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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 Conference 2025
Archive of past editions
RAI FILM
Login
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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
13 Films
Keywords
“Religion / Belief / Faith”
and
“Ritual”
x
Country of production
“United Kingdom”
x
films with a digital version
8
short films
3
Region
British-Irish Isles
1
Melanesia
2
South America
3
South Asia
2
Southern Africa
1
West Africa
3
Western Mediterranean
1
Country
Botswana
1
Brazil
1
Burkina Faso
1
India
1
Malta
1
Nigeria
2
Papua New Guinea
1
Solomon Islands
1
Sri Lanka
1
United Kingdom
1
Venezuela
2
Keywords
Death
3
Education / Knowledge Transmission
1
Environment
1
Everyday Life
1
Festivals / Carnival
1
Health / Health care / Healing
2
History of Anthropology
1
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
1
Music / Ethnomusicology
1
Possession
2
Religion / Belief / Faith
13
Reproduction (biology)
1
Ritual
13
x
Social Change
1
Social Conflict
1
Directors
Bringas, Sylvie
1
Cross, Stephen
1
Ferrarini, Lorenzo
1
Henley, Paul
2
Jerstad, Jon
1
Johnson, Dul
1
LaPin, Deirdre
1
Nairn, Charlie
1
Owen, Chris
1
Speed, Frank
1
Vella, Steve
1
Werbner, Richard
1
Woodhead, Leslie
1
Wright, Evie
1
Series
Disappearing World Series
3
Granada Center for Visual Anthropology Student Film
2
National Film and Television School
1
The Well-Being Quest in Botswana
1
not set
6
Country of production
Nigeria
1
United Kingdom
13
x
Year of production
1973
1
1977
1
1981
1
1982
1
1984
1
1987
3
2003
1
2004
1
2008
1
2012
1
2014
1
Film list
Beneath the Budding Greenwoods
2004
25
‘
Directed by
Evie Wright
.
Anne and Rosemary both chose to bury their husbands in the woods, whereas Tony was certain he didn’t want a vicar at his wife’s funeral. Focusing on the experiences of three grieving widows, the film
British-Irish Isles
Environment
Ritual
Death
Religion / Belief / Faith
Cuyagua – Devil Dancers
1987
52
‘
Directed by
Paul Henley
.
The men of the Afro-Caribbean population of Cuyagua enact a ritual that occurs 60 days after Easter. The film is a portrait of two men who direct the devil dancing. They tell the history of the
South America
Ritual
Religion / Belief / Faith
Cuyagua – the Saint With Two Faces
1987
56
‘
Student
Directed by
Paul Henley
.
The film centres on the predominantly female celebration of the feast of Saint John. The women sing the songs associated with the Feast, describe their beliefs and how they organise the feast.
South America
Ritual
Religion / Belief / Faith
Festivals / Carnival
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)
In Our Blood
2003
26
‘
Directed by
Steve Vella
.
In Malta, devotion to the Virgin Mary is very fervent, particularly in the village of Naxxar, where the most important annual feast, taking place over several days, is dedicated to her honour. But
Western Mediterranean
Religion / Belief / Faith
Ritual
Kalanda – the Knowledge of the Bush
2014
62
‘
Directed by
Lorenzo Ferrarini
.
In some parts of West Africa, hunting is much more than killing animals. A donso is no common hunter, but a healer, a diviner, a ritual specialist and amulet maker. Kalanda is a unique initiatory
West Africa
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
Religion / Belief / Faith
Education / Knowledge Transmission
Ritual
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
The Lau of Malaita
1982
52
‘
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
.
*Pierre Miranda and a team from Granada Television have made a fine film exploring the trouble realities of the people of the lagoon in the 1980s.* (B. Shore) This film focuses on the people of
Melanesia
Social Change
Social Conflict
Ritual
Death
Religion / Belief / Faith
The Red Bowmen
1981
50
‘
Directed by
Chris Owen
.
In a remote part of the West Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea, the Umeda people eke out a difficult living from the sago swamps and primary rain forest that surround them. Until recently, these
Melanesia
Ritual
Religion / Belief / Faith
History of Anthropology
Sons of the Moon
1984
25
‘
Directed by
Frank Speed
Deirdre LaPin
.
In isolated mountain hamlets in Nigeria’s Jos Plateau the Ngas have traditionally observed the movements of the moon in the night sky. The moon is a key symbol in Ngas cosmology, believed to
West Africa
Religion / Belief / Faith
Music / Ethnomusicology
Everyday Life
Ritual
There is Nothing Wrong with my Uncle
2012
78
‘
Directed by
Sylvie Bringas
Dul Johnson
.
Nigerian writer Dul Johnson returns to Tarok land to observe the local death rituals and the record of the Tarok ways of dealing with grief and honoring departed. This film provides a rare and
West Africa
Death
Religion / Belief / Faith
Ritual
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
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