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About RAI Film
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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
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
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Films
89 Films
with a digital version available
x
Festival Prize Category
“0”
x
Showing 19
Title initial
“S”
x
films with a digital version
89
x
short films
40
films available on demand
22
Title initial
A
5
B
1
C
1
D
1
E
1
F
4
G
2
H
2
I
2
J
1
L
2
M
2
N
4
O
8
P
4
R
7
S
19
x
T
9
U
2
V
3
W
7
Y
2
Region
British-Irish Isles
3
Caribbean Islands
1
Central Africa
1
Central America
2
Central Asia and Far East
16
Central Europe
2
East Africa
1
Melanesia
2
Middle and Near East
3
North America
15
North and Northeast Africa
5
South America
3
South Asia
10
South-East Asia
5
South-East Europe
3
Various
3
West Africa
9
Western Europe
4
Western Mediterranean
3
not set
2
Country
Afghanistan
2
Belgium
1
Bosnia and Herzegovina
1
Bosnia-Herzegovina
1
Brazil
1
Cameroon
1
China
6
Cyprus
1
Egypt
1
Ethiopia
1
France
2
Ghana
2
Greece
1
Haiti
1
Hungary
1
India
6
Indonesia
4
Italy
3
Ivory Coast
1
Japan
3
Kenya
1
Mali
1
Mexico
2
Mongolia
1
Nepal
2
Nigeria
4
Pakistan
2
Russian Federation
2
Senegal
1
Singapore
1
Solomon Islands
1
South Korea
1
Spain
1
Sudan
3
Taiwan
1
The Netherlands
1
Turkey
1
United Kingdom
4
United States
15
Uzbekistan
1
Vanuatu
1
Various
3
Venezuela
1
Virtual Space
1
Yemen
1
not set
3
Keywords
Agriculture / Farming
3
Agriculture/ Farming
1
Alternative culture
4
Animals
5
Animation
1
Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany
2
Archival material / Museum displays
1
Art / Artists / Artisans
8
Art/ Aritists/ Artisans
1
Art/ Artists/ Artisans
2
Children / Young people
6
Children/ Young people
1
Collective / Community identity
11
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
1
Dance / Theatre / Performance
2
Death
2
Development projects
1
Disasters
1
Education / Knowledge Transmission
2
Elderly People
1
Elderly people
1
Environment
3
Ethnofiction
3
Everyday Life
10
Family / Kinship
4
Family/ Kinship
1
Festivals / Carnival
2
Festivals/ Carnival
1
Film / Photography / Mass media
1
Folklore
1
Food / Water
1
Gender Role and Identity
8
Gender Role and identity
1
Health / Health care / Healing
5
Health / Healthcare / Healing
1
Health/ Health care/ Healing
1
History
2
History of Anthropology
4
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
3
Hunting/Gathering/Fishing
8
Indigenous peoples / First Nation peoples
1
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
3
Informant-researcher relationship
3
Infrastructure / Transport
2
Infrastructure/transport
1
Inter-religious relations
1
Intergenerational relations
2
Internet
2
LGBTQI*
1
Labour
7
Land Rights
2
Life Story / Life History
2
Life Story/ Life History
1
Linguistics / Language
1
Marriage
2
Material Culture
5
Migration
8
Music / Ethnomusicology
8
Music/ Ethnomusicology
1
Music/Ethnomusicology
1
Myths/ Fairy tales
1
Nationalism
1
Nomads and Nomadism
2
Participatory / Collaborative methods
1
Personal Narrative
1
Possession
1
Prison
1
Public Figure
3
Race / Racism / Antiracism
1
Reflexivity
5
Refugees / Displaced populations
4
Refugees/ Displaced populations
1
Religion / Belief / Faith
13
Resettlement
1
Ritual
9
Rural
7
Sensory Ethnography
1
Sex / Sexuality
4
Shamans and Shamanism
2
Social Change
8
Social Conflict
2
Social Organisation
1
Social participation
1
Socioeconomic conditions
3
Sport
1
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
2
Tourism/ Travel/ Pilgrimage
1
Trade
8
Travellers / Roma
2
Urban
6
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
2
Directors
Ahmed, Akbar
1
Akin, Dorcas
1
Arcé, Adrian
1
Arif-Bashir, Abeera
1
Atieno, Lavine
1
Awino, Effie
1
Baily, John
3
Balikci, Anna
1
Balikci, Asen
1
Balikci-Denjongpa, Anna
1
Banks, Marcus
1
Beier, Ulli
1
Bhattachary, Nilanjan
1
Blake, John
1
Boonzajer-Flaes, Robert
1
Bringa, Tone
1
Bringas, Sylvie
1
Cai, Hua
1
Choi, Hyewon
1
Colucci, Erminia
2
Cooper, Timothy
1
Danusiri, Aryo
1
Diengdoh, Wanphrang
1
Drion, Georges
1
Dunne, Bryony
1
Dyson, Jane
1
Francois, Alexandre
1
Gao, Ang
1
Grimshaw, Anna
12
Grootheest, Sjoerd van
1
Haensch, Valerie
1
Harrison, Ross
1
Hawkins, Russel
1
Henley, Paul
1
Heusch, Luc de
1
Howes, Arthur
1
Husmann, Rolf
1
Jerstad, Jon
1
Johnson, Dul
1
Johnston, Graham
1
Kaserci, Zeynep
1
Kawase, Itsushi
1
Kuentz, Gaspard
1
LaPin, Deirdre
1
Lancker, Laurent Van
1
Langer, Vanessa
1
Lansing, Steven
1
Lappalainen, Heimo
2
Lepcha, Dawa
1
Lepcha, Dawa T
1
Loizos, Peter
1
Loïzos, Peter
1
Magnússon, Jón Bjarki
1
Mai, Nick
1
Meliqo’ziev, Iqbol
1
Mollona, Massimiliano
1
Monahan, Trent
1
Moore, Allen
1
Moser, Brian
1
Mukhopadhayay, Kanchan
1
Ndinya, June
1
Nitzky, William
1
Njoki, Ruth
1
Owles, Edward
1
Palmer, Lisa
1
Prince, Raymond
1
Prothero, Sarah
1
Ross, Nina
1
Rousso-Schindler, Steven
3
Sarabi, Abtin
1
Schillaci, Rosella
1
Schillaci, Rossella
1
Schlenker, Juana
1
Seaman, Gary
3
Shalygin, Cliff Orloff and Olga
1
Shuffield, Robin
1
Singer, André
4
Sjøberg, Johannes
1
Song, Zhifang
3
Sowa, Remigiusz
1
Speed, Frank
3
Sperschneider, Werner
1
Tamura (aka John Wells), Can
1
Tanlaka, Kilian Lamtur
1
Teo, Qi Yu
1
Torson, Jennifer
1
Tsai, Futuru C.L.
1
Visser, Mara Lin
1
Werner, Louis
1
Wittersheim, Eric
1
Xu, Beina
1
Zirión, Antonio
1
not set
1
Series
Disappearing World Series
2
George’s Place
2
George’s Place: A seven part film series
5
Mr Coperthwaite: a life in the Maine Woods
4
National Film and Television School
2
Shorts Collection 1
1
Shorts Collection 2
11
Shorts collection 2
5
Song Family Village
3
Strangers Abroad
3
Sudan Trilogy
1
Taiga Nomads
2
not set
48
Country of production
Australia
2
Belgium
2
China
5
Egypt
1
Finland
2
France
3
Germany
3
Ghana
1
Iceland
1
India
4
Indonesia
2
Italy
2
Japan
4
Kenya
1
Mexico
1
Netherlands
3
Nigeria
3
Norway
1
Pakistan
1
Singapore
1
South Korea
1
Sweden
1
Switzerland
1
Taiwan
1
Turkey
1
United Kingdom
27
United States
22
Uzbekistan
1
not set
1
Year of production
not set
1
1963
1
1964
1
1975
1
1983
1
1984
1
1985
2
1986
4
1987
2
1988
2
1989
2
1991
1
1992
2
1995
1
1996
1
1998
1
2001
2
2004
2
2005
2
2006
1
2007
2
2008
2
2009
5
2011
2
2012
4
2013
8
2014
3
2015
2
2016
3
2018
4
2019
8
2020
13
2021
2
Festival Prize Category
Film list
Scenes of Afghan Music: London, Kabul, Hamburg, Dublin
2007
97
‘
Directed by
John Baily
.
Scenes of Afghan Music is Part IV of ‘A Quartet of Afghan Music Films’, made in the author’s personal “fieldwork movie” style. It reveals the diversity of music and dance practices in the
Middle and Near East
Music / Ethnomusicology
Migration
Collective / Community identity
The School and the Village
1992
50
‘
Directed by
Heimo Lappalainen
.
Taiga Nomads is a film series about the Evenki (previously the Tungus), a nomadic people scattered all over eastern Siberia, and living under harsh conditions in the taiga ± an area predominated by
Central Asia and Far East
Nomads and Nomadism
Everyday Life
Sea Boundary
2012
55
‘
Directed by
Rosella Schillaci
.
The film depicts the daily struggle of fishermen to earn a living in a harsh physical environment that brings out the social and economic tensions of modern society. Manning the Priamo are Cola, the
Western Mediterranean
Labour
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
Socioeconomic conditions
Migration
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
The Shackles of Tradition – Franz Boas (1858-1942)
1986
52
‘
Directed by
André Singer
.
Central Television’s major documentary series looks at the first anthropologists to stop ‘armchair theorising’ and go out to live among the peoples who so interested them. The six part series
Various
History of Anthropology
Public Figure
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
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
Since the Company Came
2001
52
‘
Directed by
Russel Hawkins
.
Set in the South Pacific, in a remote Solomon Islands village, ‘Since the Company Came’ is the story of a community coming to terms with social, cultural and ecological disintegration. When village
Melanesia
Land Rights
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Social Conflict
Socioeconomic conditions
The Skills You Passed On
1992
50
‘
Directed by
Heimo Lappalainen
.
The second of three films about the Evenki people of eastern Siberia. Focuses on Nikolaj Pavlovich Archemku, who experienced the very beginning of Soviet power, two World Wars, and the
Central Asia and Far East
Nomads and Nomadism
Everyday Life
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
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
Spirit
2019
19
‘
Directed by
Jane Dyson
Ross Harrison
.
Saraswati is a new arrival in an Indian Himalayan village. She wonders how she will ever feel at home in the new setting. “Spirit” by Jane Dyson and Ross Harrison is a story of longing and
Central Asia and Far East
Gender Role and identity
Agriculture/ Farming
Everyday Life
Family/ Kinship
Spring in Dickinson’s Reach
2013
83
‘
Directed by
Anna Grimshaw
.
"Spring in Dickinson’s Reach" provides an introduction to the unique environment that Bill Coperthwaite has crafted in the Maine forest. Beginning in early spring, the film follows
North America
Alternative culture
Rural
Everyday Life
Art / Artists / Artisans
Steel Lives
2005
45
‘
Directed by
Massimiliano Mollona
.
The anthropologist spent several months working as unskilled labourer alongside Sheffield steelworkers at Morris for his PhD. This film is a look into the working lives of men who earn a living in
British-Irish Isles
Labour
Socioeconomic conditions
Collective / Community identity
Strange Beliefs – Sir Edward Evans-Pritchard (1902-1973)
1986
52
‘
Directed by
André Singer
.
Central Television’s major documentary series looks at the first anthropologists to stop ‘armchair theorising’ and go out to live among the peoples who so interested them. The six part series
Various
History of Anthropology
Public Figure
A Summer Task
2013
47
‘
Directed by
Anna Grimshaw
.
"A Summer Task" examines the rhythm and tempo of work in the forest. The film follows Bill Coperthwaite and his cousin, Steve, as they fell and haul trees to build a bridge and begin
North America
Alternative culture
Everyday Life
Rural
Art / Artists / Artisans
The season
2020
63
‘
Directed by
Anna Grimshaw
.
This is part 4 of a 7-part series. Lobsters slowly migrate north, moving into the Machias Bay from warmer, southern waters. George works quickly to finish setting his full quota of traps.
Hunting/Gathering/Fishing
Trade
The smokehouse
81
‘
Directed by
Anna Grimshaw
.
George has been smoking fish for as long as he can remember. The smokehouse has a place of pride in his dooryard, and he lovingly tends the racks to ensure perfection. The end of fishing is in
North America
Hunting/Gathering/Fishing
Trade