Skip to content
RAI FILM
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
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
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
Login
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Films
9 Films
Keywords
“Art Artists Artisans”
x
Country of production
“United States”
x
films with a digital version
5
films hosted on Kanopy
1
short films
1
Region
North America
6
South Asia
2
West Africa
1
Country
India
2
Ivory Coast
1
Togo
1
United States
6
Keywords
Alternative culture
5
Archival material / Museum displays
1
Art / Artists / Artisans
9
Everyday Life
4
Gender Role and identity
1
History
1
Material Culture
5
Music / Ethnomusicology
1
Rural
4
Trade
1
Directors
Barbash, Ilisa
1
Fruzzetti, Lina
1
Grimshaw, Anna
5
Saltman, Carlyn
1
Sharma, Aparna
1
Taylor, Lucien
1
Östör, Ákos
1
Series
Mr Coperthwaite: a life in the Maine Woods
4
not set
5
Country of production
India
1
United States
9
x
Year of production
1993
1
1997
1
2005
1
2013
5
2019
1
Film list
Autumn’s Work
2013
47
‘
Directed by
Anna Grimshaw
.
"Autumn’s Work" follows Bill Coperthwaite as he prepares for winter. Wrestling with a large felled tree amidst its vast tangle of branches, Bill slowly and methodically breaks it down
North America
Alternative culture
Rural
Everyday Life
Art / Artists / Artisans
The Blooms of Benjeli: Technology and Gender in West African Ironmaking
1997
29
‘
Directed by
Carlyn Saltman
.
The filmmaker and two historians went into the village of Banjeli in 1985 to recreate for the film the traditional iron smelting techniques (which are no longer used) of the area. By focusing on the
West Africa
Art / Artists / Artisans
Archival material / Museum displays
History
Material Culture
A Chair: in six parts
2013
42
‘
Student
Directed by
Anna Grimshaw
.
A poem about a chair. In 1960, Bill Coperthwaite bought 300 acres of wilderness in Machiasport, Maine. Influenced by the poetry of Emily Dickinson and by the back to the land movement of Scott and
North America
Material Culture
Alternative culture
Art / Artists / Artisans
In and Out of Africa
1993
59
‘
Directed by
Ilisa Barbash
Lucien Taylor
.
A classic in ethnographic filmmaking, In and Out of Africa traces the transnational trade of African Art between West Africa and the USA, providing an insight into how value, commoditization and
North America
Art / Artists / Artisans
Trade
Material Culture
Singing Pictures – Women Painters of Naya
2005
45
‘
Directed by
Lina Fruzzetti
Ákos Östör
.
For generations the Patua (Chitrakara) communities of West Bengal have been painters and singers of stories depicted in scrolls. The film follows the daily lives of Muslim Patua women from Naya
South Asia
Material Culture
Art / Artists / Artisans
Music / Ethnomusicology
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
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
Winter Days
2013
59
‘
Directed by
Anna Grimshaw
.
"Winter Days" evokes the stillness and quietness of the forest in winter. Life is lived close to the stove. It’s a time for small tasks and chores – making a wedge, sewing a pocket, the
North America
Alternative culture
Rural
Everyday Life
Art / Artists / Artisans
The Women Weavers of Assam
2019
98
‘
Special Interest
Directed by
Aparna Sharma
.
The Women Weavers of Assam focuses on the craft, labour and the everyday lives of a group of women weavers in India’s northeastern state of Assam. The weavers belong to a non-profit collective
South Asia
Art / Artists / Artisans
Gender Role and identity
Material Culture