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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
RAI Film Festival 2025
RAI Film Festival 2025 Group passes
About RAI Film Festival
RAI Film Festival prizes and awards
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
RAI Film Festival 2025
RAI Film Festival 2025 Group passes
About RAI Film Festival
RAI Film Festival prizes and awards
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
RAI Film Festival 2025
RAI Film Festival 2025 Group passes
About RAI Film Festival
RAI Film Festival prizes and awards
Archive of past editions
Login
Facebook
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Twitter
Films
25 Films
shorter than 40 minutes
x
Series
“0”
x
Festival Prize Category
“0”
x
films with a digital version
20
short films
25
x
films available on demand
2
Region
Australia
2
British-Irish Isles
1
Central Africa
1
Central America
2
Central Asia and Far East
2
East Africa
1
Middle and Near East
1
North America
2
North and Northeast Africa
2
South America
1
South Asia
3
South-East Asia
1
South-East Europe
1
Southern Africa
1
West Africa
4
not set
1
Country
Afghanistan
1
Australia
2
Bangladesh
1
Botswana
1
Cameroon
1
China
1
Cyprus
1
Egypt
1
Ethiopia
1
Ghana
1
India
1
Japan
2
Mexico
2
Nigeria
3
Uganda
1
United Kingdom
1
United States
2
Virtual Space
1
Yemen
1
not set
2
Keywords
Animation
1
Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany
2
Archival material / Museum displays
1
Art / Artists / Artisans
3
Children / Young people
3
Collective / Community identity
2
Death
1
Education / Knowledge Transmission
1
Education / Knowledge transmission
1
Elderly people
1
Environment
1
Everyday Life
1
Family / Kinship
4
Gender Role and Identity
6
Health / Health care / Healing
1
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
3
Informant-researcher relationship
3
Infrastructure / Transport
2
Inter-religious relations
1
Internet
2
Labour
1
Land Rights
1
Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy
1
Life Story / Life History
1
Love
1
Marriage
1
Material Culture
3
Migration
2
Music / Ethnomusicology
3
Possession
1
Prison
1
Reflexivity
3
Refugees / Displaced populations
1
Religion / Belief / Faith
4
Ritual
4
Rural
2
Sex / Sexuality
1
Social Change
2
Social Conflict
1
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
1
Trade
1
Urban
1
Directors
Arcé, Adrian
1
Baily, John
1
Banks, Marcus
1
Beier, Ulli
1
Cai, Hua
1
Deger, Jennifer
1
Drion, Georges
1
Dunne, Bryony
1
Fruzzetti, Lina
1
Guzzetti, Alfred
1
Henley, Paul
1
Johnston, Ned
1
Kawase, Itsushi
1
Kuentz, Gaspard
1
LaPin, Deirdre
1
Langer, Vanessa
1
Loïzos, Peter
1
MacDougall, David
2
MacDougall, Judith
2
Magnússon, Jón Bjarki
1
Monahan, Trent
1
Moore, Allen
1
Prince, Raymond
1
Prothero, Sarah
1
Schlenker, Juana
1
Speed, Frank
3
Tanlaka, Kilian Lamtur
1
Torson, Jennifer
1
Visser, Mara Lin
1
Werbner, Richard
1
Werner, Louis
1
Wunungmurra, Paul
1
Zirión, Antonio
1
not set
1
Östör, Ákos
1
Series
not set
25
x
Country of production
Australia
3
China
1
Egypt
1
Iceland
1
Japan
3
Mexico
1
Netherlands
1
Nigeria
2
Norway
1
Switzerland
1
United Kingdom
8
United States
5
Year of production
1963
1
1964
1
1973
1
1984
1
1985
1
1986
1
1987
1
1988
1
1989
1
1995
1
1996
1
2004
2
2006
1
2013
4
2014
3
2015
1
2016
1
2018
2
Festival Prize Category
Film list
Breaking the Yard
2018
21
‘
Directed by
Richard Werbner
.
"Breaking-the-Yard" documents the court hearings and troubled affairs of a quarrelsome young couple, a stay-at-home farmer and his police constable, town-savvy wife. They claim to be still
Southern Africa
Family / Kinship
Gender Role and Identity
Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy
Love
Marriage
Even Asteroids Are Not Alone
2018
17
‘
Directed by
Jón Bjarki Magnússon
.
Eve Online is a computer game in which players mine, trade and fight their way through computer-generated galaxies. Whilst computer game aficionados are often depicted as isolated, this game is
Internet
New Images
1964
27
‘
Directed by
Ulli Beier
Frank Speed
.
The film is a brief description of life in a busy commercial centre that still depends upon and retains its ancient traditions. These are based on the history of the town which was founded on the
West Africa
Art / Artists / Artisans
Religion / Belief / Faith
Archival material / Museum displays
The Orchard Keepers
2014
24
‘
Directed by
Bryony Dunne
.
Against the backdrop of political upheaval, an ancient network of orchards thrives in the mountains of the Sinai desert. Filmmaker Bryony Dunne shadows two Bedouins as they nurture their gardens and
North and Northeast Africa
Environment
Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany
Rural
Out of Focus
2013
37
‘
Directed by
Adrian Arcé
Antonio Zirión
.
This is a collaborative documentary about arts, culture and everyday life inside a prison for minors. It was shot during a photography and video workshop with young inmates at the Juvenile Community
Central America
Children / Young people
Prison
Art / Artists / Artisans
Reflexivity
Pepe
2004
23
‘
Directed by
Juana Schlenker
.
Pepe is a Spanish immigrant who came to England more than forty years ago to work as a waiter. After working in several restaurants and hotels, he retired two years ago and now he fills his days with
British-Irish Isles
Migration
Elderly people
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
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
Return of the Nightingales
2013
33
‘
Directed by
John Baily
.
In 2010 Afghan musicologist Dr. Ahmad Sarmast opened the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), a coeducational vocational music school in Kabul that teaches Afghan, Indian and Western
South Asia
Music / Ethnomusicology
Education / Knowledge Transmission
Children / Young people
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
Room 11, Ethiopia Hotel
2006
23
‘
Directed by
Itsushi Kawase
.
The film recounts the life of children living on the street in Gondar, Ethiopia, by witnessing the interaction between two children and the filmmaker. The entire film was shot in the room of Ethiopia
North and Northeast Africa
Children / Young people
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
Informant-researcher relationship
Reflexivity
Seed and Earth
1989
36
‘
Directed by
Lina Fruzzetti
Alfred Guzzetti
Ned Johnston
Ákos Östör
.
Seed on Earth is a film about everyday life in rural Bangladesh (village of Janta, near Bishnupur town). It follows the daily schedule of two families and observes the complementary and difference of
South Asia
Rural
Family / Kinship
Gender Role and Identity
A Sheepherder’s Homecoming
1996
40
‘
Directed by
Allen Moore
Louis Werner
.
This film documents a migrant worker’s experiences as a herder on a Nevada sheep ranch who then returns to his family in Mexico after a long absence to renew ties and find a job at home. It
North America
Central America
Migration
Labour
Sons of the Moon
1984
25
‘
Directed by
Frank Speed
Deirdre LaPin
.
In isolated mountain hamlets in Nigeria’s Jos Plateau the Ngas have traditionally observed the movements of the moon in the night sky. The moon is a key symbol in Ngas cosmology, believed to
West Africa
Religion / Belief / Faith
Music / Ethnomusicology
Everyday Life
Ritual
Sophia and Her People
1985
35
‘
Directed by
Peter Loïzos
.
Sofia and her family lost their village home in 1975 when Turkey invaded Cyprus. The film, mainly set in Nicosia in 1983, shows the pressures of refugee economic recovery through shift work in a
South-East Europe
Refugees / Displaced populations
Social Change
Family / Kinship
Together as One
2013
39
‘
Directed by
Kilian Lamtur Tanlaka
.
Nso’ is the biggest kingdom of the Western Grassfields and an ethnic group in the northeast corner of Cameroon’s northwest region. Its capital Kumbo is where the ruler (Fon) lives. The Nso’
Central Africa
Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany
Collective / Community identity
Inter-religious relations
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
Under the Men’s Tree
1973
15
‘
Directed by
David MacDougall
Judith MacDougall
.
At Jie cattle camps in Uganda men often gather under a special tree to make leather and wooden goods and talk, relax, and sleep. This brilliant ethnographic documentary by renowned filmmakers David
East Africa
Infrastructure / Transport
Informant-researcher relationship
Reflexivity
Unity: Dress-scapes of Accra
2016
37
‘
Directed by
Mara Lin Visser
.
This is a film about African fashion in the capital of Ghana. African printed fabrics seem to making a comeback in the fashion system of Accra. While following Allan, a fashion designer and his wife
West Africa
Trade
Material Culture
Art / Artists / Artisans
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
The Veil Unveiled
2004
29
‘
Directed by
Vanessa Langer
.
In Yemen, the land of Queen Saba, a wide variety of veils can be found. In the capital Sana’a, the women, although at first sight appearing to all be wearing but black, distinguish themselves one
Middle and Near East
Gender Role and Identity
Material Culture
Religion / Belief / Faith
Virtual me: Gender and Identity in World of Warcraft
2013
11
‘
Directed by
Trent Monahan
Sarah Prothero
Jennifer Torson
.
‘Virtual Me’ examines the experiences of players of the online game World of Warcraft, focusing specifically on their experience and understanding of issues surrounding gender and identity within
North America
Gender Role and Identity
Animation
Internet
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
Were Ni! He is a Madman
1963
30
‘
Directed by
Frank Speed
Raymond Prince
.
This ethnopsychiatric film shows the management of psychiatric disorders by the Yoruba of Nigeria. There are two basic types of institutions to deal with psychiatric disorders. First there are
West Africa
Health / Health care / Healing
Ritual
Possession
Without Fathers or Husbands
1995
26
‘
Directed by
Hua Cai
.
The Na are an ethnic group in south-east China. Their particularity is that all the members of each household are consanguineous relatives; their social organisation is absolutely matrilineal and as
South-East Asia
Family / Kinship
Collective / Community identity
Gender Role and Identity
Sex / Sexuality