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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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Films
16 Films
with a digital version available
x
Keywords
“Gender Role and Identity”
x
Country of production
“United Kingdom”
x
films with a digital version
16
x
short films
2
films available on demand
1
Region
British-Irish Isles
1
Central Asia and Far East
1
East Africa
3
London
1
Melanesia
1
North and Northeast Africa
2
South America
1
South Asia
1
South-East Asia
3
West Africa
2
Country
Bangladesh
1
Brazil
1
Ethiopia
1
Ghana
1
Indonesia
2
Kenya
2
Morocco
1
Myanmar
1
Nigeria
1
Pakistan
1
Papua New Guinea
1
Russian Federation
1
Uganda
1
United Kingdom
2
Keywords
Collective / Community identity
1
Dance / Theatre / Performance
2
Ethnofiction
1
Family / Kinship
1
Festivals / Carnival
2
Film / Photography / Mass media
1
Gender Role and Identity
16
x
Herding
3
Intergenerational relations
1
LGBTQI*
2
Labour
1
Marriage
3
Material Culture
1
Nomads and Nomadism
3
Reflexivity
1
Religion / Belief / Faith
1
Ritual
8
Sex / Sexuality
3
Shamans and Shamanism
1
Social Change
3
Social Conflict
2
Social Norms
2
Social Organisation
3
Trade
1
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
1
Directors
Chambers, Simon
1
Curling, Chris
2
Harper, Peggy
1
Harries, Andy
1
Hawkins, Richard
1
Hughes-Freeland, Felicia
1
Kawanami, Hiroko
1
Kerlogue, Fiona
1
Llewelyn-Davies, Melissa
1
Milne, Claudia
1
Moffat, Zemirah
1
Sheppard, John
1
Singer, André
1
Sjøberg, Johannes
1
Speed, Frank
1
Wason, David
1
Woodhead, Leslie
1
Series
Disappearing World Series
8
not set
8
Country of production
Nigeria
1
Sweden
1
United Kingdom
16
x
United States
1
Year of production
1970
1
1974
1
1975
1
1977
1
1980
1
1982
1
1988
1
1989
1
1990
1
1991
1
1996
2
1998
1
2006
1
2007
2
Film list
Asante Market Women
1982
52
‘
Directed by
Claudia Milne
.
As retailers, wholesalers, and negotiators, Asante women of Ghana dominate the huge Kumasi Central Market amid the laughter, argument, colour and music. The crew of this Disappearing World film have
West Africa
Marriage
Trade
Gender Role and Identity
Every Good Marriage Begins With Tears
2007
63
‘
Directed by
Simon Chambers
.
East London Muslim girl Shahanara is changing form pink hot pants into a sari to meet her husband at the airport. She has only met him once before, when she was married in a union arranged by her
London
Family / Kinship
Gender Role and Identity
Marriage
Intergenerational relations
Social Norms
Fatmawati’s Wedding: the Weddings of two Sisters, the Preparations
1998
50
‘
Directed by
Fiona Kerlogue
.
This film records the preparations for the wedding of two sisters in eastern Sumatra in December 1996. There is an emphasis on the importance of the role of women in the village. Ritual exchanges
South-East Asia
Gender Role and Identity
Marriage
Ritual
Material Culture
Gelede: A Yoruba Masquerade
1970
30
‘
Directed by
Frank Speed
Peggy Harper
.
Among the Yoruba of Western Nigeria and Dahomey the Gelede cult honours the earth spirits, the ancestors and especially the Great Mother. The festival filmed here emphasises the status of women and
West Africa
Gender Role and Identity
Ritual
Festivals / Carnival
Social Conflict
The Herders of Mongun-Taiga
1989
52
‘
Directed by
John Sheppard
.
The Tuvinians live deep inside the Soviet Union, at the very centre of Asia. Tuva is geographically closer to Peking than to Moscow. It only entered the USSR in 1944 and was closed to foreigners
Central Asia and Far East
Herding
Nomads and Nomadism
Shamans and Shamanism
Gender Role and Identity
Social Change
Imbalu: Ritual of Manhood of the Gisu of Uganda
1988
69
‘
Directed by
Richard Hawkins
.
An insightful documentary, constructed with visual restraint, about the male circumcision ritual among the Gisu of Uganda. The narrative follows one male participant through the ritual and contrasts
East Africa
Ritual
Gender Role and Identity
Keepers of the Faith: The Buddhist Nuns of Sagaing Hills
1996
51
‘
Directed by
Hiroko Kawanami
.
In the Sagaing Hills, 12 miles from the ancient capital of Mandalay are hundreds of pagodas, stupas, monasteries and nunneries which form a focal point of worship for Buddhism in Burma. In 1986 the
South-East Asia
Religion / Belief / Faith
Collective / Community identity
Gender Role and Identity
Masai Manhood
1975
52
‘
Directed by
Chris Curling
.
This film was made after ‘Masai Women’ and in the same area. Together the two films provide a vivid view of Masai men and women and their place in Masai society. The Masai are pastoral nomads in
East Africa
Gender Role and Identity
Social Change
Ritual
Social Organisation
Nomads and Nomadism
Herding
Masai Women
1974
52
‘
Directed by
Chris Curling
.
The Masai are cattle herders living in the East African rift valley: they grow no crops and are proud of being a non-agricultural people. Cattle are the all-important source of wealth and social
East Africa
Gender Role and Identity
Social Change
Ritual
Social Organisation
Nomads and Nomadism
Herding
Mirror Mirror
2006
58
‘
Directed by
Zemirah Moffat
.
Mirror Mirror is based on an audio-visual ethnography of London’s queer Club Wotever. Begun in the autumn of 2003, it promoted itself as a club that welcomed all genders and sexualities – a
British-Irish Isles
LGBTQI*
Sex / Sexuality
Gender Role and Identity
Mursi: Nitha
1991
52
‘
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
.
The proper time for a man to go through the Age Set Ceremony, the nitha, is just as he reaches physical maturity. But many years may elapse from one nitha to the next, so it is inevitable that some
North and Northeast Africa
Ritual
Social Conflict
Gender Role and Identity
The Pathans
1980
52
‘
Directed by
André Singer
Andy Harries
.
There are twelve million Pathans. Bound by a common language, a common heritage and the unifying force of Islam, these proud and independent people do not acknowledge the geographical boundary which
South Asia
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Social Organisation
Gender Role and Identity
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
Tayuban: Dancing the Spirit in Java
1996
30
‘
Directed by
Felicia Hughes-Freeland
.
Once a year a ritual is held in a Javanese village. After a distribution of food, men dance with professional female dancers. Their allegedly sexual ethos makes these ‘tayuban’ unacceptable as
South-East Asia
Ritual
Dance / Theatre / Performance
Sex / Sexuality
Gender Role and Identity
Transfiction
2007
58
‘
Directed by
Johannes Sjøberg
.
Transfiction explores ‘ethnofiction’ – an experimental ethnographic documentary film style in which the participants collaborate with the filmmaker to act out their own and others’ life experiences
South America
Reflexivity
Film / Photography / Mass media
Gender Role and Identity
Sex / Sexuality
LGBTQI*
Ethnofiction
The Trobriand Islanders of Papua New Guinea
1990
52
‘
Directed by
David Wason
.
The Trobriand Islands lie off the eastern tip of Papua New Guinea. The island society has a complex balance of male authority and female wealth. Magic spells and sorcery pervade everyday life.
Melanesia
Gender Role and Identity
Festivals / Carnival
Ritual