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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
Facebook
Instagram
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
Login
Facebook
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Films
14 Films
Country
“India”
x
Country of production
“United Kingdom”
x
films with a digital version
6
short films
7
Region
South Asia
14
Country
India
14
x
Keywords
Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany
1
Art / Artists / Artisans
1
Children / Young people
3
Collective / Community identity
1
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
1
Education / Knowledge Transmission
2
Film / Photography / Mass media
1
Gender Role and Identity
3
Health / Health care / Healing
2
History
1
Informant-researcher relationship
1
Inter-religious relations
2
Labour
1
Life Story / Life History
1
Marriage
1
Material Culture
1
Refugees / Displaced populations
1
Religion / Belief / Faith
3
Resistance
1
Ritual
1
Social Norms
1
Socioeconomic conditions
1
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
2
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
3
Travellers / Roma
1
Urban
3
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
1
Directors
Banks, Marcus
1
Engels, Claudia
1
Gupta, Meghna
1
Hajee, Amin
1
Harries, Andy
1
Jerstad, Jon
1
Levaulx-Vrecourt, Henriette
1
Longinotto, Kim
2
MacDougall, David
1
MacDougall, Judith
1
Olatunji, Ife
1
Rosen, Jennifer
1
Singer, André
1
Webster, Rachel
1
Whitby-Coles, Charlotte
1
Yorke, Michael
1
Series
Disappearing World Series
1
Granada Center for Visual Anthropology Student Film
5
National Film and Television School
1
not set
7
Country of production
India
2
United Kingdom
14
x
United States
1
Year of production
1979
1
1987
1
1988
1
1991
1
2001
1
2002
1
2005
1
2008
2
2009
1
2010
2
2012
1
2013
1
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
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
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
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
Lessons from the Tiger
2010
22
‘
Directed by
Ife Olatunji
.
A brief glimpse into the Foundation Fior Di Loto girls’ school, this film explores the competing ideas of traditional and contemporary womanhood in Rajasthan, India. Four girls introduce us to the
South Asia
Gender Role and Identity
Children / Young people
Education / Knowledge Transmission
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
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
Ravi and Bhajay
2002
26
‘
Directed by
Rachel Webster
.
Street boys Ravi and Bhajay lead a tough life on the pavements of Mumbai in India. To get away from it, they visit the nearby holy city of Ujjain with the film-maker. But the call of life on the streets is still strong.
South Asia
Children / Young people
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
Urban
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
A Spark in Him
2008
28
‘
Directed by
Claudia Engels
.
‘A Spark in Him’ is a film about the life story of Sajay Kumar, a young man without arms who lives in a home for disabled children in Kerala, India, and studies at the College of Fine Arts. By
South Asia
Health / Health care / Healing
Children / Young people
Education / Knowledge Transmission
Those who Care: Faith and Freedom in a Ladakhi Village
2001
31
‘
Directed by
Henriette Levaulx-Vrecourt
.
In Tia village, in an isolated area of Ladakh – North West India – lives an amchi (a local herbal doctor) and his wife. It is summer – a short season in the Indian Himalayas and the only period of
South Asia
Health / Health care / Healing
Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany
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
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