Films

Film list

Sacred Harp Singers 1984 85‘

A moving portrait of harp singers Leonard and Mazine Lacy. Sacred harp music is a kind of harmonised plainsong practised in rural America. This film was shot in Sand Mountain, Alabama, and is

North America Music / Ethnomusicology Rural

The Sakuddei 1974 52‘

Directed by John Sheppard .

The Sakuddei are a small and ethnically separate community living on the island of Siberut off the west coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. Their distinctive way of life and elaborate religious

South-East Asia Collective / Community identity Social Change Land Rights

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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

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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

Sermiligaag 65°54’N, 36°22’W 2008 64‘

Directed by Anni Seitz Sophie Elixhauser .

The people of East Greenland inhabit a small string of coastal land at the edge of the biggest island of the world. Long winters have always shaped daily life here, a life that has gone within a few

North America Rural Social Change Environment

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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

Shepherds in the Cave 2016 87‘

Material Culture Directed by Anthony Grieco .

An international team of art restorers, archaeologists and volunteers begin work on the restoration of religious frescoes inside a network of ancient caves. Faced with local bureaucratic challenges

Western Mediterranean Archaeology Herding Art / Artists / Artisans Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy

Sherpas of Nepal 1977 52‘

Directed by Leslie Woodhead Pattie Winter .

Thami is a village 12,000 feet up in the Himalayas in the Kingdom of Nepal. As the film’s opening shots illustrate, in a type of filmic short-hand, Thami is composed of a patchwork of individual

South Asia Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage Labour Marriage Social Change

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The Shilluk of Southern Sudan 1976 52‘

Directed by Chris Curling .

This film presents a compelling visual and aural analysis of Shilluk kingship in 1975, and provides a very useful complement to Evans-Pritchard’s 1948 text, The Divine Kingship of the Shilluk.

North and Northeast Africa Collective / Community identity Social Organisation

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

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Silk, Muthappar and VHS: Portraits from South India 1997 63‘

Directed by Ulrich Grossenbacher Damaris Luethi .

The documentary, filmed during ethnographic field research, shows three portraits of ‘ordinary’ personalities — Mala, a young weaver sharing a one-bedroom house with nine siblings; Santa Cruz,

South Asia Labour Everyday Life Film / Photography / Mass media

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

Smoke 1991 28‘

RAI Basil Wright Directed by Maarten Rens .

The film deals with fish smoking in Monnickendam, a small town twelve miles north of Amsterdam. Using archival footage, interviewing old fishermen, and contrasting the traditional and the modern

Western Europe Hunting / Gathering / Fishing Food Archival material / Museum displays

Some Women of Marrakech 1977 52‘

Directed by Melissa Llewelyn-Davies .

In Marrakech, traditional attitudes to women prevail perhaps more strongly than in other Moroccan cities. This is especially true for those women who live by the standards of traditional ideals in

North and Northeast Africa Gender Role and Identity Labour Dance / Theatre / Performance Social Norms

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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

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Southeast London Ethnography – Three Student Films: Anglesea Road; The Good Ol’ Days; Talk of Trade 2007 13‘

Directed by Elhum Shakerifar Ed Owles Jamie Taylor .

These 3 films on Southeast London were made by GCC college students who took a course in anthropology & film. ANGLESEA ROAD: Situated in Woolwich, South East London, Anglesea Road is a small

British-Irish Isles Urban

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

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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

The Storyteller 1990 50‘

Student Directed by John Paul Davidson .

Unaware of the written word until the 1950s, the Waura tribe who live in the headwaters of the Xingu river in Brazil still practise the art of storytelling. Tribal storyteller Aruta recounts one of

South America Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples Dance / Theatre / Performance Religion / Belief / Faith

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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

Sundanese Culture Alive 1988 46‘

Directed by Jean Hellwig .

Jaipongan is a new style of music and dancing which was ‘invented’ about a decade ago on Western Java, Indonesia. Drawing on more classical Javanese music and taking elements from Japanese and

South-East Asia Music / Ethnomusicology Dance / Theatre / Performance

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

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