central place of women and mothers within Indigenous cultures. An album of Indigenous womanhood, the film portrays proud
Mount Currie Summer Camp 1975 5'
    Lifetime Achievement Award - Alanis Obomsawin Directed by Alanis Obomsawin .
In a series of playful portraits, Stl’atl’imx (Líl̓wat) children and young people go about their daily duties at the community’s summer camp outside Mount Currie, B.C. Infused with a sense of
Muir ar n-Athraichean (Our Fathers’ Sea) '
Talks
  .
Filmmaker Alastair Cole and anthropologist Magnus Course in conversation around the questions posed by their award-winning short film Muir ar n-Athreaichean (Our Fathers’ Sea). The film’s
My Eyes as a Stranger 1984 53'
  Directed by Toni de Bromhead .
This film tells the story of the friendship between an English filmmaker and Nicola, a Sicilian ex-gangster who lives in Florence. The film moves to and fro between a street of ill repute, and the
South-East Europe Gender Role and Identity
My Name is Eeooow 2016 52'
    Intangible Culture Directed by Oinam Doren .
Imagine a village where you sing every time you call someone's name. In the village of Kongthong, everybody has a song tune as a name - the 'Jingrwai Iawbei'. The name comes from a mother as an
The Mystery of the Frozen Tombs: A Young Lady Emerges From the Ice 1994 44'
    Directed by Francoise Levie .
The film unfolds the archaeological discovery of the frozen tombs of Altai, part of the Scythian culture in the Siberian steppe.
Central Asia and Far East Archaeology
NEW RISE, OLD EBB 2018 28'
    Directed by Carlo Cubero Enrico Barone Kristiina Pilvet .
In 2016 from May to September, on the island of Piirissaare, a series of fires destroyed several houses and the prayer house, causing insecurities and disagreements in the community.
NGAT IS DEAD: STUDYING MORTUARY TRADITIONS 2007 59'
    Directed by Christian Suhr Nielsen Ton Otto .
A film about how anthropological knowledge is developed through active participation in traditional exchange ceremonies on the small island of Baluan in the South Pacific. The film follows the
Melanesia Death Ritual Informant-researcher relationship Social Conflict
NHENHA 2018 26'
    Student Directed by Andre Bahule Karen Boswall .
“We work the land and we dance. That’s what we know how to do” explains Maria in this portrait of the lives of three generations of women in southern Mozambique. The dance they dance is the
Naach Bhikhari Naach 2018 72'
    Directed by Shilpi Gulati Jainendra Dost .
Naach is a form of traditional folk theatre from Bihar, India. In this tradition, male artists often cross dress as women on stage and are referred to as ‘laundas’. The most legendary name in
Namatjira Project 2017 87'
  Directed by Sera Davies .
An extraordinary first-hand account of the international battle to reclaim the artwork and heritage of one of Australia’s most important Indigenous figures: Albert Namatjira. Albert Namatjira was
Australia Art / Artists / Artisans Collective / Community identity Colonialism / Postcolonialism Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy Political Activists Race / Racism / Antiracism
Nawi 1970 20'
    Directed by David MacDougall Judith MacDougall .
This classic ethnographic documentary, by the renowned filmmaking team of David and Judith MacDougall, explores the nomadic life of the Jie of Uganda. During the dry season the Jie leave their
East Africa Herding Music / Ethnomusicology Nomads and Nomadism
Negotiating Amnesia 2015 30'
  Directed by Alessandra Ferrini .
Negotiating Amnesia takes as its starting point two collections of photographs found within the Alinari's photographic Archive in Florence (Italy): a series of black and white images of the Ethiopian
Never Hold Your Breath 2016 34'
  Directed by Gil Orr Urtreger .
Utila is a tiny island in the Western Caribbean, part of the Republic of Honduras. It is a mixed community established in the 1800s by Caymans, outlaws and former slaves. We arrive as travelers and
A New Era 2019 71'
    Werbner Award Directed by Boris Svartzman .
In 2008, local authorities evicted 2,000 villagers from Guanzhou, a river island in Southern China, to make way for new urban planning projects. In spite of the demolition of their houses and police
Central Asia and Far East Urban Development projects Infrastructure\transport Land rights Resettlement
New Images 1964 27'
  Directed by Ulli Beier Frank Speed .
The film is a brief description of life in a busy commercial centre that still depends upon and retains its ancient traditions. These are based on the history of the town which was founded on the
West Africa Art / Artists / Artisans Religion / Belief / Faith Archival material / Museum displays
New Moon 2018 70'
    Directed by Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann .
.See less NICHE African, Islamic, Developing Nations, Women
Nhanderu Bicycles 2011 48'
    Arandu - Listen to the Weather Directed by Ariel Duarte Ortega Patricia Ferreira .
An immersion in the everyday spirituality of the Mbya-Guarani of Koenju village, in São Miguel das Missões in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This film is part of Arandu: Listen to the Weather, a
Nicobar, a long way... 2016 60'
  Directed by Richa Hushing .
Deep in the Bay of Bengal, the Nicobar archipelago, a tribal reserve protected under Andaman and Nicobar Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Regulation, was worst smashed by the Tsunami of 26th December
Niishii | Night Worlds 2017 22'
    Student Directed by Saranya Nayak .
What happens to a town after sunset? What happens to life and light? Niishii is an evocative tour through the night time hours in the town of Dubrajpur (West Bengal, India). Here, amidst inky
Nkabom: A little medicine A little prayer 2021 79'
    Werbner Award Directed by Erminia Colucci .
A mother is caring for her son at a healing shrine on the edge of a village in the central belt of Ghana. In another village, a father has taken his son to several Christian and traditional healers
West Africa Health / Health care / Healing Religion / Belief / Faith
Nobody Dies Here 2016 23'
  Directed by Simon Panay .
Perma gold mine, Benin. Some dream to find something, others realized there was nothing to be found. Some dig relentlessly hoping to become rich, others died in the process. And a few of them say that here, nobody dies.
Nodas. Launeddas at the time of crisis. 2015 29'
    Intangible Culture Directed by Umberto Cao Andrea Mura .
Dating back 3000 years to the Nuragic civilisation on Sardinia, 'launeddas' are wind instruments that testify to contacts from across the Mediterranean. Although they nearly vanished in the 1960s, in
Western Mediterranean Music / Ethnomusicology Festivals / Carnival Intergenerational relations
North Circular 2022 85'
    Ethnomusicology Directed by Luke McManus .
Travelling the length of Dublin’s fabled North Circular Road, this documentary musical evokes narratives from the history of the city and nation, from colonialism, to mental health, to the struggle
Not in my Neighbourhood 2018 86'
    Global Racialisations Directed by Kurt Orderson .
As cities around the world catapult themselves into ‘world-class city status’, we have to ask ourselves, “at what cost”? This film tells the intergenerational stories of spatial violence in
Nuba Wrestling 1991 42'
  Directed by Rolf Husmann Werner Sperschneider .
The weekly wrestling tournaments of the Sudanese Nuba migrants in Khartoum usually take place between Northern and Southern Nuba men. The sport helps them strengthen their ethnic identity in a
North and Northeast Africa Collective / Community identity Gender Role and Identity Urban Sport
Nyumba Nthobu 2016 15'
  Directed by Nick Lunch .
This film was made by a group of women from the Mara region, North Tanzania, who practise an old tradition called Nyumba Nthobu, by which childless (or lonely) women known as ‘Mamas’ can legally
OTHER FIRE 2017 21'
    Directed by Guilherme Moura Fagundes .
A sensorial record of affinity and enmity relationships with fire in the conservation of the Cerrado biome. In the company is locals, hired to act as brigadiers and, more recently, as management
Of Love & Law 2017 94'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Hikaru Toda .
Fumi and Kazu are partners in love and law; they run the first law firm in Japan set up by an openly gay couple. As lawyers driven by their own experience of being ​outsiders​, they attract a
Ojò Igbì (with Gũlā) 2020 60'
    Music Docs Directed by Daniele Ferreira João Carlos Couto .
The ritual cycle of the Waters of Oxalá is one of the most important ceremonies of candomblé in Brazil. After days of preparation, the sons and daughters of the saint gather to cultivate and relive
The Olive Pickers 2020 51'
    Werbner Award Directed by Toni de Bromhead .
Once Upon a Village 2021 60'
    Main Competition Directed by Srishti Lakhera .
Semla is a ghost village in the Himalayan foothills. The fifty families that once lived there have migrated to the city, leaving behind seven people. With this migration, livelihood connected to the
One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk 2019 113'
    Main Competition Directed by Zacharias Kunuk .
In April 1961, John Kennedy is America’s new President, the Cold War heats up in Berlin and nuclear bombers are deployed from bases in arctic Canada. In Kapuivik, north Baffin Island, Noah
Opening Night Screening: Edge of the Knife 2018 100'
    Special Interest Directed by Gwaai Edenshaw Helen Haig-Brown .
We are delighted to open the 16th RAI Film Festival with Edge of the Knife, the recipient of this year's President's Medal. Edge of the Knife is the first feature film in the endangered Haida
Ophir 2020 97'
    Main Competition Directed by Alexandre Berman Olivier Pollet .
This is a collaborative story of the civil war and ongoing struggle for sovereignty in Bougainville Island in the face of an all-too-familiar pattern of colonial rule and corporate mining interests.
Orania 2012 94'
    Directed by Tobias Lindner .
Orania is situated in South Africa's barren Northern Cape province. All of its 800 inhabitants are white Afrikaners. They live here on private property which was bought in 1991. People of other
Southern Africa Race / Racism / Antiracism Collective / Community identity Social Conflict
The Orchard Keepers 2014 24'
  Directed by Bryony Dunne .
Against the backdrop of political upheaval, an ancient network of orchards thrives in the mountains of the Sinai desert. Filmmaker Bryony Dunne shadows two Bedouins as they nurture their gardens and
North and Northeast Africa Environment Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany Rural
The Order of Things 2022 72'
    Werbner Award Directed by Ramona Badescu Jeff Silva .
At the ripe age of 90 years old, Alexandru gardens, jokes, and continues to repair watches in the workshop opened by his father in 1909 in southern Romania. But what is invisible to everyone, and
Other Europe 2011 75'
  Directed by Rossella Schillaci .
What happens to African migrants once granted political refugee status? In Turin, a northern Italian city, an abandoned clinic has been squatted by more than 200 refugees since December 2008. Khaled,
Western Mediterranean Migration Urban Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
Our Freedom 2017 52'
    Material Culture Directed by Laura Kuen Yury Snigirev .
The inhabitants of the village of Pungino live mostly beyond the reach of the Russian state. Here, in this remote rural location, they create their own sphere of personal freedom. This film explores
Our People Will Be Healed 2017 97'
    Lifetime Achievement Award - Alanis Obomsawin Directed by Alanis Obomsawin .
The landmark 50th film for Alanis Obomsawin reveals how a Cree community in Manitoba has turned to education as part of their efforts of community healing cultural revival. The Helen Betty Osborne
Our spirits keep coming 2021 15'
    Shorts Directed by Ariel Ortega Bruno Huyer .
In Tekoa Ko’ẽju, Pará Yxapy, a Mbya Guarani indigenous woman is dedicated to the first moments of care towards her child, who lies in her womb, and, along with her relatives, ponders about the
Out Swing 2021 26'
    Shorts Directed by Samar Minallah Khan .
On the outskirts of Islamabad, a committed coach teaches a team of unlikely players, their families, and a community, how playing cricket can change lives.
Out of Focus 2013 37'
  Directed by Adrian Arcé Antonio Zirión .
This is a collaborative documentary about arts, culture and everyday life inside a prison for minors. It was shot during a photography and video workshop with young inmates at the Juvenile Community
Central America Children / Young people Prison Art / Artists / Artisans Reflexivity
Oyate 2019 72'
    Main Competition Directed by Dan Girmus .
This carefully observed film is composed of a series of moments, feelings, gestures, and events that took place on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota during the summer of 2015. The narrative,
P01: Rethinking fieldwork '
Conference
  Convened by Maruska Svasek .
P02a: Crisis, creativity and ethics '
Conference
  Convened by Timothy Cooper Till J F Trojer .
P02b: Crisis, creativity and ethics '
Conference
  Convened by Timothy Cooper Till J F Trojer .
P03: Existential crisis, exceptional fields '
Conference
  .
P04: Rethinking anthropological film distribution '
Conference
  Convened by Christos Varvantakis Sanderien Verstappen .
P05a: The crisis of communication '
Conference
  Convened by Federica Manfredi Lucia Portis .
P05b: The crisis of communication '
Conference
  Convened by Federica Manfredi Lucia Portis .
P06a: Worker’s precarity: audio-visual representations of resistance '
Conference
  Convened by Lana Askari Paloma Yáñez Serrano Jose Luis Fajardo-Escoffie .
P06b: Worker’s precarity: audio-visual representations of resistance '
Conference
  Convened by Lana Askari Paloma Serrano Jose Luis Fajardo-Escoffie .
P07: Critical play: Smartphones as a mode of creative engagement with crisis '
Conference
  Convened by Sanderien Verstappen Mark Westmoreland .
P08a: Mask: the Face of Covid-19 '
Conference
  Convened by Felicia Hughes-Freeland Cathy Greenhalgh .
P08b: Mask: the Face of Covid-19 '
Conference
  Convened by Felicia Hughes-Freeland Cathy Greenhalgh .
P08c: Mask: the Face of Covid-19 '
Conference
  Convened by Felicia Hughes-Freeland Cathy Greenhalgh .
P09: Together for Mental Health '
Conference
  Convened by Erminia Colucci .
P10: Housing loss and insecurity '
Conference
  Convened by Caterina Sartori .
P11: Social movements, protest, social justice & creativity '
Conference
  Convened by José Sherwood .
P12a: Immersive Ethnography '
Conference
  Convened by Rossella Schillaci Mark Westmoreland .
P12b: Immersive Ethnography '
Conference
  Convened by Rossella Schillaci Mark Westmoreland .
P13: Our pandemic lives: photographing the pandemic '
Conference
  Convened by Caroline Bennett .
P14: Co-agitō ergo sum '
Conference
  Convened by César Enrique Giraldo Herrera .
P15: Quality and equality in collaborative projects '
Conference
  Convened by Arjang Omrani Kris Rutten .
P16a: Global Black Lives Matter '
Conference
  Convened by Raminder Kaur Mariagiulia Grassilli .
P16b: Global Black Lives Matter '
Conference
  Convened by Raminder Kaur Mariagiulia Grassilli .
P16c: Global Black Lives Matter '
Conference
  Convened by Raminder Kaur Mariagiulia Grassilli .
P17: Workshop: Radical inclusivity and visual ethnography '
Conference
  Convened by Mike Poltorak .
P18: Chronotopes during crisis '
Conference
  Convened by Alastair Lomas Charlotte Hoskins Andrea Bordoli .
P19: The future of Visual Anthropology in the wake of Black Lives Matter '
Conference
  Convened by Judith Aston Shawn Sobers .
P20: Big mouth '
Conference
  Convened by Nomi Dave Bremen Donovan .
P21: Crisis through comics: a roundtable discussion on graphic anthropology '
Conference
  Convened by Letizia Bonanno José Sherwood .
P22: Rhythm, sight and sound: work in times of uncertainty '
Conference
  Convened by Sandro Simon Valerie Haensch Ian M. Cook .
P23a: Disappearing world reloaded '
Conference
  Convened by Blake P Kendall Pavel Borecký .
P23b: Disappearing world reloaded '
Conference
  Convened by Blake P Kendall Pavel Borecký .
P23c: Disappearing world reloaded '
Conference
  Convened by Blake P Kendall Pavel Borecký .
P24: Encountering reality as crisis '
Conference
  Convened by Toma Peiu Luiza Parvu .
P25: Between academic theory-building and social engagement '
Conference
  Convened by Henrike Neuhaus Yanina Carpentieri .
P26a: Empirical art '
Conference
  Convened by Andy Lawrence Martha-Cecilia Dietrich Angélica Cabezas Pino .
P26b: Empirical art '
Conference
  Convened by Andy Lawrence Martha-Cecilia Dietrich Angélica Cabezas Pino .
P26c: Empirical art '
Conference
  Convened by Andy Lawrence Martha-Cecilia Dietrich Angélica Cabezas Pino .
P26d: Empirical art '
Conference
  Convened by Andy Lawrence Martha-Cecilia Dietrich Angélica Cabezas Pino .
P27a: Colonial Film Archives '
Conference
  Convened by Jacqueline Maingard Emma Sandon .
P27b: Colonial Film Archives '
Conference
  Convened by Jacqueline Maingard Emma Sandon .
P27c: Colonial Film Archives '
Conference
  Convened by Jacqueline Maingard Emma Sandon .
Paani: of women and water 2018 22'
    Student Directed by Costanza Burstin .
Against the bleached sky of Rajasthan, we encounter the women of a small Muslim village as they engage in their work. Here, water binds their daily labour rituals: they collect and carry water in
South Asia Environment Food / Water Gender Role and Identity Rural Everyday Life
Palimpsest of the Africa Museum 2019 69'
  Directed by Matthias De Groof .
In 2013, the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Brussels (Belgium) closed for renovation. It is not only the building and the museum cabinets that are in need of renewal: the spirit of the museum has
Western Europe Archival material / Museum displays Colonialism / Postcolonialism Race / Racism / Antiracism Education / Knowledge Transmission History of Anthropology
Palimpsest of the Africa Museum 2019 69'
    Decolonising the Archive Directed by Matthias De Groof .
In 2013, the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Brussels (Belgium) closed for renovation. It is not only the building and the museum cabinets that are in need of renewal: the spirit of the museum has
Western Europe Archival materials / Museum displays Archaeology Education / Knowledge transmission History of Anthropology Colonialism / Postcolonialism Race / Racism / Antiracism
Paltik Families 2016 60'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Jason Fox Roel Arcilla .
Set in the ten days leading up to mayoral elections in Danao, Philippines, Paltik Families follows the Arcillas, a family engaged in an illegal network of counterfeit American gun manufacturers, an
Panel 01: Indigenous Cinema: past, present and future 90'
Conference
  Convened by Renato Athias Rodrigo Lacerda .
Full title - Indigenous Cinema: past, present and future Indigenous cinema is a very diverse and global category with more than fifty years of history. The panel seeks submissions to analyze the
Panel 02: How to frame a poem in a film with others? 90'
Conference
  Convened by Roseline Lambert Rachel McCrum .
Full title - How to frame a poem in a film with others? Experiences of translation between different langages, poems, pictures and borders This panel aims to discuss the realisation of film-poems
Panel 03: Precarious landscapes (Part I) 90'
Conference
  Convened by Toma Peiu .
Full title: Precarious landscapes: forensics and decolonial futures This panel will be discussing the practicalities and ethics of producing images and sound in vulnerable landscapes. Work coming
Panel 03: Precarious landscapes (Part II) 90'
Conference
  Convened by Toma Peiu .
Full title- Precarious landscapes: forensics and decolonial futures This panel will be discussing the practicalities and ethics of producing images and sound in vulnerable landscapes. Work coming
Panel 04: Indigenous California 90'
Conference
  Convened by Teri Brewer Sue Giles Wendy Teeter .
Full title- Indigenous California: A Forum on Collaborative Archaeological and Ethnographic Visual Media Projects In recent years there have been an increasing number of productive visual media
Panel 05: Haptics and Visual Anthropology 90'
Conference
  Convened by Aparna Sharma Arine Kirstein Høgel .
Full title - Haptics and Visual Anthropology: Audio-Visual Dialogues and Non-Verbal Forms of Knowledge Construction In this workshop, filmmakers and researchers Sharma and Høgel explore how
Panel 06: Expanding Ethnographic Film: Multimodality? 90'
Conference
  Convened by Mark Westmoreland Janine Prins .
This panel seeks to investigate the expansion of ethnographic film practices in cases where a combination of different practice-based methodologies led to a multimodal approach. To what extent does
Panel 07: From the Field to the Screen (Part I) 90'
Conference
  Convened by Angélica Cabezas Pino Mattia Fumanti .
Full title - From the Field to the Screen: Reflexive Practices and Collaborative Methods in Ethnographic Film. This panel includes contributions from visual anthropologists and filmmakers of
Panel 07: From the Field to the Screen (Part II) 90'
Conference
  Convened by Angélica Cabezas Pino Mattia Fumanti .
Full title - From the Field to the Screen: Reflexive Practices and Collaborative Methods in Ethnographic Film This panel includes contributions from visual anthropologists and filmmakers of
Panel 08: Golden Wing, Silver Wings 90'
Conference
  Convened by Gary Seaman Zhuang Kongshao .
Full title - Golden Wing, Silver Wings: Filmic representations of the autobiographical ethnography of Lin Yueh-hwa This panel will focus on the legacy of the famous Chinese anthropologist Lin
Panel 09: We Three: Apparatus, Subject, Society (Part I) 90'
Conference
  Convened by Timothy P. A. Cooper Vindhya Buthpitiya .
Departing from the tripartite relationship between apparatus, subject, and society this panel invites reflection on issues of exclusion, consent, cinephobia, cinephilia, censorship, archival
Panel 09: We Three: Apparatus, Subject, Society (Part II) 90'
Conference
  Convened by Timothy P. A. Cooper Vindhya Buthpitiya .
Departing from the tripartite relationship between apparatus, subject, and society this panel invites reflection on issues of exclusion, consent, cinephobia, cinephilia, censorship, archival
Panel 10: Youth-centred frames (Part I) 90'
Conference
  Convened by Camilla Morelli Flavia Kremer .
Full title - Youth-centred frames: visual collaborations and participatory techniques in the research with young people This panel explores the use of participatory visual methods (film-making
Panel 10: Youth-centred frames (Part II) 90'
Conference
  Convened by Camilla Morelli Flavia Kremer .
Full title - Youth-centred frames: visual collaborations and participatory techniques in the research with young people This panel explores the use of participatory visual methods (film-making and
Panel 11: The material mediation of the ‘non-normative’ body 90'
Conference
  Convened by Cathy Greenhalgh Catalin Brylla .
This panel considers filmmakers who seek to work with and represent ‘non-normative’ bodies that are traditionally stereotyped and portrayed as “the other”. The aim is to explore innovative or
Panel 12: Transforming theory in and through film (Part I) 90'
Conference
  Convened by Mattijs van de Port Janine Prins .
This panel seeks to expand theoretical ambitions in visual anthropology. We explore audio-visual modes of report that speak about existential issues via the minutiae of life-as-lived. We invite
Panel 12: Transforming theory in and through film (Part II) 90'
Conference
  Convened by Mattijs van de Port Janine Prins .
This panel seeks to expand theoretical ambitions in visual anthropology. We explore audio-visual modes of report that speak about existential issues via the minutiae of life-as-lived. We invite
Pang Lhabsol: Sikkim's National Ritual of the Land and its Guardian Deities 2015 63'
  Directed by Anna Balikci .
Pang Lhabsol, Sikkim’s most important indigenous celebration, consists of a series of rituals and monastic dances held in honour of Dzonga, a mountain deity residing on Mt. Khangchendzonga, the
Paradise Bent. Boys will be Girls in Samoa 1999 51'
  Directed by Heather Croall .
Paradise Bent is a fascinating and entertaining film that tells the story of the Samoan fa'afafines: boys who are raised as girls and take on the domestic duties performed by women around the home,
Melanesia Gender Role and Identity Sex / Sexuality
Parizad 2021 24'
    Shorts Directed by Mehdi Imani Shahmiri .
Keshvar is a lonely, old woman crafting an ancient, unknown woven textile, telling a strange story of a fairy and a shepherd who came to their village one day.
Pasajuego 2018 75'
    Material Culture Directed by Daniel Oliveras de Ita .
“Pasajuego” is the name of the court where Oaxacans play the ancient indigenous ball game of Pelota Mixteca. Today more than two million people from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca live in
Pedagogy & Public Anthropology: Legacies of Marshall's and Asch's Ethnographic Films 90'
Seminar
  Convened by Nancy Lutkehaus .
This panel reflects on the role of ethnographic film in pedagogy and public anthropology past, present, and future. It explores the introduction of ethnographic film into school curricula in the
People of Earth and Clouds 2016 65'
  Directed by Matteo Robert Morales Louise Hantson .
People of Earth and Clouds is a documentary film that explores the role of music bands in indigenous communities of Oaxaca, Mexico and shows why "a village with no band, is a village with no
The People of the Wind 2015 59'
  Directed by Abtin Sarabi .
On the coast of the Persian Gulf, in the south of Iran, a ritual called Zâr is still practised today. This musical exorcism is said to heal all ‘victims of the wind.’ According to this popular,
Pepe 2004 23'
  Directed by Juana Schlenker .
Pepe is a Spanish immigrant who came to England more than forty years ago to work as a waiter. After working in several restaurants and hotels, he retired two years ago and now he fills his days with
British-Irish Isles Migration Elderly people
Persistence 2019 54'
    Main Competition Directed by Anne Huffschmid Jan-Holger Hennies .
Human bodies don’t simply disappear. They were kidnapped, buried, broken into pieces. But they are also searched for, recovered and if forensic experts achieve the unlikely, reconstructed as
Central America Forensic Memory
Photo Wallahs 1991 60'
    Directed by David MacDougall Judith MacDougall .
This film is an exploration of the cultural and personal meanings of photographs in a hill station in northern India. The ‘photo wallahs’ are the local photographers of Mussoorie, a town which
South Asia Film / Photography / Mass media Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
Pink Saris 2010 100'
    Directed by Kim Longinotto .
Pink saris are worn by the Gulabi Gang, a group of women vigilantes in Northern India. From the untouchable caste, they resist being condescended to as the lowest social class. They have a champion
South Asia Gender Role and Identity Resistance Socioeconomic conditions
Playing with Nan 2012 88'
    Directed by Dipesh Kharel Asami Saito .
Playing with Nan is the story of a Nepali young man who migrated to work in a Nepali restaurant in northern Japan. The film explores his daily life at work and his family at home, which reflects
South Asia Central Asia and Far East Labour Migration Socioeconomic conditions
The Poet's Salary 2008 59'
  Directed by Eric Wittersheim Alexandre Francois .
For the first time in many years, on the little island of Motalava in Vanuatu, a new song will be composed in the island's ancestors’ language, the language of god Quat, and become part of the
Melanesia Music / Ethnomusicology Linguistics / Language Informant-researcher relationship
Polka 1986 50'
  Directed by Robert Boonzajer-Flaes .
The film confronts the accordion music of Chicano immigrants in southern Texas with the traditional music of accordion players in Austria. Without making any final judgements on the ‘roots’ of
North America Music / Ethnomusicology Collective / Community identity
Positive Women: Heartache, Hope & Living with HIV 2017 30'
    Directed by Rebecca Devaraj .
In 2016, filmmaker Bex Devaraj and anthropologist Anne Lotter were given unique access to one of the biggest slums in Kampala, Uganda, where every day is a struggle for survival. In this intimate
Positive Youtubers – A Machinima Documentary 2017 15'
    Special Interest Directed by Leandro Goddinho .
An experimental documentary made with footage material recorded from the computer desktop screen, about four Brazilians who have created Youtube Channels to talk openly about their HIV status. They
The Possibility of Spirits 2016 72'
  Directed by Mattijs van de Port .
What is it that you film when you film a spirit? I was brought up to believe that spirits do not exist. Years of research on an afro-Brazilian spirit possession cult taught me the limits of such
South America Essay film Religion / Belief / Faith Reflexivity
Poundmaker’s Lodge 1987 29'
    Lifetime Achievement Award - Alanis Obomsawin Directed by Alanis Obomsawin .
Just north of the City of Edmonton lies Poundmaker’s Lodge, an addiction and mental-health facility specialising in treatment for Indigenous people. Founded in 1973 and still operational today, the
President's Award - Trinh T. Minh-ha 2023 '
Special Programmes
  .
She will receive the award in person on Thursday 23 March, at the screening of What About China? at Arnolfini (Bristol). On that occasion Trinh T. Minh-ha will be in conversation with May Adadol Ingawanij.
The Price of Memory 2014 83'
  Directed by Karen Marks Mafundikwa .
In 2002, Queen Elizabeth II visited Jamaica for her Golden Julibee Celebrations. While there she was petitioned by a group of Rastafari for slavery reparations. For Rastafari, reparations are linked
Caribbean Islands British-Irish Isles Colonialism / Postcolonialism Political Activists
Pride of Place - Observations of lives of girls at a Public School 1976 59'
  Directed by Dorothea Gazidis Kimona Landseer Kim Longinotto .
A rarely seen classic, PRIDE OF PLACE was made as a first project while Longinotto was a student at England’s National School of Television and Film. As a teenager, the filmmaker had been condemned
British-Irish Isles Children / Young people Education / Knowledge Transmission Gender Role and Identity
Prism 2021 78'
    Werbner Award Directed by Rosine Mbakam Eléonore Yaméogo An van Dienderen .
Belgian filmmaker An van. Dienderen invited Brussels-based Rosine Mbakam from Cameroon, and Paris-based Eléonore Yameogo from Burkina Faso to make a film in which their different skin colour serves
The Prison Promise 2022 55'
    Main Competition Directed by Joseph Dégramon Ndjom .
While still prisoners, director Joseph Dégramon Ndjom’s uncle, Detyr and his companion, Adèle, made a promise to each other: to start a new life together once they were free. Today, they live in
Processes 2016 23'
    Directed by Adriana Ferrarese .
Like every year, Corigliano Calabro, a small village in the south of Italy, celebrates Easter: from the investiture of a man to embody Jesus during a night procession, to the passionate debates for
South-East Europe Religion / Belief / Faith Festivals / Carnival
The Professional Foreigner 2009 60'
  Directed by Rolf Husmann .
Asen Balikci has been a leading figure in making ethnographic films for many decades. In a series of talks between Balikci and filmmaker Rolf Husmann in different locations, the life and work of Asen
Various Film / Photography / Mass media History of Anthropology Public Figure
Prohibition of Grazing 2016 43'
  Directed by Wenfei Li .
Zhang Yuansheng is 64-year-old who was originally a camel herder. Having been born in poverty, as the age of 17 he began studying camel herding in the desert and acquiring the the life skills
Promenade 2016 31'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Philip Cartelli .
Recorded during two years but organized around a single day, “Promenade” observes a series of movements and interactions on a renovated section of the Marseille waterfront. During the day a cast
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
Pulse 2015 26'
    Student Directed by Robin Petré .
This poetic, highly sensorial film takes place on one of Europe’s largest deer farms, which is home to 1,500 red deer and their caretakers. The animals are essentially still wild. They were first
Pushing Boundaries 2021 102'
    Disability Futures Directed by Lesia Kordonets .
Athletes from the Ukrainian Paralympic National Team have lost their training base in Crimea due to the Russian annexation in 2014. They try to adapt to the new historic conditions in their private,
Q2P 2006 55'
    Directed by Paromita Vohra .
Q2P is a film about toilets and the city. It sifts through the dream of Mumbai as a future Shanghai and searches for public toilets, watching who has to queue to pee. As the film observes who has
South Asia Gender Role and Identity Urban Socioeconomic conditions
A Radio of One’s Own 2016 34'
  Directed by Shweta Radhakrishnan .
In the heart of the hills, in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand, a frequency crackled and came to life on the 21st of September, 2013. Community radio, Mandakini ki Aawaz is Rudraprayag District’s first and
Rain in the Mirror 2012 48'
  Directed by Nilanjan Bhattachary Kanchan Mukhopadhayay .
Dorji Bhutia, a Buddhist monk and a reputed mask-maker with supernatural powers of bringing or stopping rain chose a self-determined death at the age of eighty-six. Dorji leaves his mystic image
South Asia Religion / Belief / Faith Children / Young people Education / Knowledge Transmission Intergenerational relations
Raju and His Friends 1988 40'
  Directed by Marcus Banks .
This film is set in the city of Jamnagar, western India. The film focuses on the emotions, quality of life, and on duty. Raju’s friendship with different people, including the director, provide a
South Asia Urban Informant-researcher relationship Life Story / Life History
The Raven and the Seagull 2018 70'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Lasse Lau .
Denmark and Greenland have been tied together by a complex colonial relationship for centuries. Today, Greenlanders fight for autonomy, whilst acutely aware of their economic dependence on the
The Realm of Forgotten Existence 2015 28'
  Directed by Piotr Piasta .
While the images in the film reveal a landscape that often seems unchanged, the narrative reveals fragments of forgotten stories and traditions, skills and working lives no longer of value in
Rebel Objects 2020 70'
    Main Competition Directed by Carolina Arias Ortiz .
Anthropologist and filmmaker Carolina Arias Ortiz returns to Costa Rica to visit her estranged father. When he is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, death suddenly draws close. During this time she
Latin America Archaeology Death Personal Narrative
Reclaiming Fiction '
Workshop
  Convened by Isaac Marrero-Guillamón .
This roundtable discussion will consider the politics and aesthetics of ethnofiction in relation to current debates in ethnographic film around collaboration and self-representation. Participating
Reclaiming the Forest 1987 39'
  Directed by Paul Henley Georges Drion .
National governments, itinerant gold-miners, and indigenous inhabitants compete for control of an area of the South American rainforest. The film shows the potential conflict between the interests
South America Land Rights Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Social Change Social Conflict
The Red Bowmen 1981 50'
  Directed by Chris Owen .
In a remote part of the West Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea, the Umeda people eke out a difficult living from the sago swamps and primary rain forest that surround them. Until recently, these
Melanesia Ritual Religion / Belief / Faith History of Anthropology
Remake of a summer 2017 96'
    Directed by Magali Bragard Séverine Enjolras .
During a summer in Paris and it’s suburbs, two young directors attempt a remake of "Chroniques d’un été", fifty years after the cult film of Rouch and Morin. An offbeat portrait of
Researching marriage, filming Family Time '
Talks
  .
Resonating Burra - The Story of Burrakatha 2018 42'
    Intangible Culture Directed by Arjun Chavah .
Burrakatha is a storytelling art form in the Telangana and Andhra regions of India. Emerging in the 1940s, amidst the struggle against feudal oppression and the Indian freedom movement, Burrakatha
Return of the Nightingales 2013 33'
  Directed by John Baily .
In 2010 Afghan musicologist Dr. Ahmad Sarmast opened the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), a coeducational vocational music school in Kabul that teaches Afghan, Indian and Western
South Asia Music / Ethnomusicology Education / Knowledge Transmission Children / Young people
Returning Home: Revival of a Bosnian Village 2001 48'
  Directed by Tone Bringa Peter Loizos .
The film is the sequel to 'We are all Neighbours', the 1993 Granada Disappearing World film, about the breakdown of relations between Muslims and Croats as war overtakes their ethnically mixed
South-East Europe War / Conflict / Reconciliation Collective / Community identity Refugees / Displaced populations
Ringtone 2014 30'
  Directed by Jennifer Deger Paul Wunungmurra .
Yolngu Aboriginal families offer glimpses into their lives and relationships through their choice of ringtones. From ancestral clan songs to 80s hip hop artists and local gospel tunes, these songs
Australia Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Music / Ethnomusicology Material Culture
Ritual Journeys 2011 75'
  Directed by Dawa Lepcha Anna Balikci .
The film is an intimate portrait of Merayk, an 80 years old Lepcha shaman or Padim. Merayk lives with his family in Dzongu, a Lepcha reserve in North Sikkim. He performs healing rituals for
South Asia Ritual Shamans and Shamanism Health / Health care / Healing
Rituals on TV 90'
Seminar
  Convened by RAI / BBC / Swan Films .
Several recent television productions have embraced ritual - a classic topic for anthropologists! These shows have sought to document, explore, and interrogate ritual as both spectacle and concept
River Nomads 2016 40'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Eric Komlavi Hahonou .
http://www.rivernomads.dk/river-nomads-english/ password: ddc River Nomads addresses the complex relationship between migration, mobility and citizenship. This first part of a forthcoming trilogy
Rockerill: Rekindling the Fire 2011 53'
    Directed by Yves Mora .
Five years ago, one of the oldest industrial buildings of Charleroi- ‘les Forges de la Providence’- was saved from demolition being brought by two citizens: Thierry Camuy and Mika Hell. Together
Western Europe Alternative culture Art / Artists / Artisans
Room 11, Ethiopia Hotel 2006 23'
  Directed by Itsushi Kawase .
The film recounts the life of children living on the street in Gondar, Ethiopia, by witnessing the interaction between two children and the filmmaker. The entire film was shot in the room of Ethiopia
North and Northeast Africa Children / Young people Squatter Settlements / Homelessness Informant-researcher relationship Reflexivity
Rough Aunties 2008 103'
  Directed by Kim Longinotto .
Jackie, Mildred, Eureka and Thuli are the women behind Bobbi Bear, a nonprofit organization based in Durban, South Africa, that counsels sexually abused children and works to bring their abusers to
Southern Africa Socioeconomic conditions Children / Young people Development projects
Roza's Song 2016 45'
  Directed by Lowri Rees .
Roza's song gives a unique insight into the Norwegian Roma community. The film follows Roza and her dream of making the Norwegian Roma’s first CD. The congregation and the music means a lot for
Runaway 2001 87'
    Directed by Kim Longinotto Ziba Mir-Hosseini .
This film is set in a refuge for girls in Tehran and follows the stories of five girls who come here. These girls, in leaving a situation that has become intolerable, show incredible courage and
Middle and Near East Children / Young people Social Change Gender Role and Identity
SOLITARY LAND 2017 107'
  Directed by Tiziana Panizza .
A researcher found 32 documentaries filmed on Easter Island almost a century ago. They contain images of the island’s rock sculptures, the Moai, but they barely show the island’s inhabitants,
Sacred Water 2016 54'
  Directed by Olivier Jourdain .
Guided by Vestine, an extravagant star of radio nights, the film discovers Rwandan sexuality in search of the water that gushes out of the female body. Sacred Water reveals with humor and spontaneity
Sailing a Sinking Sea 2015 65'
  Directed by Olivia Wyatt .
Sailing A Sinking Sea explores the culture of the Moken people of Myanmar and Thailand. The Moken are a nomadic seafaring community and one of the smallest ethnic groups in Asia. Spending eight
Sakhisona 2017 27'
    Intangible Culture Directed by Prantik Basu .
Near Mogulmari in West Bengal lies a mound known locally as Sakhisona. Stories about it are interwoven with myth and still sung by local musicians. A dig nearby recently uncovered the remains of a
Salma 2013 90'
    Directed by Kim Longinotto .
When Salma, a young Muslim girl in a south Indian village, was 13 years old, her family locked her up for 25 years, forbidding her to study and forcing her into marriage. During that time, words were
South Asia Gender Role and Identity Social Norms Marriage Art / Artists / Artisans
Sangharsh. Strife. 2018 105'
    Directed by Nicolas Jaoul .
Shot between 1997 and 2001, Sangharsh takes us deep into the lifeworld of Dalit Panther activists in the late 1990s Uttar Pradesh. By following three activists, one is taken on a rough trip in the
Sarah Pink 2023 90'
Special Programmes
  .
This talk will be live streamed online on Tuesday 7 March 2023 10:00 - 11:30, UK time. There is a mounting ethical onus on anthropological filmmakers to go further in their engagements with futures;
Scenes of Afghan Music: London, Kabul, Hamburg, Dublin 2007 97'
  Directed by John Baily .
Scenes of Afghan Music is Part IV of 'A Quartet of Afghan Music Films', made in the author’s personal “fieldwork movie” style. It reveals the diversity of music and dance practices in the
Middle and Near East Music / Ethnomusicology Migration Collective / Community identity
SchoolScapes 2007 77'
    Directed by David MacDougall .
Inspired by the cinema of Lumière and the ideas of the 20th century Indian thinker Jiddu Krishnamurti, David MacDougall follows up the Doon School Quintet, his series of films about a traditional
South Asia Children / Young people Education / Knowledge transmission Film / Photography / Mass media
The Scorpion is me - A centennial family dance group 2017 95'
    Directed by Juan Sebastián Alvarez .
Santos Ramírez “Santico”, the current 40 year old artistic director, hides behind the Carnival’s atmosphere, as he is fighting against all odds to keep El Alacrán's poison alive. "El
Scratches on Celluloid 2018 53'
    Directed by Vindhya Buthpitiya Timothy Cooper .
In the rapidly changing urban landscapes of Jaffna and Lahore, the social and public space of cinema halls are recognisable for their longevity and resilience amid insurgency, war, and
Sea Boundary 2012 55'
  Directed by Rosella Schillaci .
The film depicts the daily struggle of fishermen to earn a living in a harsh physical environment that brings out the social and economic tensions of modern society. Manning the Priamo are Cola, the
Western Mediterranean Labour Hunting / Gathering / Fishing Socioeconomic conditions Migration
The Season of Vodoun 2016 45'
  Directed by Ran Muratsu .
This film depicts ceremonies of Vodoun, deities of ancestors and natures spread in the Gulf of Guinea, and its relationship with national politics. The shooting was held in the period of Vodoun in
The Secret of the Caminanti 2016 63'
  Directed by Rita Mirabella Giuseppe Tumino .
The history of the Caminanti is an unwritten story of an autochthonous community living 'in hiding'. We know barely anything about their history, which has only been transmitted orally throughout
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
Sent Away Boys 2016 43'
  Directed by Harjant Gill .
What happens to families in the absence of sons? What happens to land in the absence of farmers? What happens to communities in the absence of men? Sent Away Boys weaves together stories of
Sermiligaag 65°54'N, 36°22'W 2008 64'
    Directed by Anni Seitz Sophie Elixhauser .
The people of East Greenland inhabit a small string of coastal land at the edge of the biggest island of the world. Long winters have always shaped daily life here, a life that has gone within a few
North America Rural Social Change Environment
A Sheepherder's Homecoming 1996 40'
  Directed by Allen Moore Louis Werner .
This film documents a migrant worker’s experiences as a herder on a Nevada sheep ranch who then returns to his family in Mexico after a long absence to renew ties and find a job at home. It
North America Central America Migration Labour
Shepherds in the Cave 2016 87'
    Material Culture Directed by Anthony Grieco .
An international team of art restorers, archaeologists and volunteers begin work on the restoration of religious frescoes inside a network of ancient caves. Faced with local bureaucratic challenges
Western Mediterranean Archaeology Herding Art / Artists / Artisans Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy
Shinjuku Boys 1997 54'
    Directed by Kim Longinotto Jano Williams .
A film about love and gender. This film is set in the New Marilyn night club in Tokyo where all the hosts are women who have decided to live as men. They make their living by working in a club with
Central Asia and Far East Gender Role and Identity Sex / Sexuality Love
Shomõtsi 2001 42'
    Arandu - Listen to the Weather Directed by Wewito Piyãko .
Chronicle of the daily life of Shomõtsi, an engaging and gregarious Ashenika man living in a village at the border between Brazil and Peru. Our guide in the film is Shomõtsi’s nephew Valdete, a
Shorts 01 - Creative lives 100'
Shorts Programme
    Shorts .
The power of art to make worlds come into being
Shorts 02 - Women, empowerment and religion 69'
Shorts Programme
    Shorts .
Ritual encounters with divinity
Shorts 03 - Pleasure 76'
Shorts Programme
    Shorts .
Ground-breaking shorts exploring the world of sex and pleasure [NSFW! Contains adult content]
Shorts 04 - Migration at the crossroads/1 62'
Shorts Programme
    Shorts .
Questioning the representation of migrant experience
Shorts 05 - Migration at the crossroads/2 71'
Shorts Programme
    Shorts .
Questioning the representation of migrant experience
Shorts 06 - Animals | Humans | Ritual 97'
Shorts Programme
    Shorts .
Close encounters with bees, cockrels, fish
Shorts 07 - Sparks! 76'
Shorts Programme
    Shorts .
Experimental short form pushing the boundaries of ethnographic film
Shorts 08 - Livelihoods 90'
Shorts Programme
    Shorts .
Portraits of people working in rural settings
Shorts 09 - Indigenous knowledge 110'
Shorts Programme
    Shorts .
Teaching the next generation
Shorts 10 - Environmental crisis 69'
Shorts Programme
    Shorts .
People coping with the consequeces of climate change, pollution and waste
Sifinja - The Iron Bride 2009 70'
  Directed by Valerie Haensch .
A film about mobility, human creativity, and technology in a Sudanese truck community. The English Bedford-Lorry was introduced to Sudan in the late 1960s. Since then, local craftsmen technically
North and Northeast Africa Infrastructure / Transport Material Culture Art / Artists / Artisans
Silas 2017 80'
    Directed by Anjali Nayar .
Liberian activist Silas Siakor is a tireless crusader against illegal logging and corruption. Through this focus on one small country -- “Silas” warns of the power of politics, features the role
Silk, Muthappar and VHS: Portraits from South India 1997 63'
    Directed by Ulrich Grossenbacher Damaris Luethi .
The documentary, filmed during ethnographic field research, shows three portraits of ‘ordinary’ personalities — Mala, a young weaver sharing a one-bedroom house with nine siblings; Santa Cruz,
South Asia Labour Everyday Life Film / Photography / Mass media
Since the Company Came 2001 52'
  Directed by Russel Hawkins .
Set in the South Pacific, in a remote Solomon Islands village, 'Since the Company Came' is the story of a community coming to terms with social, cultural and ecological disintegration. When village
Melanesia Land Rights Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Social Conflict Socioeconomic conditions
Sing My Sister 2022 85'
    Ethnomusicology Directed by Karen Boswall Alzira Guetsa André Bahule .
Communities of women across Mozambique use song, dance and stories to present a female perspective of three gendered ideological moments in their country’s history. Three co-authored musical
Singing "Bird": Carrying on the Kumeyaay Tradition 2018 30'
    Directed by Teri Brewer .
The Kumeyaay, an indigenous people of Southern California and Northern Mexico still perform more than a dozen ancient song cycles kept alive through a process of apprenticeship and study which can
Singing Pictures - Women Painters of Naya 2005 45'
  Directed by Lina Fruzzetti Ákos Östör .
For generations the Patua (Chitrakara) communities of West Bengal have been painters and singers of stories depicted in scrolls. The film follows the daily lives of Muslim Patua women from Naya
South Asia Material Culture Art / Artists / Artisans Music / Ethnomusicology
Sisters in Law 2005 104'
  Directed by Kim Longinotto Florence Ayisi .
Six year old Manka has run away from home, fleeing her abusive aunt. Sonita has daringly accused her neighbor of rape. Amina has decided to end her brutal marriage by taking her husband to court. Set
West Africa Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy Gender Role and Identity Children / Young people
The Sky Wept for Forty Days 2022 62'
    Werbner Award Directed by Sabrina Mervin .
The Sky Wept for Forty Days is an immersion in a Shi’a pilgrimage, which once a year attracts millions of faithful to Karbala, in Iraq. Their journey, on foot, lasts at least three days. They reach
Slow Return 2021 80'
    Main Competition Directed by Philip Cartelli .
A river flows out to sea through a network of wetlands, salt marshes, and petrochemical plants. A melting glacier, its surface covered in protective cloth, still attracts tourists. Slow Return
So'o: Life and death of a cow in Puerto Casado 2016 24'
  Directed by Valentina Bonifacio .
In the golden age of Puerto Casado, in Paraguay, at least eight cows were slaughtered every day to feed its population of 6,000 people. Eating "asado" (roasted meat) is still at the core of
Socotra, the Island of Djinns 2016 64'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Jordi Esteva .
The film is the story of a journey across the island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Yemen. Socotra is isolated during the monsoon season, when it is impossible to land on it. This
Middle and Near East Myths / Fairy tales Nomads and Nomadism Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage Trade
The Soil 2022 71'
    Ethnomusicology Directed by Zuzanna Solakiewicz .
A contemporary village and its unconventional dwellers of different ages have one thing in common; their strong attachment to folk culture. In this film, music is as important as images, accompanying
Some Alien Creatures 2005 74'
  Directed by David MacDougall .
A film about the famous experimental, co-educational boarding school in South India, the Rishi Valley School, founded by the influential Indian thinker Krishnamurti. In this film about a progressive
South Asia Children / Young people Gender Role and Identity Education / Knowledge Transmission
The Song Collector 2016 54'
  Directed by Erik Koto .
In the 1960s Morup Namgyal sparked a social movement to preserve the traditional Himalayan culture of his homeland. What Morup could not imagine at that time was that he would ultimately embrace
Sons of Haji Omar 1978 58'
  Directed by Timothy Asch Asen Balikci David Newman Richard Sorensen .
Haji Omar and his three sons belong to the Lakenkhel, a Pashtun tribal group in northeastern Afghanistan. Concentrating within one family, the film draw sharp, colourful portraits of the protagonists
Middle and Near East Everyday Life Nomads and Nomadism Herding
Sons of the Moon 1984 25'
  Directed by Frank Speed Deirdre LaPin .
In isolated mountain hamlets in Nigeria’s Jos Plateau the Ngas have traditionally observed the movements of the moon in the night sky. The moon is a key symbol in Ngas cosmology, believed to
West Africa Religion / Belief / Faith Music / Ethnomusicology Everyday Life Ritual
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
Southeast London Ethnography - Three Student Films: Anglesea Road; The Good Ol' Days; Talk of Trade 2007 13'
    Directed by Elhum Shakerifar Ed Owles Jamie Taylor .
These 3 films on Southeast London were made by GCC college students who took a course in anthropology & film. ANGLESEA ROAD: Situated in Woolwich, South East London, Anglesea Road is a small
British-Irish Isles Urban
Specialised Technique 2018 6'
    Directed by Onyeka Igwe .
William Sellers and the Colonial Film Unit developed a framework for colonial cinema, this included slow edits, no camera tricks and minimal camera movement. Hundreds of films were created in
Steel Lives 2005 45'
  Directed by Massimiliano Mollona .
The anthropologist spent several months working as unskilled labourer alongside Sheffield steelworkers at Morris for his PhD. This film is a look into the working lives of men who earn a living in
British-Irish Isles Labour Socioeconomic conditions Collective / Community identity
Still Birth of the Commune-head 2015 80'
  Directed by Qiao Wu .
Each Floral-belt Dai village has a “Commune-head” who takes charge of annual collective ceremonies. The Commune-head is picked out through a God election ritual. All candidates’ clothes should
Stockman's Strategy 1984 52'
  Directed by David MacDougall Judith MacDougall .
A film which explores the philosophy of teaching and learning of Sunny Bancroft, manager of an Aboriginal-run cattle station in northern New South Wales. It also tells the story of Shane Gordon, a
Australia Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Animals Education / Knowledge transmission
The Storehouses of the World 2018 27'
    Directed by Timothy Cooper Abeera Arif-Bashir .
In the Pakistani city of Lahore an audiocassette recorded decades ago deep among the crowd at a ritual mourning procession continues to circulate in the neighbourhood in which it was first made.
Stories about Mlimani Park Orchestra 2022 110'
    Ethnomusicology Directed by Frank Gunderson .
Tanzanian rhumba band, Mlimani Park Orchestra (aka Sikinde), performs in the music genre musiki wa dansi (literally, “music for dancing”), a variation of the Cuban-based rumba idiom that has been
Stories from Cabo Corrientes 2020 77'
    Main Competition Directed by Jordi Esteva .
The documentary immerses us in the fantastic and magical stories of the inhabitants of Cabo Corrientes, Chocò District (Colombia) where a community of Afro-Colombians, descended from slaves of
The Storyteller 1990 50'
    Student Directed by John Paul Davidson .
Unaware of the written word until the 1950s, the Waura tribe who live in the headwaters of the Xingu river in Brazil still practise the art of storytelling. Tribal storyteller Aruta recounts one of
South America Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Dance / Theatre / Performance Religion / Belief / Faith
Strengh of Women Pataxó of the Mother Village 2019 58'
    Arandu - Listen to the Weather Directed by Caamini Braz Vanuzia Bonfim .
Pataxó women speak up. This film is part of Arandu: Listen to the Weather, a festival sidebar celebrating 35 years of Indigenous filmmaking from Brazil: key films and filmmakers working from the
Sundanese Culture Alive 1988 46'
    Directed by Jean Hellwig .
Jaipongan is a new style of music and dancing which was ‘invented’ about a decade ago on Western Java, Indonesia. Drawing on more classical Javanese music and taking elements from Japanese and
South-East Asia Music / Ethnomusicology Dance / Theatre / Performance
Sunday 2018 25'
    Special Interest Directed by Paulo Mendel Vitor Grunvald .
A colourful and noisy encounter with Família Stronger, a LGBTQIA+ collective in the neighbourhood of Jardim Nazaré, on São Paulo’s periphery. Across a split screen, Sunday portrays a single day
Sunny and the Dark Horse 1986 86'
  Directed by David MacDougall Judith MacDougall .
A true story of a country family’s gradual involvement and growing passion for ‘picnic racing’. Sunny Bancroft is an Aboriginal cattle-station manager in New South Wales. With his
Australia Rural Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Animals
Survivors 2018 84'
    Main Competition Directed by WeOwnTV .
With unflinching intimacy this film chronicles the remarkable stories of four Sierra Leoneans during the Ebola epidemic in what is regarded as the most acute public health crisis of the modern era
Suspension 2019 73'
    Werbner Award Directed by Simón Uribe .
This film documents the building of a modern road through the imposing geography of southern Colombia. It brilliantly captures some of the absurdities and contradictions of a construction project
South America Development projects Infrastructure / Transport Material Culture Rural
Swirling in the dreams 2022 78'
    Main Competition Directed by Hung En Su .
In spite of the spread of Christianity and introduction of modern medicine, Taiwan’s indigenous peoples have always had a need for their traditional beliefs. For the people in these tribes, when
TB in Town 2 2017 46'
    Directed by Dr. Lianne (A.L.) Cremers .
This film tells the story of patients with tuberculosis living in Town 2, one of the biggest and most violent townships of South Africa. Treatment is available for free and tuberculosis patients can
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
TRIBAL JUSTICE 2017 87'
  Directed by ANNE MAKEPEACE .
TRIBAL JUSTICE is a feature documentary about a little known, under-reported but effective criminal justice reform movement in America today: the efforts of tribal courts to create alternative
Tablas and Drum Machines: Afghan Music in California 2001 58'
    Directed by John Baily .
Ethnomusicologist John Baily visits Fremont, California, the new home of the large community of exiled Afghans. He is joined by Kabuli master-musician, Ustad Asif Mahmoud, who plans to open a small
North America Music / Ethnomusicology Education / Knowledge transmission Refugees / Displaced populations
Tabom in Bahia 2017 52'
  Directed by Juan Diego Diaz Nilton Pereira .
There is a small community in Ghana who identify as Brazilians. Their name is the Tabom. They are the descendants of former enslaved Africans and creoles who resettled from Bahia to Ghana during the
South America West Africa Music / Ethnomusicology Collective / Community identity Memory Migration Popular Culture Race / Racism / Antiracism Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
Takeover 1980 90'
  Directed by David MacDougall Judith MacDougall .
On March 13, 1978 the Queensland Government announced its intention to take over management of Aurukun Aboriginal Reserve from the Uniting Church. The people of Aurukun complained bitterly, fearing
Australia Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Resistance Land Rights Social Conflict
Tango, Not-For-Export 2016 53'
  Directed by Jennie Gubner .
This collection of 4 short films evokes everyday experiences of music making in the contemporary neighborhood tango scenes of Buenos Aires. They were made as stand alone pieces that co-exist on an
Tara's footprint 2018 70'
    Intangible Culture Directed by Georgina Barreiro .
Tara's Footprint skilfully conjures the atmosphere of Khechuperi, a village in the Himalayas in north eastern India. Eschewing standard exposition the film follows four young siblings as they go
South Asia Children / Young people Dance / Theatre / Performance Everyday Life Music / Ethnomusicology Religion / Belief / Faith Rural
Tayuban: Dancing the Spirit in Java 1996 30'
    Directed by Felicia Hughes-Freeland .
Once a year a ritual is held in a Javanese village. After a distribution of food, men dance with professional female dancers. Their allegedly sexual ethos makes these ‘tayuban’ unacceptable as
South-East Asia Ritual Dance / Theatre / Performance Sex / Sexuality Gender Role and Identity
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
Ten by Ten 2021 29'
    Student Directed by Jami L. Bennett .
There is no denying the evocative power of food to remind us of who we are and where we come from. After living in Asia for over fifteen years, Jessica was longing for the burgers and barbecue of her
Thank You For The Rain 2017 87'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Julia Dahr .
Over the last five years Kisilu, a smallholder farmer in Kenya, has used his camera to capture his family life, his village and the impacts of climate change. He has filmed floods, droughts and
Theatre Girls 1979 57'
  Directed by Kim Longinotto Claire Pollack .
The “Theatre Girls Club” is a hostel for homeless, destitute and alcoholic women in Soho, London. It is run by six paid workers and it is the only hostel in London which takes any women at any
British-Irish Isles Squatter Settlements / Homelessness Socioeconomic conditions Gender Role and Identity
There is Nothing Wrong with my Uncle 2012 78'
  Directed by Sylvie Bringas Dul Johnson .
Nigerian writer Dul Johnson returns to Tarok land to observe the local death rituals and the record of the Tarok ways of dealing with grief and honoring departed. This film provides a rare and
West Africa Death Religion / Belief / Faith Ritual
These Objects, Those Memories 2015 29'
  Directed by Roger Horn .
"These Objects, Those Memories" is a split-screen film focused on material culture, specifically, that of three long-term Zimbabwean female migrants currently residing in Cape Town, South
Thinking like a Mountain 2018 91'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Alexander Hick .
The Arhuacos are the guardians of the forest and the ice of Colombia’s highest mountain - the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. This indigenous community draw a sustained and singular spirituality from
This Land Is Our Land! 2020 70'
    Arandu - Listen to the Weather Directed by Isael Maxakali Sueli Maxakali Carolina Canguçu Roberto Romero .
“In the old day, whites did not exist on our lands, and we lived hunting with our yãmưyxop spirits. But the whites came, felled the woods, dried the rivers and chased the animals away. Today, our
This is My Face 2018 57'
    Student Directed by Angélica Cabezas Pino .
In Chile, people living with HIV fear stigma, and often conceal their condition and remain silent about what they are going through. This is My Face explores what happens when a range of men living
South America LGBTQI* Participatory / Collaborative methods Health / Health care / Healing Gender Role and Identity Film / Photography / Mass media Memory Life Story / Life History Art / Artists / Artisans
Those Who Come, Will Hear 2017 77'
    Directed by Simon Plouffe .
Those Who Come, Will Hear proposes a unique meeting with the speakers of several indigenous languages of Quebec – all threatened with extinction. The film starts with the discovery of these unsung
Those Who Jump 2016 80'
    Special Interest Directed by Estephan Wagner Moritz Siebert Abou Bakar Sidibé .
In northern Morocco, lies the Spanish enclave of Melilla: Europe on African Land. On the mountain above, live over a thousand hopeful African migrants, watching the border fence. Abou from Mali is
A Thousand Fires 2021 90'
    Main Competition Directed by Saeed Taji Farouky .
Parents Htwe Tin and Thein Shwe work hard to give their children a better future, their lives governed by a web of karma and astrology. All their hopes are pinned on their youngest son – Zin Ko
Three Horsemen 1982 50'
  Directed by David MacDougall Judith MacDougall .
Bob Massey Pootchemunka has spent most of his life as a stockman and drover. Now over 75, his ambition is to see an all-Aboriginal cattle station operating at Ti-Tree on his traditional clan land.
Australia Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Herding Animals Land Rights
Tigers Apprentice 1998 57'
    Directed by M. Trinh Nguyen .
Tiger's Apprentice is the story of M. Trinh Nguyen's journey to her native Vietnam. She observes and documents her great-uncle's folk medicine practices treating many patients and making his
South-East Asia Health / Health care / Healing Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany
Time to Look at Girls: Migrants in Bangladesh and Ethiopia 2015 31'
  Directed by Marco Speroni .
More migrants move within their own country or region than migrate to Northern countries. Bangladesh and Ethiopia have been experiencing increasingly high rates of migration of adolescent girls to
Tindaya Variations 2018 40'
    Special Interest Directed by Isaac Marrero-Guillamon .
The mountain of Tindaya (Fuerteventura, Canary Islands) is more than a mountain. It was a sacred site for the indigenous people of Fuerteventura; later, its rock was quarried and sold for ornamental
Western Mediterranean Archival material / Museum displays Art / Artists / Artisans Environment Material Culture Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Archaeology
Tingvong: A Lepcha Village in Sikkim 2005 60'
  Directed by Dawa T Lepcha Anna Balikci-Denjongpa Asen Balikci .
The film illustrates the changes the Lepcha of the Dzongu reserve, North Sikkim, have been through in the last 60 years. From the 1940s, the Lepcha of Tingvong village gradually abandoned hunting,
South Asia Social Change Religion / Belief / Faith Agriculture / Farming
To Get That Country 1978 70'
  Directed by David MacDougall .
An important historical film of events surrounding early meetings of the Northern Land Council in 1977, where uranium mining, land rights and Aboriginal leadership were the key issues.
Australia Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Land Rights Social Organisation
To Live With Herds 1972 90'
  Directed by David MacDougall .
The Jie are semi-nomadic pastoral people living in North-eastern Uganda, who are striving to maintain their way of life in the face of unsympathetic government policy, and, at the time of filming, a dry-season famine.
East Africa Nomads and Nomadism Disasters Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy
To Work is to Grow 2015 32'
  Directed by Léa Klaue .
Gerald, Ruben, Neysa and their friends are children and adolescents who work as wheelbarrow pusher at a market and as prayer boys in a cemetery in the region of Cochabamba in Bolivia. With their own
Toang 2022 37'
    Student Directed by Rizky Maulana .
Toang is an intimate portrait of a rice paddy farmer and his family in Indramayu (Indonesia), who were in a precarious situation due to the cycle of indebtment and environmental degradation that the
Tobacco memories 2020 30'
    Student Directed by Manca Filak .
The villages in southwest Bulgaria have long been known for the cultivation and production of tobacco. Muslim Pomaks, still engaged in this work, are facing a decline due to the low purchase price of
Together Apart (MA Thesis) 2018 57'
    Directed by Maren Wickwire .
Carren has spent most of her adult life apart from her children. When her daughter Guil Ann arrives on the island of Cyprus to join her as domestic worker, unexpected events lead to Carren’s
Together as One 2013 39'
  Directed by Kilian Lamtur Tanlaka .
Nso' is the biggest kingdom of the Western Grassfields and an ethnic group in the northeast corner of Cameroon’s northwest region. Its capital Kumbo is where the ruler (Fon) lives. The Nso'
Central Africa Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany Collective / Community identity Inter-religious relations
A Town in Sicily 2015 120'
  Directed by Toni de Bromhead .
Castellammare is a 'high-density Mafia' seaside town. Local government is infiltrated, its economy is stagnant and there is no future for its youth. A group of angry young Sicilians now wish to
South-East Europe Political Activists
Tracing Roots: A Weaver's Journey 2015 26'
    Material Culture Directed by Ellen Frankenstein .
This film follows master Haida weaver Delores Churchill on a journey to replicate the spruce root hat found with Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi, also known as the Long Ago Person Found. The remains of the
Tracking the Pale Fox: Studies on the Dogon 1983 48'
  Directed by Luc de Heusch .
This film tells with verve and a touch of self-irony the history of research on the Dogon since the famous 1931 expedition of Marcel Griaule. The film establishes the original expedition in the
West Africa History of Anthropology
The Train Driver 2021 6'
    Animation Directed by Christian Wittmoser Zuniel Kim .
Trigger warning: suicide and related trauma In the five-minute animated documentary film The Train Driver, an anonymous train driver recounts his experience with suicide on the rails. Six times he
A Transfer of Power 1986 22'
  Directed by Judith MacDougall David MacDougall .
Replacing the engine in an old car is a familiar rural task, but how people go about it differs. For these Aboriginal men in New South Wales, it’s an occasion for affirming continuing
Australia Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Education / Knowledge transmission Infrastructure / Transport
Transfiction 2007 58'
  Directed by Johannes Sjøberg .
Transfiction explores 'ethnofiction' - an experimental ethnographic documentary film style in which the participants collaborate with the filmmaker to act out their own and others' life experiences
South America Reflexivity Film / Photography / Mass media Gender Role and Identity Sex / Sexuality LGBTQI* Ethnofiction
Travel 2016 63'
    Special Interest Directed by Nick Mai .
(This version of the film is edited using a single screen. For the split screen version see 'Travel - double screen version'). Joy left Nigeria to help her family after her father’s death. She
Western Europe Sex / Sexuality Labour Migration Ethnofiction Informant-researcher relationship Reflexivity
Travel (double screen) 2016 63'
  Directed by Nick Mai .
(This version of the film uses a split-screen device throughout. For the single screen version see 'Travel'). Joy left Nigeria to help her family after her father’s death. She knew that she was
Western Europe Sex / Sexuality Labour Migration Ethnofiction Reflexivity
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
Trends in Ethnographic Film-making in China '
Workshop
  Convened by Gary Seaman Paul Henley .
This workshop will assess contemporary ethnographic filmmaking in academic contexts in China and will include presentations by the following scholars. (Further presentations may be added later). All
Trends in Ethnographic Film-making in Latin America (I) '
Workshop
  Convened by Carlos Flores Angela Torresan Antonio Zirion .
This workshop will offer a space for Latin American researchers to discuss methodological and theoretical issues around their own ethnographic film-making or works of other relevant film-makers. The
Trends in Ethnographic Film-making in Latin America (II) '
Workshop
  Convened by Carlos Flores Angela Torresan Antonio Zirion .
This workshop will be a continuation of the workshop offered at 9:00 am on Thursday 30 March (Cinema 2, Watershed). It will offer a space for Latin American researchers to discuss methodological
Trobriand Cricket: An Ingenious Response to Colonialism 1974 50'
  Directed by Gary Kildea Jerry Leach .
The film documents the transformation by the Trobriand Islanders of the game of cricket, first introduced by British missionaries into a highly distinctive political ritual. Shot in 1973-1974,
Melanesia Sport Colonialism / Postcolonialism Political Activists
The Trobriand Islanders 1952 58'
    Directed by Harry Powell .
During his field work in the region of Omarakana, H.A.Powell filmed various sequences from which the film is assembled. In spite of the technical handicaps under which he was operating — shooting
Melanesia Everyday Life
True Body 2016 5'
  Directed by Louise Hollerup Christensen Shannon Turner Maja Rosenlund Byriel .
What do you do to your body hair, and what does your body hair do to you? True Body is a performative documentary that draws the viewer into a debate about gender norms and cultural body practices.
Twenty Two 2016 95'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Guo Ke .
The film focuses on Chinese ‘comfort women’ during World War II. At the time of filming, only 22 of the 200,000 Chinese victims forced into sexual slavery remained alive. Quietly humanistic, this
A Two Day Fair 2009 60'
  Directed by Anjali Monteiro KP Jayasankar .
Nothing in the world will last – it is but a two day fair” sings Mura Lala, drawing inspiration from the Sufi traditions of Sant Kabir and Abdul Lateef Bhitai. He is accompanied on the double
The Two Lives of Li Ermao 2019 87'
    Main Competition Directed by Jia Yuchuan .
Filmed over 17 years across Southern China, this remarkable film is an intimate and heart-wrenching portrait of Li Ermao, a transgender migrant worker, who performs in clubs looking for love and
Two Poets and a River 2021 76'
    Ethnomusicology Directed by Richard K. Wolf .
Using the Oxus river as a topos, this film explores themes of love and loss through the lives and musical poetry of the two most prominent and innovative Wakhi musicians in Central and South Asia:
Uma: a water crisis in Bolivia 2020 76'
  Directed by Ana 𝗟𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗿 .
Uma: a water crisis in Bolivia tells the story of three Andean indigenous communities in the highlands of Bolivia who are fighting to protect their water from diversion and contamination amid a
South America Environment Food / Water Gender Role and Identity Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Land Rights Political Activists Resistance Rural Social Conflict
Uncanny Strangers 2009 46'
    Directed by David Picard .
Uncanny Strangers has been filmed in a fishing village in the South-West of Madagascar. Through a series of everyday life episodes the film provides insight into the relationships between the
East Africa Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage Development projects Environment
Under the Men's Tree 1973 15'
  Directed by David MacDougall Judith MacDougall .
At Jie cattle camps in Uganda men often gather under a special tree to make leather and wooden goods and talk, relax, and sleep. This brilliant ethnographic documentary by renowned filmmakers David
East Africa Infrastructure / Transport Informant-researcher relationship Reflexivity
Under the Palace Wall 2013 53'
  Directed by David MacDougall .
From the 16th century the Indian village of Delwara in southern Rajasthan was ruled as a principality of the kingdom of Mewar. Its palace, which overlooks the village, is now a luxury hotel - a
South Asia Education / Knowledge transmission Children / Young people Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
Undercover in Underwear 2016 19'
    Student Directed by Diane Agatha .
The Internet provides an infinite place of freedom where self, mind and body are dislocated. We are able to reinvent and present ourselves the way we want. It is in this world that Circle, my alter
Unearthed 2021 16'
    Shorts Directed by Colin Rosemont .
The film examines the intersections of history, spirituality, colonialism, and contemporary archaeology through the experiences of archaeologists and Native Californians brought together by an excavation.
Unity through Culture 2011 69'
  Directed by Christian Suhr Ton Otto .
Soanin Killangit is determined to unite the people and attract international tourism through the revival of culture on Baluan Island, Manus, Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific. He organizes the
Melanesia Festivals / Carnival Social Conflict Collective / Community identity
Unity: Dress-scapes of Accra 2016 37'
  Directed by Mara Lin Visser .
This is a film about African fashion in the capital of Ghana. African printed fabrics seem to making a comeback in the fashion system of Accra. While following Allan, a fashion designer and his wife
West Africa Trade Material Culture Art / Artists / Artisans
Unravel 2012 14'
    Directed by Meghna Gupta .
'Unravel' follows the Western worlds least wanted clothes, on a journey across Northern India, from sea to industrial interior. They get sent to Panipat, a sleepy town and the only place in the world
South Asia Labour Material Culture Collective / Community identity
Unwritten Letters 2020 59'
  Directed by Max Bloching Abd Alrahman Dukmak .
Abd is a 24-year-old Syrian who took part in the early days of the 2011 revolution and now lives in Padova, Italy. Together with his German friend Max he is working on a film called Unwritten
South-East Europe Middle and Near East Migration Refugees / Displaced populations Participatory / Collaborative methods Life Story / Life History
Ustad Rahim 2008 55'
    Directed by John Baily .
Shot in the city of Heart, western Afghanistan 1994, in the period between the fall of the last leftist government and the coming of the Taliban, this is a portrait film of an outstanding musician,
South Asia Music / Ethnomusicology Education / Knowledge Transmission Personal Narrative
Uzu 2015 27'
  Directed by Gaspard Kuentz .
Held every October in the city of Matsuyama, the Dogo Autumn Festival is one of the most violent religious festivals celebrated in Japan. Eight teams of men carrying massive portable wood shrines
Central Asia and Far East Ritual Gender Role and Identity
VHS Diaries 2020 72'
    Decolonising the Archive Directed by Niyaz Saghari .
The filmmaker revisits the diaries she kept during the years when video was banned in Iran. Using her personal VHS archive of films as a point of reference, the film explores a very personal film
Vasile Nedea 2009 43'
  Directed by Sjoerd van Grootheest .
The film tells the story of Vasile Nedea, a Romanian gypsy musician an Amsterdam. Due to his former illegal status there have been times in which he was forced to show his skills whilst busking the
Western Europe Travellers / Roma Music / Ethnomusicology
The Veil Unveiled 2004 29'
  Directed by Vanessa Langer .
In Yemen, the land of Queen Saba, a wide variety of veils can be found. In the capital Sana’a, the women, although at first sight appearing to all be wearing but black, distinguish themselves one
Middle and Near East Gender Role and Identity Material Culture Religion / Belief / Faith
A Village with a View 2022 20'
    Shorts Directed by Joseph Inman .
In wartime Britain, a Lord permitted unused land on Cornwall’s Rame Peninsula to be built on. Tiny chalets appeared, each as individual as its owner, and the community of Freathy came to life. In
Violão-Canção: Brazilian Soul 2016 30'
  Directed by Chico Saraiva Rose Satiko Hikiji .
Following his artistic path, Chico Saraiva meets up with 7 master musicians who share their experiences: João Bosco, Sérgio Assad, Paulo César Pinheiro, Paulo Bellinati, Marco Pereira, Luiz Tatit
Virtual me: Gender and Identity in World of Warcraft 2013 11'
  Directed by Trent Monahan Sarah Prothero Jennifer Torson .
'Virtual Me' examines the experiences of players of the online game World of Warcraft, focusing specifically on their experience and understanding of issues surrounding gender and identity within
North America Gender Role and Identity Animation Internet
Visible Silence 2015 43'
  Directed by Ruth Gumnit .
Visible Silence offers a rare glimpse into the lives of Thai tomboys (toms), ladies (dees), and lesbians striving for recognition and acceptance in a traditional Buddhist society. The film highlights
Visual Anthropology Interventions and Climate Change '
Workshop
  Convened by Mike Poltorak .
**Interested participants are invited to submit proposals for presentations to M.S.Poltorak@kent.ac.uk** There is a recognised disconnect between publicly available scientific information on
The Visual Scholarship Initiative '
Talks
  .
This session discusses the work of the Visual Scholarship Initiative (VSI), which was started in 2006 by a small group of graduate students at Emory University. It quickly established itself on the
Visual Worlds of Difference '
Workshop
  Convened by Raminder Kaur Paul Boyce .
This workshop will highlight the role of (audio-) visual and participatory arts works in the development of representations that move away from the fixity and/or Othering of identities. Our aim is to
Vivre Riche 2017 53'
    RAI Basil Wright Directed by Joël Akafou .
“Rolex the Portuguese” has returned to Abidjan with one mission: to make lots of money. He seeks to emulates the hedonistic lifestyle of a new generation of West African music stars. He and his
Voices of Kula 2021 87'
    Werbner Award Directed by Gina Knapp .
Voices of Kula tells a story of empowerment, of local responses to cultural and economic changes, and of the strive to revitalise cultural heritage. A group of elders from Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea
Waban-Aki: People from Where the Sun Rises 2006 104'
    Lifetime Achievement Award - Alanis Obomsawin Directed by Alanis Obomsawin .
The filmmaker returns to the village where she was raised to craft a lyrical account of her own people. After decades of tirelessly recording others’ stories, she focuses this film on her own home
Waiting for Harry 1980 57'
  Directed by Kim McKenzie .
Although the events around which this film was planned were the final mortuary rites for Les Angabarraparra, the subject of the film became interaction. Interaction between the anthropologist Les
Australia Informant-researcher relationship Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Death Reflexivity
Walker's 2018 11'
    Student Directed by Kyle Myers-Haugh .
In this portrait of a historic black barbershop in Wilmington, North Carolina, we witness the everyday rituals that bind the men in this community together. Tight close ups illuminate intimate
Walking is Medicine 2018 5'
    Lifetime Achievement Award - Alanis Obomsawin Directed by Alanis Obomsawin .
This is the story of the Nishiyuu walkers, six young Cree men who decided to trek 1600km from Whapmagoostui, Quebec, to Ottawa, in the spirit of their ancestors, whose traditions were to travel long
Warehouse 2018 8'
    Directed by Lillian Dam Bracia S. Buse Yildirim Constantinos Diamantis Malwa Grabowska .
Warehouse is a meditative ethnographic short film. Warehouse is a place where sound moves the objects. It is an intimate encounter in the cosmos of objects, sounds and textures where carpenter
The Water Goddess and the Computer 1989 52'
  Directed by André Singer Steven Lansing .
The film demonstrates how in Bali, development projects can threaten a carefully balanced ecological irrigation system that is maintained by temple priests. A biologist and an anthropologist look at
South-East Asia Infrastructure / Transport Development projects Environment
The Water Goddess and the Computer 1988 58'
    Lifetime Achievement Directed by J. Stephen Lansing Andre Singer .
The Water Holds Me / The Water Binds Us 2021 2'
    Animation Directed by Lily Mae Kroes .
Based on the stories of women who dip, dive and swim in rivers, lakes and seas, this animated film evokes many different experiences in one swim, from the anticipation of getting in cold water to the
The Way I See Today 2016 46'
  Directed by Antonia Gama Márcio Gomes .
The critically-acclaimed film City of God (2002) is a fiction film based on a novel about a real place known as Cidade de Deus (City of God), located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Through the
The Way We Live Now 2016 32'
    Student Directed by Sophia Hersi Smith .
'The Way We Live Now' is an intimate portrait of the daily routines and rituals of the Hadza; modern-day hunter-gatherers living in the acacia-baobab woodlands surrounding Lake Eyasi in North-Central
East Africa Hunting / Gathering / Fishing Everyday Life
We Belong to the Earth 2015 30'
  Directed by Ramona August .
The establishment of the first intentional communities stretches back over two millennia ago, with notable examples such as the ancient Greek commune based on vegetarianism and equality of the sexes
We Don't Need A Grave 2014 27'
  .
'We Don't Need a Grave' attempts to show how the people who choose Shizenso rather than the typical family grave try to accept one's death. Shizenso is a natural mortuary practice that has no
Central Asia and Far East Religion / Belief / Faith Death Ritual
A Wedding 2021 15'
    Shorts Directed by Emiko Stock .
At a Cham Muslim wedding in rural Cambodia, an ethnographer doubles as a wedding videographer, capturing a day-long event in constant movement. Through unstable camera movements never completely
Welcome Reception '
Gala event
  Convened by RAI FILM FESTIVAL .
Join us for a reception to welcome our guests and to celebrate the start of the festival. All welcome. Sponsored by Wiley.
Welcome Valentine 2017 2017 16'
    Student Directed by Dhruv Satija .
In a temple dedicated to Hanuman in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, a priest flouts convention by marrying couples who are shunned elsewhere: mostly those who have eloped from families who disapprove of their
South Asia Marriage Love LGBTQI* Religion / Belief / Faith
Were Ni! He is a Madman 1963 30'
  Directed by Frank Speed Raymond Prince .
This ethnopsychiatric film shows the management of psychiatric disorders by the Yoruba of Nigeria. There are two basic types of institutions to deal with psychiatric disorders. First there are
West Africa Health / Health care / Healing Ritual Possession
What about China? 2022 135'
    President's Award - Trinh T. Minh-ha Directed by Trinh T. Minh-ha .
Influential filmmaker, writer, composer Trinh T. Minh-ha’s latest film takes the notion of harmony in China as a site of creative manifestation. Highly valued as a virtue and a guiding criterion in
What your eyes can’t see 2018 8'
    Shorts Directed by Julieta Pestarino .
An essay-documentary that explores the processes of archival research, and the limits of the kind of knowledge it can provide. Pestarino pursues photographer and traveller André Roosevelt into the
When Four Friends Meet 2000 43'
  Directed by Rahul Roy .
Bunty, Kamal, Sanjay and Sanju, best of friends and residents of Jehangiripuri, a working class colony on the outskirts of Delhi are young and trying to make their lives in an environment which is
South Asia Gender Role and Identity Children / Young people Urban
When the Sea Sends Forth a Forest 2020 21'
    Shorts Directed by Guangli LIU .
The story revolves around the memory of a Chinese survivor of the Khmer Rouge. This tragedy, which took the lives of two million people, continues to reshape our present. This forgotten moment of
Where the Clouds End 2014 52'
  Directed by Wanphrang Diengdoh .
“My late great grandfather was a Bengali who came to Shillong in the early 1900s - long before the present political border divided the lands.” After the creation of borders between India and
South Asia Colonialism / Postcolonialism Race / Racism / Antiracism Collective / Community identity
Where Things go 2022 75'
    Werbner Award Directed by Baptiste Aubert .
In the small Belgian town of Verviers in the mid-60s, most of the textile factories that had contributed to the town’s prosperity closed down. On witnessing the end of an epoch, the town council
Who says the lepchas are vanishing (Bang the Drum) 2019 42'
    Music Docs Directed by Abhyuday Khaitan .
A tribute to Sonam Tshering Lepcha, cultural leader and creator of songs, literature, dances and a museum of the Lepcha people of north-west Bengal and Sikkim (India). His life has been devoted to
Why is Mr W. Laughing? 2017 76'
  Directed by Jana Papenbrook .
Jana Papenbroock with Horst Wässle, Michael Gerdsmann, Bernhard Krebs WHY IS MR W. LAUGHING? is a portrait of three members of a community of artists with different disabilities. Rather than
Western Europe Art / Artists / Artisans Collective / Community identity Elderly people Health / Health care / Healing Life Story / Life History Personal Narrative Social participation
A Wind of Change 2019 72'
    Directed by Toni de Bromhead .
A Wind of Change 72 mins Segesta Production UK/IT Toni de Bromhead Unlike most films that one sees, this film shows what it really means to live with, and to fight the mafia in Sicily - not
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 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
A Woman's Story 2015 52'
  Directed by Azra Rashid .
A look at genocide, survival, and physical and cultural continuity through the eyes of three women who have experienced three different genocides of the 20th century. Shot on location in Canada,
The Women Weavers of Assam 2019 98'
    Special Interest Directed by Aparna Sharma .
The Women Weavers of Assam focuses on the craft, labour and the everyday lives of a group of women weavers in India’s northeastern state of Assam. The weavers belong to a non-profit collective
South Asia Art / Artists / Artisans Gender Role and identity Material Culture
Women in Sink 2015 36'
  Directed by Iris Zaki .
At “Fifi’s”, a hair salon owned by a Christian Arab in Haifa, Iris Zaki installs a minimalist film set over the sink, where she converses with the clients she’s shampooing. She thus paints an
Women of Freedom 2017 58'
    Directed by Abeer Zeibak Haddad .
Women of Freedom follows the stories of women who were murdered in the name of ‘honor killing', in the Arab and Palestinian society. This documentary aims to unravel the social and political
Writing on the City 2015 60'
  Directed by Keywan Karimi .
With Writing On The City, Keywan Karimi redraws the history of Tehran through its walls, from the Islamic Revolution in 1979 to nowadays. He was sentenced to a year of detention and 223 whiplashes
Wási 2017 16'
    Shorts Directed by Sebastián Gómez Ruíz Amado Villafaña Chaparro .
As the sun rises on a village in northern Colombia, we glimpse its inhabitants as they begin their day. As the scene emerges from obscurity, a voiceover reflects on the nature of sight. It is the
South America Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Indigenous Filmmaking History of Anthropology Film / Photography / Mass media
YEH FREEDOM LIFE / THIS FREEDOM LIFE 2018 70'
    Directed by Priya Sen .
Yeh Freedom Life / This Freedom Life was filmed over a year in Ambedkar Nagar, a dense, largely working class area in South Delhi. It moves between the two very different worlds of its protagonists,
Yanomami: From Machetes to Mobile Phones 2012 58'
  Directed by Cliff Orloff and Olga Shalygin .
The Yanomami Indians are one of the last large relatively unacculturated indigenous groups remaining in the world. In November 2000 filmmakers Orloff and Shalygin documented the lives of a small
South America Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Material Culture Social Change
Yarang Mamin 2019 21'
    Arandu - Listen to the Weather Directed by Kamatxi Ikpeng .
Indigenous filmmaker Kamatxi Ikpeng documents the story of a group of Ikpeng women who formed a movement to collect forest seeds and restore the banks of the Xingu River. The Yarang Women’s
Ymako 1998 52'
  Directed by Laurent Van Lancker Robin Shuffield .
Ymako Teatri, a theatre company based in the Ivory Coast, uses street theatre to question some contemporary West African problems. Their originality consists in using the ‘invisible theatre’
West Africa Dance / Theatre / Performance Health / Health care / Healing Social participation
Yolngu Homeland 2015 58'
  Directed by Natasha Fijn .
An observational film about Yolngu connections with other beings and the land. Garrthalala is a strong homeland community in Arnhem Land, Australia, where all ages venture out onto the coast and into
You can't show my face 2021 20'
    Shorts Directed by Knutte Wester .
The sound of the streets of Tehran are transformed into forbidden beats, people sing and young women and men rhyme their inner feelings. They tell us about a society that rejects them, streets
Yours Truly 2018 15'
    Directed by Maddi Barber Charlotte Hoskins Christopher Murray .
Yours Truly follows the trail of taxidermic pieces collected by The Manchester Museum during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Archival letters between the museums directors, explorers, and
Youth Group 2015 28'
    Student Directed by Wanwan Lu .
Set in the predominantly Asian “ethnoburbs” of Los Angeles County, this film follows a vibrant Buddhist youth group in a Chinese-American temple. Youth group members, most raised by immigrant
North America Collective / Community identity Religion / Belief / Faith Intergenerational relations
Zahida 2018 28'
    Special Interest Directed by Seemab Gul .
Zahida is a unique woman in Pakistan: she is the nation's only female taxi driver. This sensitive film provides fascinating insight into the personal and professional trials faced by this strong
Zawawa - the sound of sugar cane in the wind 2017 50'
    Directed by Rupert Cox Angus Carlyle .
It is a strange and bitter irony that the US naval bombardment which launched the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 was called the ‘typhoon of steel’, invoking the turbulent winds that annually buffet
The initiation of the young Xavante 1999 56'
    Arandu - Listen to the Weather Directed by Divino Tserewahú .
Documentary about the initiation of young Xavante men, held during the training workshops of the Video in the Villages project. At the invitation of director Divino Tserewahú, from the village
on-sea 2016 20'
    Student Directed by Hatty Bell .
on-sea is a portrait film about the small community that lives on the Bush Estate at Eccles-on-sea, Norfolk. It is a film about landscape, and how people interact with it through day-to-day minutiae
A very Dai Girl 2018 27'
    Student Directed by MengHua Zhang .
This film quietly observes her daily life of Xiao Yue, a bright 22-year-old young woman from Yunnan province in the South of China. We see Xiao Yue cook, care for her grandmother, sew, and farm - but
The world is round so that nobody can hide in the corners – Part I: Refuge 2017 10'
    Student Directed by Leandro Goddinho .
The first instalment in a series of shorts that explore LGBTQ+ experiences across the globe, envisioning a queer diasporic community. In Refuge, we hear the moving account of a young man forced to
The world is round so that nobody can hide in the corners – Part II: The Kiss 2017 5'
    Student Directed by Leandro Goddinho .
The second instalment in a series of shorts that explore LGBTQ+ experiences across the globe, envisioning a queer diasporic community. The Kiss stages an act of public sensuality at the Gay Holocaust
The world like a jewel in the hand: unlearning imperial plunder ii 2022 58'
    Focus on: Ariella Aïsha Azoulay Directed by Ariella Aïsha Azoulay .
This film travels over open books, looted objects and postcards to look for the imperial foundations of the world in which we live. Within this wide landscape the film focuses on the destruction of
‘Making of’ Anthropology on TV '
Workshop
  Convened by Evie Wright .
Filmmakers working with the BBC Natural History Unit will describe the practicalities of all the various stages of production – from the development of an idea with which to approach commissioners,