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About
About RAI Film
Meet the team
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Film Distribution
Watch on demand
Ethnographic Film Catalogue
Teaching resources
RAI Film Festival
About RAI Film Festival
Film Festival 2025
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Film Festival prizes and awards
Film Conference 2025
Archive of past editions
RAI FILM
Login
Facebook
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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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Twitter
Films
27 Films
Year of production
“2009”
x
films with a digital version
11
short films
18
Region
Australia
1
British-Irish Isles
2
Central Africa
1
Central America
1
Central Asia and Far East
5
East Africa
1
Middle and Near East
1
North and Northeast Africa
2
South America
2
South Asia
2
South-East Europe
1
Southern Africa
1
Various
1
Western Europe
5
Western Mediterranean
1
not set
1
Country
Australia
1
Belgium
1
Botswana
1
Cameroon
1
China
4
Ecuador
1
France
1
Germany
2
India
2
Italy
1
Japan
1
Madagascar
1
Mexico
1
Morocco
1
Paraguay
1
Spain
1
Sudan
1
The Netherlands
1
United Kingdom
2
Various
1
Yemen
1
not set
1
Keywords
Alternative culture
2
Art / Artists / Artisans
4
Collective / Community identity
1
Death
1
Development projects
1
Environment
1
Family / Kinship
2
Festivals / Carnival
3
Film / Photography / Mass media
1
Folklore
2
Gender Role and Identity
2
Health / Health care / Healing
1
History
1
History of Anthropology
1
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
2
Infrastructure / Transport
1
Intergenerational relations
1
Labour
2
Land Rights
2
Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy
1
Marriage
3
Material Culture
1
Migration
1
Music / Ethnomusicology
1
Political Activists
1
Possession
1
Public Figure
1
Refugees / Displaced populations
2
Religion / Belief / Faith
2
Reproduction (biology)
1
Ritual
3
Science / Technology
1
Shamans and Shamanism
1
Social Change
2
Social Conflict
1
Socioeconomic conditions
1
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
2
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
2
Trade
2
Travellers / Roma
3
Urban
3
not set
1
Directors
Asadullah, Sara
1
Basu, Helene
1
Bonifacio, Valentina
1
Contreras, Elisa
1
Corral Paredes, Carolina
1
Goldberg, Claudia
1
Grootheest, Sjoerd van
1
Haensch, Valerie
1
Husmann, Rolf
1
Ihle, Johanne Haaber
1
Jayasankar, KP
1
McGuirk, Siobhan
1
Meriwether, Maria
1
Merrun, Gabriel
1
Monteiro, Anjali
1
Mora, Alba
1
Ono, Ray
1
Picard, David
1
Rosen, Jennifer
1
Rousso-Schindler, Steven
4
Sanmartí, Anna
1
Seaman, Gary
4
Song, Zhifang
4
Straube, Anna
1
Trentini, Michele
2
Werbner, Richard
1
Williams, Stacey
1
Series
Carnival King of Europe
2
Granada Center for Visual Anthropology Student Film
11
Song Family Village
4
The Well-Being Quest in Botswana
1
not set
9
Country of production
China
4
Germany
4
India
1
Italy
2
Netherlands
1
Spain
1
United Kingdom
14
United States
4
Year of production
2009
27
x
Film list
Barah Pal
2009
30
‘
Directed by
Jennifer Rosen
.
12 castes of gypsy artists ended their nomadic ways nearly 45 years ago to squat in New Delhi. Now the slum is being dismantled and rehabilitated. These are their last months in the colony as they
South Asia
Refugees / Displaced populations
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
Travellers / Roma
Urban
The Bear Chase
2009
7
‘
Directed by
Michele Trentini
.
In the Catalan-speaking southern France, a proper “Bear Chase”, of the kind that was once popular throughout Europe, has been revived in a carnival context. This film is part of **Carnival
Western Europe
Festivals / Carnival
Folklore
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
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
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
Earning a Crust
2009
28
‘
Directed by
Elisa Contreras
.
Through their experiences, Uncle Isidro (a horse dealer) and Jeremo (a scrap collector) illustrate traditional gypsy occupations in the south of Spain, as well as the obstacles facing their
Western Mediterranean
Travellers / Roma
Labour
The Heavenly Court in Song Family Village
2009
30
‘
Directed by
Zhifang Song
Gary Seaman
Steven Rousso-Schindler
.
Religious life in the village is highly gendered, with female shamans dominating most religious activities. These shamanesses and their gods are organised as a “court”, which expresses a
Central Asia and Far East
Gender Role and Identity
Shamans and Shamanism
Ritual
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
In Pursuit of Happiness
2009
31
‘
Directed by
Ray Ono
.
Tokyo life as rarely seen on mainstream media. This short film takes you to the lives of men who live on the outskirts of the city and of Japanese society.
Central Asia and Far East
Alternative culture
Urban
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
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
Making it Big in Berlin
2009
24
‘
Directed by
Claudia Goldberg
.
In Berlin, where low rents and space for creative ideas are still available, self-employed workers live the alternative to a nine-to-five-job. A sewing café owner, a freelance journalist and two
Western Europe
Alternative culture
Art / Artists / Artisans
Marriage, Maoism and Modernity
2009
30
‘
Directed by
Zhifang Song
Gary Seaman
Steven Rousso-Schindler
.
This film outlines the types of marriage exchange practiced in a Chinese village over the last fifty years. Dowry, brideprice and exchange marriages have dominated the marriage market in turn as
Central Asia and Far East
Marriage
History
Social Change
Men of Words
2009
22
‘
Directed by
Johanne Haaber Ihle
.
The film explores how ancient traditions of poetry are still used in contemporary Yemen to discuss social and political problems.
Middle and Near East
Art / Artists / Artisans
Socioeconomic conditions
Once upon a time in Val di Fiemme
2009
23
‘
Directed by
Michele Trentini
.
Every four years, the new recruits in Carano are presented to the community in the midst of a complex carnival ritual called Banderàl. This film is part of **Carnival King of Europe DVD 6 –
South-East Europe
Folklore
Festivals / Carnival
Only Thinking
2009
27
‘
Directed by
Gabriel Merrun
.
On the North African coast in Ceuta, illegal migrants wait and hope to eventually continue onto the Spanish peninsula where they can attain asylum. Whilst waiting there, they are caught bewteen the borders.
North and Northeast Africa
Migration
Part of Us
2009
27
‘
Directed by
Maria Meriwether
.
For the Ngarrindjeri people, the living and the dead are connected through shared land and heritage. The preservation of this connection is at the heart of the community’s effort to repatriate the
Australia
Death
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
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
The Secret of the Stone
2009
39
‘
Directed by
Zhifang Song
Gary Seaman
Steven Rousso-Schindler
.
Located on the North China Plain about 200 miles south of Beijing, ‘Song Family Village’ is home to about 1,300 people. Some 80% of all villagers are members of a single lineage of the Song surname.
Central Asia and Far East
Family / Kinship
Collective / Community identity
Ritual
Festivals / Carnival
Shonar Bangla
2009
28
‘
Directed by
Sara Asadullah
.
Four scenes from a Bangladeshi community in London. Each scene is an encounter with a different generation (children, teenagers and adults) until the final scene where all generations are brought together in a wedding.
British-Irish Isles
Intergenerational relations
Marriage
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
Sin tierra, no somos Shuar
2009
23
‘
Directed by
Stacey Williams
.
Shuar traditions and land are intimately tied to another. This film explores how the traditions and relationships change when foreign mining companies enter their territory.
South America
Land Rights
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Social Conflict
Song Family Village Takes a Bride
2009
27
‘
Directed by
Zhifang Song
Gary Seaman
Steven Rousso-Schindler
.
Most weddings in the village still reflect traditional patterns of patrilineal descent and patrilocal residence. The bride leaves her natal home to marry into her husband’s village, where she is a
Central Asia and Far East
Marriage
Family / Kinship
Gender Role and Identity
Social Change
Still Life
2009
26
‘
Directed by
Siobhan McGuirk
.
“I am here because I can’t go home.” Subject to strict controls in the UK, three women asylum seekers wait for claims to be processed and decisions made. Here they find the lives which they
British-Irish Isles
Refugees / Displaced populations
Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy
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
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
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
Vendemos Recuerdos
2009
25
‘
Directed by
Carolina Corral Paredes
.
Carlos is an enthusiastic tour guide and Doña Rosa is an indigenous old woman that sells crafts in the market. Both of their life’s works are an effort to provide what inquisitive tourists might
Central America
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
Trade