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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
Instagram
Twitter
Films
18 Films
shorter than 40 minutes
x
Keywords
“Indigenous peoples First Nations peoples”
x
films with a digital version
9
short films
18
x
films available on demand
3
Region
Australia
3
Central America
4
Central Asia and Far East
3
North America
2
South America
5
Western Mediterranean
1
Country
Australia
3
Brazil
1
Canada
2
Colombia
1
Ecuador
1
Japan
1
Mexico
4
Peru
1
Russian Federation
2
Spain
1
not set
1
Keywords
Animals
2
Archaeology
1
Archival material / Museum displays
2
Art / Artists / Artisans
2
Children / Young people
1
Collective / Community identity
1
Dance / Theatre / Performance
2
Death
1
Education / Knowledge transmission
2
Environment
1
Ethnofiction
1
Film / Photography / Mass media
2
History of Anthropology
1
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
1
Indigenous Filmmaking
1
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
18
x
Informant-researcher relationship
1
Infrastructure / Transport
1
Inter-religious relations
1
Land Rights
2
Material Culture
2
Music / Ethnomusicology
1
Political Activists
1
Resistance
1
Ritual
2
Shamans and Shamanism
1
Social Change
2
Social Conflict
3
Directors
Deger, Jennifer
1
Dietrich, Martha-Cecilia
1
Drion, Georges
1
Glass, Aaron
1
Golovnev, Ivan
1
Gómez Ruíz, Sebastián
1
Henley, Paul
1
Johnston, Graham
1
Lane, Bruce Pacho
1
MacDougall, David
1
MacDougall, Judith
1
Magaña, Jaime
1
Marin, Nadja
1
Marrero-Guillamon, Isaac
1
Meriwether, Maria
1
Munro, Neil G.
1
Navarro Smith, Alejandra
1
Rivero Uicab, Carlos R.
1
Villafaña Chaparro, Amado
1
Willerslev, Rane
1
Williams, Stacey
1
Wunungmurra, Paul
1
Series
Ambulante Beyond
2
Granada Center for Visual Anthropology Student Film
5
National Film and Television School
1
not set
10
Country of production
Australia
2
Canada
1
Colombia
1
Mexico
3
Peru
1
Russia
1
United Kingdom
10
United States
2
Year of production
1931
1
1983
1
1986
1
1987
1
1997
1
2000
2
2004
1
2008
1
2009
2
2012
1
2013
1
2014
1
2015
1
2017
1
2018
1
2019
1
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
Campo 9
2013
25
‘
Directed by
Carlos R. Rivero Uicab
.
Carlos, the director of the documentary, worked for four years with Abraham and his family of Mennonites who have lived in the Campeche region for over a decade. Abraham mainly worked cutting down
Central America
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Social Conflict
Inter-religious relations
Democracía Indígena
2000
39
‘
Directed by
Bruce Pacho Lane
.
This film examines the indigenous rights revolution sweeping Mexico through the municipal elections in Huehuetla, Puebla. In 1989, the Huehuetla Totonacs formed the Organización Independiente
Central America
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Political Activists
Horror in the Andes
2019
33
‘
Special Interest
Directed by
Martha-Cecilia Dietrich
.
Horror in the Andes is a behind-the-scenes documentary that follows the process of making a horror movie in Ayacucho, Peru. Directed by audio-visual anthropologist Martha-Cecilia Dietrich, it
South America
Art / Artists / Artisans
Dance / Theatre / Performance
Ethnofiction
Film / Photography / Mass media
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
In Search of the Hamat’sa: A Tale of Headhunting
2004
33
‘
Directed by
Aaron Glass
.
The Hamat’sa (or “Cannibal Dance”) is the most important—and highly represented ceremony of the Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl) people of British Columbia. This film traces the history of
North America
Archival material / Museum displays
Dance / Theatre / Performance
Ritual
Informant-researcher relationship
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Land of Udehe
2015
26
‘
Student
Directed by
Ivan Golovnev
.
This film takes us into the world of Udehe – indigenous people of the Far East of Russia. According to the census of 2010, their population dropped to 1,490 souls…
Central Asia and Far East
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Social Change
Los Guardianes del Mayab
2012
34
‘
Directed by
Jaime Magaña
.
Luis Puc is a Yucatecan Mayan jmen (shaman). He dies and travels to the dimension of the seven heavens where he meets the báalam (guardians). Through them, he receives healing powers and wisdom,
Central America
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Shamans and Shamanism
Muktuk
1983
40
‘
Directed by
Graham Johnston
.
Shot on the mosquito-ridden shores of the Mackenzie Delta in Canada’s North-West territories, the film deals with the annual Beluga (white whale) hunt. Three families are followed who have
North America
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
Animals
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Education / Knowledge transmission
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
Reclaiming the Forest
1987
39
‘
Directed by
Paul Henley
Georges Drion
.
National governments, itinerant gold-miners, and indigenous inhabitants compete for control of an area of the South American rainforest. The film shows the potential conflict between the interests
South America
Land Rights
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Social Change
Social Conflict
Ringtone
2014
30
‘
Directed by
Jennifer Deger
Paul Wunungmurra
.
Yolngu Aboriginal families offer glimpses into their lives and relationships through their choice of ringtones. From ancestral clan songs to 80s hip hop artists and local gospel tunes, these songs
Australia
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Music / Ethnomusicology
Material Culture
Scenes of Resistance
2000
30
‘
Directed by
Alejandra Navarro Smith
.
A series of portraits of life in a Zapatista indigenous community in Chiapas, Southern Mexico. This film invites us into the people’s everyday lives, and presents their own views of the fight against
Central America
Resistance
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
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
Tenonde’i – a Beautiful Future
2008
30
‘
Directed by
Nadja Marin
.
In a village inside the world’s fifth largest and tough city, São Paulo, a young Guaraní created a children’s choir to raise money for his community. Filled with beautiful sounds, the film is a
South America
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Children / Young people
Tindaya Variations
2018
40
‘
Special Interest
Directed by
Isaac Marrero-Guillamon
.
The mountain of Tindaya (Fuerteventura, Canary Islands) is more than a mountain. It was a sacred site for the indigenous people of Fuerteventura; later, its rock was quarried and sold for ornamental
Western Mediterranean
Archival material / Museum displays
Art / Artists / Artisans
Environment
Material Culture
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Archaeology
A Transfer of Power
1986
22
‘
Directed by
Judith MacDougall
David MacDougall
.
Replacing the engine in an old car is a familiar rural task, but how people go about it differs. For these Aboriginal men in New South Wales, it’s an occasion for affirming continuing
Australia
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Education / Knowledge transmission
Infrastructure / Transport
Wási
2017
16
‘
Shorts
Directed by
Sebastián Gómez Ruíz
Amado Villafaña Chaparro
.
As the sun rises on a village in northern Colombia, we glimpse its inhabitants as they begin their day. As the scene emerges from obscurity, a voiceover reflects on the nature of sight. It is the
South America
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Indigenous Filmmaking
History of Anthropology
Film / Photography / Mass media
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