Join us at the RAI as we present a selection of the best films that screened at the most recent editions of Europe’s ethnographic film festivals.
Eurorama is an initiative led by Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina in collaboration with Trento Film Festival and Royal Anthropological Institute. Each spring, Eurorama showcases the best films that screened at various ethnographic film festivals across Europe. We are delighted to present a selection of the Eurorama programme here in London.
Venue: Royal Anthropological Institute, 50 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 5BT
This event is free, but capacity is limited and places must be booked here: https://eurorama2019.eventbrite.co.uk
The screenings will be introduced by Giovanni Kezich, Eurorama programmer and Director of Museo degli Usi e Costuma della Gente Trentino/Folklife Museum (Italy). He will be joined by Eurorama co-programmer Caterina Sartori.
The programme will be as follows:
11:00 Intro
11:10 The Lake
Dir. Daria Blokhina, 2017, Russia, 30 min
Ethnocineca 2018, Vienna | International Shorts Award
The Filippovy family live north in Russia, far away from modern civilization. They live in strong connection with their surrounding nature, a way of life that demands hard work and dedication.
11:40 Anniversary
Dir. Claudiu Mitcu, 2017, Romania, 54 min
Astra Film Festival 2018, Sibiu | Award for Best Director
Ioan Colţea, who is turning 91, lives in a quiet village in the mountains. Surrounded by his extended family, always serene and detached, he is now looking at his kids, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, with kindness, warmth and resignation in his eyes. The family gets together for an entire week not only to celebrate grandpa, but also to agree on building him a new grave and cross, all under Ioan Colţea’s strict observation.
12:40 Break
13:40 Alima
Dirs. Loukas Koubouris, Nickolas Papadimitrios, 2017, Greece, 30 min
Nordic Anthropological Film Association (NAFA) Film Festival 2018, Cluj (Romania) | Featured
Over the centuries, local communities around the Messolonghi lagoon in Greece have developed a variety of fishing techniques to support their livelihoods. One of them is the creation of natural fish farms (ivaria), still based on traditional knowledge, by using barrier traps to capture fish during their migration to the open sea. The film observes the daily routine of the fishermen working and living in one ivari as it takes place in the fishing period from spring to winter.
14:10 Passager
Dirs. Arjang Omrani, Asif Rezaei, 2018, Greece, 64 min
Tartu World Film Festival 2018, Tartu (Estonia) | Featured
Asif, an Afghan refugee with an eyesight deficiency, has tried several times to find his way to Western Europe from Greece. The film is composed of his 8-month mobile phone video diaries, in which he talks about the everyday life at the camps, as well as his dreams of a better life. He takes us to a tour of the spaces he hides in, including an abandoned wood factory, where refugees find shelter while waiting for their chance to hide under a truck that crosses the Adriatic to Italy.
15:15 Break
16:00 Together Apart
Dir. Maren Wickwire, 2018, Cyprus, USA, 57 min
International Festival of Ethnological Film Belgrade 2018, Belgrade | Student Competition Prize
When Guil Ann arrives on the Mediterranean island Cyprus from the Philippines to join her mother Carren as a domestic worker, the women reunite for the first time in over a decade. Carren spent most of her adult life apart from her children. Only months later, unexpected events lead to Carren’s deportation and challenge both women to confront their precarious dreams for togetherness and a better future.