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About RAI Film
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Ethnographic Film Catalogue
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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
43 Films
Keywords
“Health Health care Healing”
x
films with a digital version
25
short films
12
films available on demand
7
Region
Australia
1
British-Irish Isles
5
East Africa
2
North America
1
North and Northeast Africa
4
South America
5
South Asia
5
South-East Asia
9
South-East Europe
1
Southern Africa
4
West Africa
4
Western Europe
2
Country
Australia
1
Bolivia
1
Botswana
3
Brazil
2
Bulgaria
1
Chile
1
Eritrea
1
Ethiopia
2
Germany
1
Ghana
1
India
5
Indonesia
6
Ivory Coast
1
Japan
1
Kenya
2
Morocco
1
Myanmar
1
Netherlands
1
Nigeria
1
South Africa
1
Sudan
1
Togo
1
United Kingdom
5
Venezuela
1
Vietnam
1
Keywords
Alternative culture
2
Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany
3
Art / Artists / Artisans
2
Art/ Artists/ Artisans
1
Children / Young people
6
Collective / Community identity
1
Dance / Theatre / Performance
2
Development projects
4
Education / Knowledge Transmission
2
Elderly people
2
Ethnofiction
1
Family / Kinship
1
Film / Photography / Mass media
1
Gender Role and Identity
2
Health / Health care / Healing
41
Health / Healthcare / Healing
1
Health/ Health care/ Healing
1
x
History
1
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
1
Informant-researcher relationship
2
LGBTQI*
1
Life Story / Life History
2
Life Story/ Life History
1
Memory
2
Migration
1
Participatory / Collaborative methods
2
Personal Narrative
2
Political Activists
1
Possession
6
Post-communism
1
Prison
1
Reflexivity
1
Religion / Belief / Faith
9
Reproduction (biology)
3
Ritual
9
Sex / Sexuality
1
Shamans and Shamanism
2
Social Change
3
Social Conflict
1
Social participation
2
Socioeconomic conditions
3
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
2
Directors
Aaltonen, Jouko
1
Akin, Dorcas
1
Asch, Patsy
3
Asch, Timothy
3
Atieno, Lavine
1
Awino, Effie
1
Balikci, Anna
1
Basu, Helene
1
Cabezas Pino, Angélica
1
Chabamier, Gabriel
1
Colucci, Erminia
3
Connor, Linda
3
Cook, Alistair
1
Cross, Stephen
1
Deveson, Philippa
1
Domenig, Aya
1
Dontchev, Antonii
1
Dumont, Dirk
1
Dunlop, Ian
1
Engels, Claudia
1
Farrell, Emma
1
Folly, Anne Laure
1
Geißler, Wenzel
1
Grove-White, Will
1
Journet, Martine
1
Kurutuac, Judith
1
Lancker, Laurent Van
1
Lawrence, Andy
1
Lehto, Veera
1
Leizaola, Ricardo
1
Lepcha, Dawa
1
Levaulx-Vrecourt, Henriette
1
Longinotto, Kim
1
Meyknecht, Steef
1
Ndinya, June
1
Nguyen, M. Trinh
1
Njoki, Ruth
1
Nougarol, Gérard
1
Pakaslahti, Antti
1
Papenbrook, Jana
1
Pinhheiro, Joceny
1
Prince, Raymond
1
Prince, Ruth
1
Robinson, Paul
1
Ross, Nina
1
Shuffield, Robin
1
Singer, André
1
Solomons, Natasha
1
Speed, Frank
1
Tuchtenhagen, Ruth
1
Werbner, Richard
3
Woodhead, Leslie
2
Series
ANU, Indonesia Series
3
Disappearing World Series
4
Granada Center for Visual Anthropology Student Film
7
Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology Staff Film
1
Shorts Collection 2
1
The Well-Being Quest in Botswana
3
not set
24
Country of production
Australia
5
Belgium
2
Bulgaria
1
Chile
1
Finland
2
France
2
Germany
2
India
1
Indonesia
2
Italy
1
Kenya
2
Netherlands
1
Nigeria
1
Switzerland
1
United Kingdom
23
United States
4
Year of production
1963
1
1974
1
1977
1
1980
1
1982
1
1983
2
1984
1
1987
1
1989
1
1991
2
1995
1
1997
2
1998
3
1999
1
2000
1
2001
2
2002
1
2003
2
2004
2
2005
1
2006
1
2007
1
2008
3
2009
1
2011
1
2015
2
2017
1
2018
2
2020
1
2021
2
Film list
Adhiambo – Born in the Evening
2001
66
‘
Directed by
Ruth Prince
Wenzel Geißler
Ruth Tuchtenhagen
.
‘Adhiambo’ means ‘the one born in the evening’ in the language of the Luo of western Kenya. The film follows NyaSeme, a married mother and grandmother in her late 30s, during the last month
East Africa
Children / Young people
Health / Health care / Healing
Atieno
2018
64
‘
Directed by
June Ndinya
Effie Awino
Ruth Njoki
Lavine Atieno
Dorcas Akin
.
Atieno is a collaborative fiction film scripted, acted and directed by DreamGirls, a group of adolescent girls and young women from Nairobi and Kisumu. The film tells of Atieno, a 16 year old girl
East Africa
Health / Healthcare / Healing
Children / Young people
Gender Role and Identity
Ethnofiction
Dance / Theatre / Performance
Participatory / Collaborative methods
Sex / Sexuality
Born
2008
56
‘
Directed by
Andy Lawrence
Judith Kurutuac
.
*Our hope is to create a magical-real environment in which to go beyond the limits of our historical perspective on childbirth and its culturally bound rites, and to demonstrate an emotionally
British-Irish Isles
Health / Health care / Healing
Family / Kinship
Children / Young people
Breaking the Chains
2015
64
‘
Student
Directed by
Erminia Colucci
.
The practice of using shackles and chains to physically restrain people with mental illness (known as pasung) is widespread in Indonesia (as in many other developing/low middle income countries) and
South-East Asia
Prison
Health / Health care / Healing
Political Activists
Development projects
Cae Dai – a Home From Home
1997
30
‘
Directed by
Will Grove-White
.
After the closure of the North Wales psychiatric hospital in the late 1980s, Sparrow Harrison opened his family home to local people suffering from mental illness. This film explores the humour,
British-Irish Isles
Health / Health care / Healing
Alternative culture
Conversations with Dundiwuy Wanambi
1984
50
‘
Directed by
Ian Dunlop
Philippa Deveson
.
A series of interviews with Dundiwuy Wanambi, shot over twelve years. They reveal the struggles of one man in the face of the huge changes brought about by the coming of a mining project, and
Australia
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Health / Health care / Healing
Social Change
The Daring Young Girl on the Flying Trapeze
2020
27
‘
Directed by
Nina Ross
.
As a child, Nancy Willis dreamt of joining the circus, longing for freedom and adventure. Diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and told she would not live beyond her twenties, the now 65-year-old artist
British-Irish Isles
Art/ Artists/ Artisans
Personal Narrative
Health/ Health care/ Healing
Life Story/ Life History
The Day the Sun Fell
2015
78
‘
Special Interest
Directed by
Aya Domenig
.
Swiss-Japanese filmmaker Aya Domenig, the granddaughter of a doctor on duty for the Red Cross during the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, approaches the experience of her deceased grandfather by
South-East Asia
History
Memory
Health / Health care / Healing
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Doctors of Two Worlds
1989
55
‘
Directed by
Natasha Solomons
.
In the Bolivian highlands an English doctor is setting up a network of health care for remote mountain villages. While teaching the inhabitants the essentials of Western medicine the doctor is
South America
Health / Health care / Healing
Informant-researcher relationship
Development projects
Drugs & Prayers
2009
55
‘
Directed by
Helene Basu
.
The Sufi shrine of Mira Datar in North Gujarat is a large pilgrimage centre specialising in healing possession and mental illness. It has become a site of experimenting with new forms of community
South Asia
Health / Health care / Healing
Ritual
Religion / Belief / Faith
Encountering Eloyi
2008
56
‘
Directed by
Richard Werbner
.
Of all the faith-healing churches in Botswana, Eloyi is the most controversial. Sensational stories in newspapers and on television have made Eloyi notorious for so-called witch-busting and for
Southern Africa
Health / Health care / Healing
Ritual
Religion / Belief / Faith
Reproduction (biology)
Fresh Fields
1995
31
‘
Directed by
Alistair Cook
.
From conflict to construction — this is the story of two disabled ex-fighters rebuilding their lives. What does the future hold for them in Eritrea, the homeland to which they are committed?
North and Northeast Africa
Health / Health care / Healing
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Development projects
The Guardian of the Forces
1991
52
‘
Directed by
Anne Laure Folly
.
‘The Guardian of the Forces’ introduces the viewer to the world of Sikavi, a ‘fetish priest’ in Lome, Togo. He controls the spirits of several voodoos or gods. The film explores the significance
West Africa
Health / Health care / Healing
Possession
Ritual
HARMONI: HEALING TOGETHER
2021
98
‘
Directed by
Erminia Colucci
.
As a nation of 270 million, Indonesia is facing the grave task of caring for millions of people living with mental illness. Many have experienced human rights abuses in their lifetime. In communities
South-East Asia
Health / Health care / Healing
Religion / Belief / Faith
Heal the Whole Man
1974
50
‘
Directed by
Paul Robinson
.
The ‘Barolong boo Ratshidi’ are one of the group of Tswana peoples, who together form a culturally homogeneous population of over two million. The Barolong themselves number about 75’000 and
Southern Africa
Religion / Belief / Faith
Health / Health care / Healing
Healer on the Street
2003
28
‘
Directed by
Joceny Pinhheiro
.
During the day, Isnar is a community paramedic who works in the local clinic and runs an arts and drugs rehabilitation centre for young people in Fortaleza on the coast of Northeast Brazil. But by
South America
Health / Health care / Healing
Ritual
Hold Me Tight Let Me Go
2007
99
‘
Directed by
Kim Longinotto
.
*The main reason I wanted to shoot is that when the kids misbehave, the teachers don’t punish them but try to find out why they are acting in such a way. The driving idea behind the school is to
British-Irish Isles
Children / Young people
Education / Knowledge Transmission
Health / Health care / Healing
A Hospice in Amsterdam
2005
62
‘
Directed by
Steef Meyknecht
.
At the end of Van Goghstraat in Amsterdam is the Veerhuis. A normal residential house in a normal urban area, where children play outside in front of the door. But people come to the Veerhuis to die.
Western Europe
Health / Health care / Healing
Elderly people
In Search of Cool Ground: The Mursi Trilogy
1987
52
‘
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
.
This is a trilogy about aspects of the culture of two groups of people, the Kwegu and the Mursi, in Ethiopia. The titles are: THE MURSI , THE KWEGU, THE MIGRANTS *What made this trilogy special
North America
Social Change
Socioeconomic conditions
Health / Health care / Healing
Indo Pino
2002
84
‘
Directed by
Martine Journet
Gérard Nougarol
Gabriel Chabamier
.
The small ethnic group of the Wana Wewaju live in Indonesia in the eastern part of Sulawesi (Celebes Island) among the dense equatorial rain forest of the Tokkala Mountains. The film documents the
South-East Asia
Shamans and Shamanism
Health / Health care / Healing
Jero Tapakan: Stories from the life of a Balinese Healer
1983
26
‘
Directed by
Timothy Asch
Linda Connor
Patsy Asch
.
Jero beings with an account of her family’s extreme poverty that culminated in her desire to leave her family and travel as a pedlar. She describes mystical experiences that led her to recognise
South-East Asia
Health / Health care / Healing
Socioeconomic conditions
Jero on Jero: A Balinese Trance Séance Observed
1980
16
‘
Directed by
Timothy Asch
Linda Connor
Patsy Asch
.
For the first time Jero sees herself on film as she watches ‘A Balinese Trance Séance’. Her spontaneous comments provide insights into her feelings while possessed, her understanding of her
South-East Asia
Possession
Reflexivity
Health / Health care / Healing
Kusum
2000
69
‘
Directed by
Jouko Aaltonen
Antti Pakaslahti
.
Kusum is a 14-year-old Indian girl. She lives and attends school in Delhi. Kaushal, her father, drives a motorised rickshaw and works his fingers to the bone to support his family. Sumitra, Kusum’s
South Asia
Children / Young people
Health / Health care / Healing
Possession
Living with the Invisibles
2003
52
‘
Directed by
Dirk Dumont
.
When they emigrated to Europe in the 60’s and 70’s, Moroccans brought with them their culture and their “diseases” ( caused by the the jinn that inhabit some of them). In Europe, most North
North and Northeast Africa
Health / Health care / Healing
Possession
Migration
The Medium is the Masseuse: a Balinese Massage
1983
31
‘
Directed by
Timothy Asch
Linda Connor
Patsy Asch
.
Jero uses massage and traditional medicines to treat Ida Bagus, who suffers from sterility and seizures. Through her treatment and her words, Jero reveals her conceptions of the human body, the
South-East Asia
Health / Health care / Healing
Reproduction (biology)
A Month in the Life of Ephtim D.
1999
56
‘
Directed by
Antonii Dontchev
.
Ephtim D., 73 years old, is a retired postman. He lives in Sofia with his wife Ghinka in a three room suburban apartment. As a socialist he feels confused by the ‘crazy’ democracy and the
South-East Europe
Health / Health care / Healing
Post-communism
Socioeconomic conditions
Mursi: The Land is Bad
1991
52
‘
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
.
A further visit to the Mursi of Southern Ethiopia with whom contact was established 17 years ago, for an important coming of age ceremony which has had to be postponed many times. An elder of the
North and Northeast Africa
Ritual
Social Conflict
Health / Health care / Healing
A New Kind of Life
1997
28
‘
Directed by
Emma Farrell
.
How is someone’s life affected when faced with cancer? This film is a portrait of three people from Manchester, England, who have chosen to include complementary therapies as part of their daily coping strategies.
British-Irish Isles
Health / Health care / Healing
Alternative culture
Nkabom: A little medicine A little prayer
2021
79
‘
Werbner Award
Directed by
Erminia Colucci
.
A mother is caring for her son at a healing shrine on the edge of a village in the central belt of Ghana. In another village, a father has taken his son to several Christian and traditional healers
West Africa
Health / Health care / Healing
Religion / Belief / Faith
Ritual Journeys
2011
75
‘
Directed by
Dawa Lepcha
Anna Balikci
.
The film is an intimate portrait of Merayk, an 80 years old Lepcha shaman or Padim. Merayk lives with his family in Dzongu, a Lepcha reserve in North Sikkim. He performs healing rituals for
South Asia
Ritual
Shamans and Shamanism
Health / Health care / Healing
The Second Red Line
2004
25
‘
Directed by
Veera Lehto
.
In HIV testing, the second red line is the indication of a positive result. This film follows two volunteers working with HIV & Aids sufferers in the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana. In the
South-East Asia
Health / Health care / Healing
Development projects
Shade Seekers and The Mixer
2006
60
‘
Directed by
Richard Werbner
.
Set in Moremi village within Botswana’s awesome Tswapong hills, the film makes village elders self-consciously reflexive. The elders, including a controversial healer, view and discuss an earlier
Southern Africa
Health / Health care / Healing
Religion / Belief / Faith
Informant-researcher relationship
A Spark in Him
2008
28
‘
Directed by
Claudia Engels
.
‘A Spark in Him’ is a film about the life story of Sajay Kumar, a young man without arms who lives in a home for disabled children in Kerala, India, and studies at the College of Fine Arts. By
South Asia
Health / Health care / Healing
Children / Young people
Education / Knowledge Transmission
Séance Reflections with Richard Werbner
2004
45
‘
Directed by
Richard Werbner
.
Njebe and Martha are a childless couple living in Botswana’s capital. Seeking to recover their well-being, they consult a charismatic diviner and healer, in Njebe’s old village, Moremi. They
Southern Africa
Health / Health care / Healing
Ritual
Reproduction (biology)
This is My Face
2018
57
‘
Student
Directed by
Angélica Cabezas Pino
.
In Chile, people living with HIV fear stigma, and often conceal their condition and remain silent about what they are going through. This is My Face explores what happens when a range of men living
South America
LGBTQI*
Participatory / Collaborative methods
Health / Health care / Healing
Gender Role and Identity
Film / Photography / Mass media
Memory
Life Story / Life History
Art / Artists / Artisans
Those who Care: Faith and Freedom in a Ladakhi Village
2001
31
‘
Directed by
Henriette Levaulx-Vrecourt
.
In Tia village, in an isolated area of Ladakh – North West India – lives an amchi (a local herbal doctor) and his wife. It is summer – a short season in the Indian Himalayas and the only period of
South Asia
Health / Health care / Healing
Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany
Tigers Apprentice
1998
57
‘
Directed by
M. Trinh Nguyen
.
Tiger’s Apprentice is the story of M. Trinh Nguyen’s journey to her native Vietnam. She observes and documents her great-uncle’s folk medicine practices treating many patients and making his
South-East Asia
Health / Health care / Healing
Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany
Umbanda
1977
52
‘
Directed by
Stephen Cross
.
Umbanda is a syncretic religious movement, combining elements from orthodox Catholicism with submerged African and indigenous Indian spiritual beliefs. In spite of past attempts to suppress it,
South America
Possession
Health / Health care / Healing
Religion / Belief / Faith
Ritual
Uncle Poison
1998
60
‘
Directed by
Ricardo Leizaola
.
Filmed in the city of Caracas, capital of Venezuela, Uncle Poison is an intimate portrait of a traditional faith healer, set against the backdrop of his community’s Easter celebrations. Every day,
South America
Health / Health care / Healing
Religion / Belief / Faith
Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany
Were Ni! He is a Madman
1963
30
‘
Directed by
Frank Speed
Raymond Prince
.
This ethnopsychiatric film shows the management of psychiatric disorders by the Yoruba of Nigeria. There are two basic types of institutions to deal with psychiatric disorders. First there are
West Africa
Health / Health care / Healing
Ritual
Possession
Why is Mr W. Laughing?
2017
76
‘
Directed by
Jana Papenbrook
.
Jana Papenbroock with Horst Wässle, Michael Gerdsmann, Bernhard Krebs WHY IS MR W. LAUGHING? is a portrait of three members of a community of artists with different disabilities. Rather than
Western Europe
Art / Artists / Artisans
Collective / Community identity
Elderly people
Health / Health care / Healing
Life Story / Life History
Personal Narrative
Social participation
Witchcraft Among the Azande
1982
52
‘
Directed by
André Singer
.
*Witchcraft among the Azande’ is suitable for showing in undergraduate and graduate classes on topics of religion, philosophy, and African ethnography. It could also be stimulating to discussions of
North and Northeast Africa
Religion / Belief / Faith
Health / Health care / Healing
Social Change
Ymako
1998
52
‘
Directed by
Laurent Van Lancker
Robin Shuffield
.
Ymako Teatri, a theatre company based in the Ivory Coast, uses street theatre to question some contemporary West African problems. Their originality consists in using the ‘invisible theatre’
West Africa
Dance / Theatre / Performance
Health / Health care / Healing
Social participation