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About
About RAI Film
Meet the team
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Watch on demand
Ethnographic Film Catalogue
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RAI Film Festival
About RAI Film Festival
Film Festival 2025
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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
11 Films
Keywords
“Gender Role and Identity”
and
“Ritual”
x
films with a digital version
10
short films
4
Region
Central Asia and Far East
2
East Africa
4
Melanesia
1
North and Northeast Africa
1
South-East Asia
2
West Africa
1
Country
China
1
Ethiopia
1
Indonesia
2
Japan
1
Kenya
3
Nigeria
1
Papua New Guinea
1
Uganda
1
Keywords
Dance / Theatre / Performance
1
Festivals / Carnival
2
Gender Role and Identity
11
x
Herding
2
Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy
1
Marriage
1
Material Culture
1
Nomads and Nomadism
2
Political Activists
1
Ritual
11
x
Sex / Sexuality
1
Shamans and Shamanism
1
Social Change
2
Social Conflict
2
Social Organisation
2
Directors
Curling, Chris
2
Harper, Peggy
1
Hawkins, Richard
1
Hughes-Freeland, Felicia
1
Kerlogue, Fiona
1
Kuentz, Gaspard
1
Longinotto, Kim
1
Rousso-Schindler, Steven
1
Seaman, Gary
1
Song, Zhifang
1
Speed, Frank
1
Wason, David
1
Woodhead, Leslie
1
Series
Disappearing World Series
4
Song Family Village
1
not set
6
Country of production
China
1
Japan
1
Nigeria
1
United Kingdom
9
United States
2
Year of production
1970
1
1974
1
1975
1
1988
1
1990
1
1991
1
1996
1
1998
1
2002
1
2009
1
2015
1
Film list
The Day I Will Never Forget
2002
92
‘
Directed by
Kim Longinotto
.
The documentary explores the local dimensions of the female circumcision debate in Kenyan societies. In a region of Kenya that is home to Muslims, Massai and Somali and crosscut by Christian
East Africa
Gender Role and Identity
Ritual
Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy
Political Activists
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 Heavenly Court in Song Family Village
2009
30
‘
Directed by
Zhifang Song
Gary Seaman
Steven Rousso-Schindler
.
Religious life in the village is highly gendered, with female shamans dominating most religious activities. These shamanesses and their gods are organised as a “court”, which expresses a
Central Asia and Far East
Gender Role and Identity
Shamans and Shamanism
Ritual
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
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
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
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
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
Uzu
2015
27
‘
Directed by
Gaspard Kuentz
.
Held every October in the city of Matsuyama, the Dogo Autumn Festival is one of the most violent religious festivals celebrated in Japan. Eight teams of men carrying massive portable wood shrines
Central Asia and Far East
Ritual
Gender Role and Identity