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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
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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
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
10 Films
Country
“Japan”
x
Series
“0”
x
films with a digital version
4
short films
3
Region
Central Asia and Far East
9
South Asia
1
South-East Asia
1
Country
Japan
10
x
Nepal
1
Keywords
Alternative culture
1
Animals
1
Art / Artists / Artisans
1
Dance / Theatre / Performance
2
Death
1
Gender Role and Identity
6
Health / Health care / Healing
1
History
1
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
1
Labour
1
Love
1
Marriage
1
Memory
1
Migration
1
Music / Ethnomusicology
1
Popular Culture
1
Public Figure
2
Religion / Belief / Faith
1
Ritual
3
Sex / Sexuality
1
Social Change
1
Socioeconomic conditions
1
Sport
1
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
1
Directors
Domenig, Aya
1
Hunt, Claire
1
Hunt, Clare
1
Kharel, Dipesh
1
Kuentz, Gaspard
1
Longinotto, Kim
5
Munro, Neil G.
1
Saito, Asami
1
Williams, Jano
3
not set
1
Series
not set
10
x
Country of production
Finland
1
Japan
3
Nepal
1
Switzerland
1
United Kingdom
6
Year of production
1931
1
1989
1
1992
1
1993
1
1997
1
2000
1
2012
1
2014
1
2015
2
Film list
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 Day the Sun Fell
2015
78
‘
Special Interest
Directed by
Aya Domenig
.
Swiss-Japanese filmmaker Aya Domenig, the granddaughter of a doctor on duty for the Red Cross during the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, approaches the experience of her deceased grandfather by
South-East Asia
History
Memory
Health / Health care / Healing
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
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
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
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
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
Playing with Nan
2012
88
‘
Directed by
Dipesh Kharel
Asami Saito
.
Playing with Nan is the story of a Nepali young man who migrated to work in a Nepali restaurant in northern Japan. The film explores his daily life at work and his family at home, which reflects
South Asia
Central Asia and Far East
Labour
Migration
Socioeconomic conditions
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
Uzu
2015
27
‘
Directed by
Gaspard Kuentz
.
Held every October in the city of Matsuyama, the Dogo Autumn Festival is one of the most violent religious festivals celebrated in Japan. Eight teams of men carrying massive portable wood shrines
Central Asia and Far East
Ritual
Gender Role and Identity
We Don’t Need A Grave
2014
27
‘
.
‘We Don’t Need a Grave’ attempts to show how the people who choose Shizenso rather than the typical family grave try to accept one’s death. Shizenso is a natural mortuary practice that has no
Central Asia and Far East
Religion / Belief / Faith
Death
Ritual