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About
About RAI Film
Meet the team
Prices
Film Distribution
Watch on demand
Ethnographic Film Catalogue
Teaching resources
RAI Film Festival
About RAI Film Festival
Film Festival 2025
Film Festival 2025 Group passes
Film Festival prizes and awards
Film Conference 2025
Archive of past editions
RAI FILM
Login
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Twitter
About
About RAI Film
Meet the team
Prices
Film Distribution
Watch on demand
Ethnographic Film Catalogue
Teaching resources
RAI Film Festival
About RAI Film Festival
Film Festival 2025
Film Festival 2025 Group passes
Film Festival prizes and awards
Film Conference 2025
Archive of past editions
Menu
About
About RAI Film
Meet the team
Prices
Film Distribution
Watch on demand
Ethnographic Film Catalogue
Teaching resources
RAI Film Festival
About RAI Film Festival
Film Festival 2025
Film Festival 2025 Group passes
Film Festival prizes and awards
Film Conference 2025
Archive of past editions
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Films
12 Films
Year of production
“1997”
x
films with a digital version
2
short films
6
Region
Australia
2
British-Irish Isles
3
Central America
1
Central Asia and Far East
2
Middle and Near East
1
South America
1
South Asia
1
West Africa
1
Country
Australia
2
Brazil
1
Guatemala
1
India
1
Israel
1
Japan
1
Russian Federation
1
Togo
1
United Kingdom
3
Keywords
Alternative culture
3
Archival material / Museum displays
1
Art / Artists / Artisans
1
Children / Young people
1
Collective / Community identity
2
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
1
Dance / Theatre / Performance
1
Environment
1
Everyday Life
1
Family / Kinship
1
Film / Photography / Mass media
1
Gender Role and Identity
1
Health / Health care / Healing
2
History
1
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
3
Labour
1
Land Rights
1
Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy
1
Life Story / Life History
1
Love
1
Material Culture
1
Political Activists
2
Possession
1
Public Figure
1
Religion / Belief / Faith
1
Resettlement
1
Resistance
1
Ritual
1
Sex / Sexuality
1
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
1
Directors
Farrell, Emma
1
Flores, Carlos
1
Graham, Trevor
1
Grossenbacher, Ulrich
1
Grove-White, Will
1
Hill, Joanna
1
Longinotto, Kim
1
Luethi, Damaris
1
MacDougall, David
1
Opipari, Carmen
1
Robertson, Rachel
1
Saltman, Carlyn
1
Timbert, Sylvie
1
Willerslev, Rane
1
Williams, Jano
1
Series
Granada Center for Visual Anthropology Student Film
6
not set
6
Country of production
Australia
2
France
1
Switzerland
1
United Kingdom
7
United States
1
Year of production
1997
12
x
Film list
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
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
Cae Dai – a Home From Home
1997
30
‘
Directed by
Will Grove-White
.
After the closure of the North Wales psychiatric hospital in the late 1980s, Sparrow Harrison opened his family home to local people suffering from mental illness. This film explores the humour,
British-Irish Isles
Health / Health care / Healing
Alternative culture
Eco trip
1997
30
‘
Directed by
Rachel Robertson
.
A group of eco-activists travel around Britain attending festivals and other events aimed at raising awareness of ecological issues and of new, alternative ways of living. But sometimes relationships
British-Irish Isles
Alternative culture
Environment
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
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
A New Kind of Life
1997
28
‘
Directed by
Emma Farrell
.
How is someone’s life affected when faced with cancer? This film is a portrait of three people from Manchester, England, who have chosen to include complementary therapies as part of their daily coping strategies.
British-Irish Isles
Health / Health care / Healing
Alternative culture
Rub’el Kurus
1997
45
‘
Directed by
Carlos Flores
.
During the 1980s the Guatemalan army launched ruthless counter-insurgency campaigns against indigenous communities, killing or displacing thousands. This film documents the struggle of a group of
Central America
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
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
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
Women of a Divided Land
1997
22
‘
Directed by
Joanna Hill
.
This film follows the activities of Israeli and Palestinian women peace activists in Jerusalem and the West Bank, portraying both the collective and individual experiences of resistance.
Middle and Near East
Resistance
Political Activists
Religion / Belief / Faith
Yukaghir Stories
1997
30
‘
Directed by
Rane Willerslev
.
The Yukhagirs are one of the small indigenous peoples of Northern Siberia. This film, shot in the village of Nelemnoye, explores what it means to be a Yukhagir.
Central Asia and Far East
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Collective / Community identity