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7
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15
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31
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14
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7
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10
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14
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4
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1
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3
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6
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9
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10
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2
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4
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5
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14
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7
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8
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4
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2
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11
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29
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3
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38
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12
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6
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26
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10
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3
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13
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9
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2
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2
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8
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3
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1
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6
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14
Directors
Arnott, Susi
1
Ash, David
1
Assunção, Matthias Röhrig
1
Ayisi, Florence
1
Baily, John
11
Banks, Marcus
1
Basu, Paul
1
Beckham, Michael
2
Beier, Ulli
1
Blake, John
2
Bonifacio, Valentina
1
Bradbury, Ray
1
Brice, Mark
1
Bringa, Tone
1
Bringas, Sylvie
1
Carr, Peter
1
Chambers, Simon
1
Christie, Debbie
1
Colucci, Erminia
3
Cross, Stephen
1
Curling, Chris
5
D'onofrio, Alexandra
1
Davidson, John Paul
1
Day, Mike
1
Demiralay, Hakan
1
Dettmann, Christine
1
Dietrich, Martha-Cecilia
1
Dineen, Molly
1
Drion, Georges
1
Eagle, Rob
1
Eaton, Michael
1
Edwards, Bob
1
Fedda, Yasmin
1
Ferrarini, Lorenzo
1
Getzels, Peter
1
Gordon, Harriet
1
Grigsby, Michael
1
Grossman, Alyssa
1
Hajee, Amin
1
Hardie, Amy
1
Harper, Peggy
2
Harries, Andy
3
Hawkins, Richard
1
Heald, Suzette
1
Hellwig, Jean
1
Henley, Paul
3
Hopkins, Ben
1
Horton, Robin
1
Howes, Arthur
3
Hughes-Freeland, Felicia
2
Hunt, Claire
1
Hunt, Clare
1
Husmann, Rolf
1
Jerstad, Jon
2
Johnson, Dul
1
Johnston, Graham
2
Kawanami, Hiroko
1
Kaymak, Vedide
1
Kenneil, Alastair
1
Kerlogue, Fiona
1
Kildea, Gary
1
Kurutuac, Judith
1
LaPin, Deirdre
1
Lansing, Steven
1
Lasko, Claire
2
Lawrence, Andy
1
Leach, Jerry
1
Lewis, Ariane
1
Llewelyn-Davies, Melissa
1
Loizos, Peter
3
Longinotto, Kim
16
Loïzos, Peter
1
MacDonald, Bruce
3
MacDougall, David
2
MacDougall, Judith
2
Marrero-Guillamon, Isaac
1
Milne, Claudia
1
Milner, George
1
Mir-Hosseini, Ziba
1
Moffat, Zemirah
1
Mollona, Massimiliano
1
Moser, Brian
7
Munro, Neil G.
1
Nairn, Charlie
5
Owen, Chris
1
Owles, Ed
1
Pakleppa, Richard
1
Pasini, Carlos
2
Picard, David
1
Pollack, Claire
1
Powell, Harry
1
Rens, Maarten
1
Robinson, Paul
1
Shakerifar, Elhum
1
Sheahan, Tom
1
Sheppard, John
4
Singer, André
11
Sjøberg, Johannes
1
Solomons, Natasha
1
Sowa, Remigiusz (aka Remi)
1
Speed, Frank
6
Sperscheinder, Werner
1
Taylor, Jamie
1
Thomas Allen, Christopher
1
Wason, David
5
Werbner, Richard
6
Whitby-Coles, Charlotte
1
Williams, Jano
3
Winter, Pattie
1
Woodhead, Leslie
12
Yorke, Michael
1
de Bromhead, Toni
5
Series
Caught in a Web
3
Decolonising Shorts
1
Disappearing World Series
54
Forbidden Rites
3
In Search of Cool Ground: The Mursi Trilogy
3
National Film and Television School
10
Pleasure Shorts
1
Sudan Trilogy
3
The Well-Being Quest in Botswana
5
Turkana Conversations
1
not set
88
Country of production
Australia
2
Brazil
1
Germany
1
India
2
Indonesia
2
Italy
2
Nigeria
6
Peru
1
Senegal
1
South Africa
1
Sweden
1
United Kingdom
169
x
United States
6
Year of production
1931
1
1952
1
1963
1
1964
1
1966
1
1970
2
1971
3
1972
2
1973
2
1974
9
1975
5
1976
1
1977
6
1979
4
1980
2
1981
1
1982
4
1983
7
1984
3
1985
7
1986
1
1987
9
1988
9
1989
11
1990
5
1991
5
1992
1
1993
5
1996
2
1997
1
1998
1
1999
4
2000
1
2001
3
2002
1
2003
1
2004
1
2005
3
2006
4
2007
5
2008
6
2009
3
2010
5
2012
1
2013
2
2014
3
2015
4
2016
1
2018
3
2019
1
2020
2
2021
2
Film Festival Year
not set
157
2015
2
2017
3
2019
3
2021
3
2023
1
Event type
not set
169
Festival Prize Category
not set
126
RAI Basil Wright
1
Special Interest
2
Student
6
Werbner Award
1
not set
33
Review Status
Accepted
3
Film library
2
not set
164
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169
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Film list
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
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
Across the Tracks - The Vlach Gypsies in Hungary
1988
52
'
Directed by
John Blake
.
*'Across the Tracks' is a gripping film for the general viewer. It is beautifully filmed in observational style (lingering scenes of muddy courtyards) with enough subtitled interview material to
Central Europe
Animals
Labour
Travellers / Roma
Afghan Exodus
1980
52
'
Directed by
André Singer
.
When Granada Television visited Afghanistan to make the award-winning Disappearing World 'The Kirghiz', they were a proud, independent, nomadic people who made their living by rearing herds of yaks
South Asia
Refugees / Displaced populations
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Migration
The Ainu Bear Ceremony
1931
27
'
Directed by
Neil G. Munro
.
The RAI has reedited the original film of this ceremony among the Ainu people of Japan. In the bear ceremony, now no longer performed, a specially reared bear was reverently killed and its flesh and
Central Asia and Far East
Ritual
Animals
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
The Albanians of Rrogam
1991
52
'
Directed by
David Wason
.
With the fall of the Stalinist regime in Albania, one of the poorest countries in Europe, the people of a remote mountain village, Rrogam, are faced with the dilmma of how to re-allocate the land and
South-East Europe
Post-communism
Social Change
Land Rights
Rural
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
Asante Market Women
1982
52
'
Directed by
Claudia Milne
.
As retailers, wholesalers, and negotiators, Asante women of Ghana dominate the huge Kumasi Central Market amid the laughter, argument, colour and music. The crew of this Disappearing World film have
West Africa
Marriage
Trade
Gender Role and Identity
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
The Basques of Santazi
1987
52
'
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
.
*In her book 'The Circle of Mountains' Sandra Ott provided a fascinating analysis of social reciprocity (...) The film highlights the village's contemporary dilemmas and thereby complements rather
Western Europe
Herding
Social Change
Rural
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
Benjamin and His Brother
1999
87
'
Directed by
Arthur Howes
.
Years of war and ethnic conflict in the Sudan have created a generation of young men, known as the "Lost Boys", who have spent more years in refugee camps than in their home communities.
North America
East Africa
Refugees / Displaced populations
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Children / Young people
Family / Kinship
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
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
Born
2008
56
'
Directed by
Andy Lawrence
Judith Kurutuac
.
*Our hope is to create a magical-real environment in which to go beyond the limits of our historical perspective on childbirth and its culturally bound rites, and to demonstrate an emotionally
British-Irish Isles
Health / Health care / Healing
Family / Kinship
Children / Young people
Breaking the 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
Burying Hallelujah
2014
51
'
Directed by
Richard Werbner
.
Hallelujah, a 'bush mechanic' turned archbishop, gets the funeral he deserves, one of the very biggest in Botswana's railway town, Palapye. Many churches come together, their robes, splendid, their
Southern Africa
Religion / Belief / Faith
Death
Cakchiquel Maya of San Antonio Palopó
1987
52
'
Directed by
Bruce MacDonald
.
The documentary shows how Cakchiquel Maya of a village on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala adapted to changes that took place in the decades before the film was made, when the lake became a favoured spot
Central America
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Cannibalism
1999
60
'
Directed by
André Singer
Tom Sheahan
.
The history of cannibalism around the world and its role in different culture, from ancient Britain to Papua New Guinea. The Forbidden Rites trilogy explores cannibalism, head hunting and human
Various
Ritual
Archival material / Museum displays
History of Anthropology
The Carrot and the Stick
1988
44
'
Directed by
Susi Arnott
.
When they retired from selling insurance and teaching, John and Irene Brown volunteered to work overseas under a British Aid programme. They were sent to expand a marketing project aimed at
Melanesia
Development projects
Agriculture / Farming
Rural
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
A Clearing in the Jungle
1970
52
'
Directed by
Charlie Nairn
.
Like that of many other Indian groups in South America, the culture of the Panare Indians of Venezuela is threatened by their almost daily contact with neighbouring creoles, Spanish-speaking
South America
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
Informant-researcher relationship
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
The Condor and the Bull
1989
56
'
Directed by
Peter Getzels
Harriet Gordon
.
Villagers from remote hamlets high in the Andes join together with people from the roadside village of Ocongate for the Peruvian Independence Day celebration. Festivities require that a wild condor
South America
Animals
Festivals / Carnival
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
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
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
Dervishes of Kurdistan
1973
52
'
Directed by
Brian Moser
.
A community of Kurds resident in Iran on the border with Iraq forms the subject of this film. Many of the inhabitants of the community are refugees from Kurdish areas of Iraq and the villagers are
Middle and Near East
Refugees / Displaced populations
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
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
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
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
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
Embera — the End of the Road
1971
52
'
Directed by
Brian Moser
.
The way of life of the 10,000 Embera Indians who live in the Choco region of Colombia, South American, is threatened by the encroachments of Negro Libres (descendants of freed slaves) and by the
South America
Land Rights
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Encountering Eloyi
2008
56
'
Directed by
Richard Werbner
.
Of all the faith-healing churches in Botswana, Eloyi is the most controversial. Sensational stories in newspapers and on television have made Eloyi notorious for so-called witch-busting and for
Southern Africa
Health / Health care / Healing
Ritual
Religion / Belief / Faith
Reproduction (biology)
The Eskimos of Pond Inlet
1977
52
'
Directed by
Michael Grigsby
.
For the Eskimos of Pond Inlet - a new village in North Baffin Island in which they have been settled by the Canadian Government – the life of the semi-nomadic hunter has given way to that of
North America
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
Collective / Community identity
Social Conflict
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
Faces Voices
2018
18
'
Directed by
Paul Basu
Christopher Thomas Allen
.
The film complicates any simple reading of a colonial photographic archive from Southern Nigeria and Sierra Leone that was collected between 1909 and 1915. Through a collaborative creative effort
West Africa
British-Irish Isles
Archival material / Museum displays
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
Race / Racism / Antiracism
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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
Head Hunting
1999
60
'
Directed by
André Singer
.
The history of human decapitation, featuring the story of two British engineers beheaded by rebels in modern Russia and the psychological and religious implications of contemporary headhunting in
Various
Ritual
History of Anthropology
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
Heart of the Village
1985
52
'
Directed by
Toni de Bromhead
.
The second film of the Caught in the Web trilogy, which compares and contrast aspects of life in a Dorset community in the Bride Valley and a French village in Provence, Villes-sur-Auzon,
Western Europe
British-Irish Isles
Rural
Socioeconomic conditions
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
The Herders of Mongun-Taiga
1989
52
'
Directed by
John Sheppard
.
The Tuvinians live deep inside the Soviet Union, at the very centre of Asia. Tuva is geographically closer to Peking than to Moscow. It only entered the USSR in 1944 and was closed to foreigners
Central Asia and Far East
Herding
Nomads and Nomadism
Shamans and Shamanism
Gender Role and Identity
Social Change
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 Hustlers
2009
53
'
Directed by
Richard Werbner
.
Charismatic, street-wise young men, living in Botswana’s capital, command the prophetic domain in Eloyi, their Apostolic faith-healing church, at a time of escalating crisis. Bitter, sinful
Southern Africa
Religion / Belief / Faith
Urban
Possession
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
Home from the Hill
1984
60
'
Directed by
Molly Dineen
.
Anthropology’s relationship with colonialism has been discussed widely. Yet the ethnography of the colonial service remains largely unexplored on film. This entertaining documentary shows, not
British-Irish Isles
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
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
Human Sacrifice
1999
60
'
Directed by
André Singer
.
The documentary gives insight into the ancient rituals and religious practices involved in human sacrifice. The Forbidden Rites trilogy explores cannibalism, head hunting and human sacrifice. This
Various
Ritual
History of Anthropology
Ian Gleadell: A Falkland Farmer
1987
34
'
Directed by
Bob Edwards
Alastair Kenneil
.
The 1982 war between Britain and Argentina brought the Falkland or Malwinas Islands into the news headlines. This film is less spectacular: It shows the way of life of one inhabitant of this
South America
Animals
Agriculture / Farming
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
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 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 Cool Ground: The Mursi Trilogy
1987
52
'
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
.
This is a trilogy about aspects of the culture of two groups of people, the Kwegu and the Mursi, in Ethiopia. The titles are: THE MURSI , THE KWEGU, THE MIGRANTS *What made this trilogy special
North America
Social Change
Socioeconomic conditions
Health / Health care / Healing
John the Eel Trapper
1982
28
'
Directed by
Toni de Bromhead
.
The fens of East Anglia provide the scenery for this documentary. At the centre of the film is John, a solitary character, who makes his living by trapping eels in the numerous canals of the area.
British-Irish Isles
Animals
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
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
Kafi's Story
1979
53
'
Directed by
Arthur Howes
Amy Hardie
.
Shot in 1989, Kafi's Story captures Nuba life at the moment before it was engulfed in the Sudanese civil war. Kafi narrates his own story into a portable tape record as he travels from his village,
North and Northeast Africa
Film / Photography / Mass media
Marriage
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
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
The Kalasha: Rites of Spring
1990
60
'
Directed by
John Sheppard
.
The Kalasha are a tribal people, 3,000 strong, who live in the high valleys of the Hindu Kush mountains in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. The Kalasha are unique as a pagan people in
South Asia
Festivals / Carnival
Land Rights
Agriculture / Farming
Social Conflict
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
Kataragama: A God for All Seasons
1973
52
'
Directed by
Charlie Nairn
.
In ever-increasing numbers Sinhalese of all religions (Muslims, Christians and Buddhists) are turning to Kataragama, an ancient Hindu God, at times of trouble and desperation. Once a year pilgrims
South Asia
Religion / Belief / Faith
Ritual
Possession
The Kawelka: Ongka’s Big Moka
1974
52
'
Directed by
Charlie Nairn
.
Ongka is a charismatic big-man of the Kawelka tribe who live scattered in the Western highlands, north of Mount Hagen, in Papua New Guinea. The film focuses on the motivations and efforts involved
Melanesia
Ritual
Festivals / Carnival
Social Conflict
The Kayapo
1987
52
'
Directed by
Michael Beckham
.
This film focuses on the conflicts and determination of a group of people trying to survive and maintain their ethnic identity in the face of almost overpowering odds. The film contrasts the
South America
Land Rights
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Political Activists
Resistance
Social Conflict
The Kayapo: Out of the Forest
1989
52
'
Directed by
Michael Beckham
.
Early in 1989 the Kayapo rallied other Brazilian Indians to attend a reunification of the tribes at Altamira«the proposed site of a massive hydro-electric dam, that will flood large parts of the
South America
Land Rights
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Resistance
Film / Photography / Mass media
Political Activists
Social Conflict
The Kazakhs of China
1983
52
'
Directed by
André Singer
.
The Kazakhs of Xinjiang (Sinkiang) are one of the fifty-five national minorities that now live within the borders of the People's Republic of China. The policy of the Chinese Communist Party toward
Central Asia and Far East
Social Change
Nomads and Nomadism
Collective / Community identity
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
Khyber
1979
49
'
Directed by
André Singer
Andy Harries
.
For more than a century Britain was engaged in war with the Pashtun tribesmen of India's North West frontier. It began with the bloodiest massacre in the history of the British Empire when, in
South Asia
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
History
The Kirghiz of Afghanistan
1975
51
'
Directed by
Charlie Nairn
André Singer
.
The Kirghiz of Afghanistan are a group of some 2,000 pastoralists living on a bleak mountain plateau in a narrow isthmus of land between the borders of the Soviet Union and China. For nine months of
Middle and Near East
Herding
Nomads and Nomadism
Social Organisation
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
The Kwegu
1979
52
'
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
Andy Harries
.
*'The Kwegu' is an entirely tasteful and dignified presentation of the harsh realities of subsistence living, and it may help us understand how, even in stateless societies, dominated groups come to
North and Northeast Africa
Collective / Community identity
Agriculture / Farming
Social Organisation
Marriage
Trade
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
The Last of the Cuiva
1971
52
'
Directed by
Brian Moser
.
The film focuses on recent changes in the culture and society of the Cuiva, hunters and gatherers in a remote forest region of south-eastern Colombia, brought about through contact with Colombian
South America
Social Change
Race / Racism / Antiracism
Land Rights
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
The Lau of Malaita
1982
52
'
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
.
*Pierre Miranda and a team from Granada Television have made a fine film exploring the trouble realities of the people of the lagoon in the 1980s.* (B. Shore) This film focuses on the people of
Melanesia
Social Change
Social Conflict
Ritual
Death
Religion / Belief / Faith
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
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
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
Living with the Revolution
1983
52
'
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
Claire Lasko
.
*These three films ('Inside China: Living with the Revolution'; 'The Newest Revolution'; 'The Kazakhs of China') present a valuable record of aspects of most recent developments in China.* (A.
Central Asia and Far East
Social Change
History
Family / Kinship
The Longest Struggle: The Karen of Burma
1993
52
'
Directed by
John Sheppard
.
In the forested hills of eastern Burma, a war has been going on for more than 50 years. A war that is rarely reported and is often apparently at a stalemate. For the Karen people of this part of
South-East Asia
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Memory
Lorang's Way
1977
69
'
Directed by
David MacDougall
Judith MacDougall
.
The Turkana are a group of semi-nomadic pastoralists who inhabit a harsh environment of dry thorn country in northwestern Kenya. Lorang’s Way focuses upon a Turkana elder. Having spent time away
East Africa
Herding
Social Change
Nomads and Nomadism
Masai Manhood
1975
52
'
Directed by
Chris Curling
.
This film was made after 'Masai Women' and in the same area. Together the two films provide a vivid view of Masai men and women and their place in Masai society. The Masai are pastoral nomads in
East Africa
Gender Role and Identity
Social Change
Ritual
Social Organisation
Nomads and Nomadism
Herding
Masai Women
1974
52
'
Directed by
Chris Curling
.
The Masai are cattle herders living in the East African rift valley: they grow no crops and are proud of being a non-agricultural people. Cattle are the all-important source of wealth and social
East Africa
Gender Role and Identity
Social Change
Ritual
Social Organisation
Nomads and Nomadism
Herding
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
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
The Mehinacu
1974
52
'
Directed by
Carlos Pasini
.
The Mehinacu live near the head-waters of the River Xingu in Central Brazil, in a single village within the protective confines of the Xingu National Park. Although the film concentrates upon the
South America
Social Organisation
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Collective / Community identity
Ritual
The Mende
1990
52
'
Directed by
Bruce MacDonald
.
This is a portrait of Kpuawala, Sierra Leone, a village of some 260 Mende people living in a clearing in the forest in houses of mud brick and tin. Like any village portrait it gossips, happy
West Africa
Everyday Life
Social Organisation
Rural
The Meo
1972
52
'
Directed by
Brian Moser
Chris Curling
.
Over the last three thousand years the Meo (Miao or Hmong) have migrated south from north and central China to avoid oppression and protect their way of life. Today they live in scattered mountain
South-East Asia
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Shamans and Shamanism
Ritual
Social Organisation
Rural
The Migrants
1985
52
'
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
David Wason
.
The Migrants is the third film in the trilogy 'In Search of Cool Ground' for Granada Television's Disappearing World series. It is about a drought-induced migration of Mursi from their traditional
North and Northeast Africa
Social Change
Collective / Community identity
Refugees / Displaced populations
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
Mongolia, part 1: On the Edge of the Gobi
1975
52
'
Directed by
Brian Moser
.
Mongolia is a country the size of Western Europe with under 1.5 million people but over 23 million head of livestock. This film concentrates on life in the great plains of Mongolia, at the foot of
Central Asia and Far East
Herding
Social Change
Rural
Everyday Life
Mongolia part 2: The City on the Steppes
1975
52
'
Directed by
Brian Moser
.
The second of two films on Mongolia made by Granada Television in 1974–75 looks at life in Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia and home of a quarter of the population. The city celebrates the 53rd
Central Asia and Far East
Festivals / Carnival
Urban
Everyday Life
Muktuk
1983
40
'
Directed by
Graham Johnston
.
Shot on the mosquito-ridden shores of the Mackenzie Delta in Canada’s North-West territories, the film deals with the annual Beluga (white whale) hunt. Three families are followed who have
North America
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
Animals
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Education / Knowledge transmission
The Mursi
1974
52
'
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
.
The Mursi are a cattle-keeping and agricultural group without chiefs or leaders from south-west Ethiopia. This film, made under extremely difficult conditions, focuses on the way decisions are made
North and Northeast Africa
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Social Organisation
Mursi: The Land is Bad
1991
52
'
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
.
A further visit to the Mursi of Southern Ethiopia with whom contact was established 17 years ago, for an important coming of age ceremony which has had to be postponed many times. An elder of the
North and Northeast Africa
Ritual
Social Conflict
Health / Health care / Healing
Mursi: Nitha
1991
52
'
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
.
The proper time for a man to go through the Age Set Ceremony, the nitha, is just as he reaches physical maturity. But many years may elapse from one nitha to the next, so it is inevitable that some
North and Northeast Africa
Ritual
Social Conflict
Gender Role and Identity
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
The Newest Revolution
1983
52
'
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
Claire Lasko
.
This film is a continuation of 'Living with the Revolution', set in the same communes near Wuxi and focusing on the same families. This film concentrates, however, on the new social and economic
Central Asia and Far East
Family / Kinship
Social Change
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
Nuba Conversation
1989
53
'
Directed by
Arthur Howes
.
Ten years after he made 'Kafi's Story', director Arthur Howes returns to the Sudan to find the members of the Nuba who featured in his earlier documentary film. Soon after he had left the Sudan, the
North and Northeast Africa
Children / Young people
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Refugees / Displaced populations
Oink!
2020
22
'
Directed by
Rob Eagle
.
An experimental research documentary offering a portrait of gay men who‚ in different ways‚ relate to the “pig” sexual imaginary. It provides insight into their experiences of identity,
Western Europe
North America
Sex / Sexuality
LGBTQI*
Collective / Community identity
Orphans of Passage: The Uduk
1993
52
'
Directed by
Bruce MacDonald
.
In 1987 Sudanese government forces attacked the Uduk of Southern Sudan, and 20-25000 Uduk fled. Since then they have criss-crossed the Sudanese/Ethiopian border 5 times. In the spring of 1992, 13000
North and Northeast Africa
Refugees / Displaced populations
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Religion / Belief / Faith
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
The Pathans
1980
52
'
Directed by
André Singer
Andy Harries
.
There are twelve million Pathans. Bound by a common language, a common heritage and the unifying force of Islam, these proud and independent people do not acknowledge the geographical boundary which
South Asia
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Social Organisation
Gender Role and Identity
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
The Quechua
1974
52
'
Directed by
Carlos Pasini
David Ash
.
This film is set in a community of peasant agriculturalists 2 1/4 miles above sea level in the southern Peruvian Andes. Concentrating on a single family, the film explores aspects of religious and
South America
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Religion / Belief / Faith
Social Change
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
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
The Rendille
1977
52
'
Directed by
Chris Curling
.
The Rendille are camel herders who live in villages and camps dotted over 10,000 square miles of desert and scrub bush in Northern Kenya. As the terrain they occupy is so dry, the Rendille grow no
East Africa
Herding
Animals
Social Organisation
Everyday Life
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
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
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
Sacred Harp Singers
1984
85
'
Directed by
Mark Brice
.
A moving portrait of harp singers Leonard and Mazine Lacy. Sacred harp music is a kind of harmonised plainsong practised in rural America. This film was shot in Sand Mountain, Alabama, and is
North America
Music / Ethnomusicology
Rural
The Sakuddei
1974
52
'
Directed by
John Sheppard
.
The Sakuddei are a small and ethnically separate community living on the island of Siberut off the west coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. Their distinctive way of life and elaborate religious
South-East Asia
Collective / Community identity
Social Change
Land Rights
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
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
Shade Seekers and The Mixer
2006
60
'
Directed by
Richard Werbner
.
Set in Moremi village within Botswana’s awesome Tswapong hills, the film makes village elders self-consciously reflexive. The elders, including a controversial healer, view and discuss an earlier
Southern Africa
Health / Health care / Healing
Religion / Belief / Faith
Informant-researcher relationship
Sherpas of Nepal
1977
52
'
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
Pattie Winter
.
Thami is a village 12,000 feet up in the Himalayas in the Kingdom of Nepal. As the film's opening shots illustrate, in a type of filmic short-hand, Thami is composed of a patchwork of individual
South Asia
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
Labour
Marriage
Social Change
The Shilluk of Southern Sudan
1976
52
'
Directed by
Chris Curling
.
This film presents a compelling visual and aural analysis of Shilluk kingship in 1975, and provides a very useful complement to Evans-Pritchard's 1948 text, The Divine Kingship of the Shilluk.
North and Northeast Africa
Collective / Community identity
Social Organisation
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
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
Smoke
1991
28
'
RAI Basil Wright
Directed by
Maarten Rens
.
The film deals with fish smoking in Monnickendam, a small town twelve miles north of Amsterdam. Using archival footage, interviewing old fishermen, and contrasting the traditional and the modern
Western Europe
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
Food
Archival material / Museum displays
Some Women of Marrakech
1977
52
'
Directed by
Melissa Llewelyn-Davies
.
In Marrakech, traditional attitudes to women prevail perhaps more strongly than in other Moroccan cities. This is especially true for those women who live by the standards of traditional ideals in
North and Northeast Africa
Gender Role and Identity
Labour
Dance / Theatre / Performance
Social Norms
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
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
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
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
Séance Reflections with Richard Werbner
2004
45
'
Directed by
Richard Werbner
.
Njebe and Martha are a childless couple living in Botswana’s capital. Seeking to recover their well-being, they consult a charismatic diviner and healer, in Njebe’s old village, Moremi. They
Southern Africa
Health / Health care / Healing
Ritual
Reproduction (biology)
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
Talking to Each Other
1985
52
'
Directed by
Toni de Bromhead
.
The third film of the **Caught in the Web** trilogy, which compares and contrast aspects of life in a Dorset community in the Bride Valley and a French village in Provence, Villes-sur-Auzon,
Western Europe
British-Irish Isles
Rural
Socioeconomic conditions
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
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
A Tibetan New Year
1987
45
'
Directed by
Jon Jerstad
.
This outstanding documentary is placed in Northern India among a group of Tibetan refugees. They celebrate the New Year, following a ritual of their religion, Bonpo, which is older than Buddhism.
South Asia
Religion / Belief / Faith
Ritual
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
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
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
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
The Trobriand Islanders of Papua New Guinea
1990
52
'
Directed by
David Wason
.
The Trobriand Islands lie off the eastern tip of Papua New Guinea. The island society has a complex balance of male authority and female wealth. Magic spells and sorcery pervade everyday life.
Melanesia
Gender Role and Identity
Festivals / Carnival
Ritual
The Tuareg
1972
52
'
Directed by
Charlie Nairn
.
This film is about a group of nomadic Tuareg living high up in the Hoggar Mountains near Tamanrasset in Algeria. The main focus of the film is the collapse of the former economic basis of their
North and Northeast Africa
Social Organisation
Social Change
Socioeconomic conditions
Nomads and Nomadism
Tuktu
1985
47
'
Directed by
Graham Johnston
.
Tuktu is the Kuvanmiit Eskimo word for caribou. The film traces the early evolution of Ambler, founded almost 30 years ago on the Kobuk River in Alaska. Change and development mark life now in this
North America
Animals
Social Change
Umbanda
1977
52
'
Directed by
Stephen Cross
.
Umbanda is a syncretic religious movement, combining elements from orthodox Catholicism with submerged African and indigenous Indian spiritual beliefs. In spite of past attempts to suppress it,
South America
Possession
Health / Health care / Healing
Religion / Belief / Faith
Ritual
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
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
A Village Heritage
1985
52
'
Directed by
Toni de Bromhead
.
The first of the **Caught in the Web** trilogy, which compares and contrast aspects of life in a Dorset community in the Bride Valley and a French village in Provence, Villes-sur-Auzon, Vauclause.
Western Europe
British-Irish Isles
Socioeconomic conditions
Rural
The Villagers of Sierra de Gredos
1989
52
'
Directed by
Peter Carr
.
The 130 villagers of Navalguijo in the Sierra de Gredos of Central Spain live in a village perched high in the mountains and they face an extreme climate with very cold winters and hot summers. The
Western Mediterranean
Herding
Rural
Collective / Community identity
War of the Gods
1971
52
'
Directed by
Brian Moser
.
While relying on a polemical stance directed against the cultural genocide wrought by missionaries, 'War of the Gods' also contains a wealth of information and detail about Amazonian Indian
South America
Religion / Belief / Faith
Collective / Community identity
Agriculture / Farming
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
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
We Are All Neighbours
1993
52
'
Directed by
Debbie Christie
.
The film shows the effect of war on families in a racially mixed village outside Sarajevo, Bosnia, where Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Moslems lived peacefully together. Norwegian anthropologist Tone
South-East Europe
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Collective / Community identity
Inter-religious relations
The Whale Hunters of Lamalera
1988
52
'
Directed by
John Blake
David Wason
.
The Whale Hunters of Lamalera was filmed over a period of four weeks during June 1987. Lamalera is a village which is perched on the rocky slopes of an active volcano on the southern coast of the
South-East Asia
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
Animals
Everyday Life
Witchcraft Among the Azande
1982
52
'
Directed by
André Singer
.
*Witchcraft among the Azande' is suitable for showing in undergraduate and graduate classes on topics of religion, philosophy, and African ethnography. It could also be stimulating to discussions of
North and Northeast Africa
Religion / Belief / Faith
Health / Health care / Healing
Social Change
The Wodaabe
1988
52
'
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
David Wason
.
*Is the Wodaabe world disappearing? How are we to place the painted male faces? The very considerable success of this film is the ways it answers these questions.* J. Picto The Wodaabe follow
Central Africa
Herding
Animals
Everyday Life
Ritual