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About
About RAI Film
Meet the team
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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
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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
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
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Films
15 Films
with a digital version available
x
Region
“South Asia”
x
Country of production
“United Kingdom”
x
films with a digital version
15
x
short films
4
films available on demand
1
Region
South Asia
15
x
Country
Afghanistan
2
India
6
Nepal
2
Pakistan
4
Sri Lanka
1
Keywords
Agriculture / Farming
1
Children / Young people
1
Collective / Community identity
1
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
1
Education / Knowledge Transmission
2
Festivals / Carnival
1
Gender Role and Identity
1
History
1
Informant-researcher relationship
1
Inter-religious relations
2
Labour
2
Land Rights
1
Life Story / Life History
1
Marriage
1
Material Culture
1
Migration
1
Music / Ethnomusicology
4
Personal Narrative
1
Possession
1
Refugees / Displaced populations
2
Religion / Belief / Faith
5
Ritual
2
Social Change
1
Social Conflict
1
Social Organisation
1
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
3
Urban
1
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
3
Directors
Baily, John
3
Banks, Marcus
1
Gupta, Meghna
1
Hajee, Amin
1
Harries, Andy
2
Jerstad, Jon
1
Nairn, Charlie
1
Sheppard, John
1
Singer, André
3
Sowa, Remigiusz
1
Whitby-Coles, Charlotte
1
Winter, Pattie
1
Woodhead, Leslie
1
Yorke, Michael
1
Series
Disappearing World Series
6
National Film and Television School
1
Shorts collection 2
1
not set
7
Country of production
India
1
United Kingdom
15
x
Year of production
1973
1
1977
1
1979
1
1980
2
1987
1
1988
1
1990
1
2005
1
2008
3
2012
1
2013
1
2020
1
Film list
Across the Border: Afghan Musicians exiled in Peshawar
2008
54
‘
Directed by
John Baily
.
It is the year 2000 and most of Afghanistan is under the control of the Taliban. Hearing that many of Afghanistain’s musicians are now in exile across the border in Pakistan, ethnomusicologist John
South Asia
Refugees / Displaced populations
Music / Ethnomusicology
Religion / Belief / Faith
Afghan Exodus
1980
52
‘
Directed by
André Singer
.
When Granada Television visited Afghanistan to make the award-winning Disappearing World ‘The Kirghiz’, they were a proud, independent, nomadic people who made their living by rearing herds of yaks
South Asia
Refugees / Displaced populations
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Migration
Black Mountain
2008
84
‘
Directed by
Charlotte Whitby-Coles
Amin Hajee
.
A once unremarkable site of multi-faith pilgrimage to a Sufi Saint has been transformed and its local history rewritten – the film documents the journey of Charlotte, a student undertaking her PhD
South Asia
Religion / Belief / Faith
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
Inter-religious relations
Gula – Music for a sacred time
2020
15
‘
Directed by
Remigiusz Sowa
.
Introduces the rich and varied Hindu-Buddhist religious and ritual musical heritage of the ancient royal city of Bhaktapur (Nepal).
South Asia
Music / Ethnomusicology
Holy Men and Fools
2005
61
‘
Directed by
Michael Yorke
.
The film narrates the story of Uma Giri, a Swedish woman who has become a Hindu nun, called Uma Giri. She is one of the few western women to be accepted into the most radical order of wandering
South Asia
Religion / Belief / Faith
Inter-religious relations
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
The Kalasha: Rites of Spring
1990
60
‘
Directed by
John Sheppard
.
The Kalasha are a tribal people, 3,000 strong, who live in the high valleys of the Hindu Kush mountains in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. The Kalasha are unique as a pagan people in
South Asia
Festivals / Carnival
Land Rights
Agriculture / Farming
Social Conflict
Kataragama: A God for All Seasons
1973
52
‘
Directed by
Charlie Nairn
.
In ever-increasing numbers Sinhalese of all religions (Muslims, Christians and Buddhists) are turning to Kataragama, an ancient Hindu God, at times of trouble and desperation. Once a year pilgrims
South Asia
Religion / Belief / Faith
Ritual
Possession
Khyber
1979
49
‘
Directed by
André Singer
Andy Harries
.
For more than a century Britain was engaged in war with the Pashtun tribesmen of India’s North West frontier. It began with the bloodiest massacre in the history of the British Empire when, in
South Asia
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
History
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
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
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
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
A Tibetan New Year
1987
45
‘
Directed by
Jon Jerstad
.
This outstanding documentary is placed in Northern India among a group of Tibetan refugees. They celebrate the New Year, following a ritual of their religion, Bonpo, which is older than Buddhism.
South Asia
Religion / Belief / Faith
Ritual
Unravel
2012
14
‘
Directed by
Meghna Gupta
.
‘Unravel’ follows the Western worlds least wanted clothes, on a journey across Northern India, from sea to industrial interior. They get sent to Panipat, a sleepy town and the only place in the world
South Asia
Labour
Material Culture
Collective / Community identity
Ustad Rahim
2008
55
‘
Directed by
John Baily
.
Shot in the city of Heart, western Afghanistan 1994, in the period between the fall of the last leftist government and the coming of the Taliban, this is a portrait film of an outstanding musician,
South Asia
Music / Ethnomusicology
Education / Knowledge Transmission
Personal Narrative