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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
RAI FILM
Login
Facebook
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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
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Instagram
Twitter
Films
24 Films
Keywords
“Urban”
x
films with a digital version
11
films hosted on Kanopy
1
short films
14
films available on demand
4
Region
British-Irish Isles
3
Central America
1
Central Asia and Far East
4
Eastern Europe and Baltic States
1
Middle and Near East
2
North and Northeast Africa
1
Scandinavia
1
South Asia
7
South-East Asia
1
Southern Africa
2
Western Mediterranean
1
Country
Afghanistan
2
Botswana
1
China
1
Denmark
1
India
6
Italy
1
Japan
2
Malawi
1
Mongolia
1
Pakistan
1
Philippines
1
Romania
1
Sudan
1
United Kingdom
3
Venezuela
1
Keywords
Alternative culture
2
Art/ Aritists/ Artisans
1
Children / Young people
3
Collective / Community identity
1
Development projects
1
Ethnofiction
1
Everyday Life
1
Family / Kinship
1
Festivals / Carnival
1
Festivals/ Carnival
1
Film / Photography / Mass media
1
Folklore
1
Gender Role and Identity
3
Informant-researcher relationship
1
Infrastructure / Transport
1
Infrastructure\transport
1
Labour
1
Land rights
1
Life Story / Life History
1
Memory
1
Migration
1
Music/Ethnomusicology
1
Myths/ Fairy tales
1
Political Activists
1
Popular Culture
1
Possession
1
Post-communism
1
Refugees / Displaced populations
1
Religion / Belief / Faith
3
Resettlement
1
Social Change
1
Socioeconomic conditions
2
Sport
1
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
6
Trade
1
Travellers / Roma
1
Urban
24
x
Directors
Arif-Bashir, Abeera
1
Austena, Aunund
1
Baily, John
2
Banks, Marcus
1
Cooper, Timothy
1
Elliot, Dominic
1
Husmann, Rolf
1
Kildea, Gary
1
Leizaola, Ricardo
1
Milling, Julie
1
Moser, Brian
1
Ono, Ray
1
Owles, Ed
1
Richards, Naomi
1
Rosen, Jennifer
1
Roy, Rahul
2
Schillaci, Rossella
1
Shakerifar, Elhum
1
Sperschneider, Werner
1
Svartzman, Boris
1
Tamura (aka John Wells), Can
1
Taylor, Jamie
1
Vohra, Paromita
1
Webster, Rachel
1
Werbner, Richard
1
Șalaru, Maria
1
Series
Disappearing World Series
1
Granada Center for Visual Anthropology Student Film
8
Shorts Collection 2
2
The Well-Being Quest in Botswana
1
not set
12
Country of production
Australia
1
China
1
France
1
Germany
1
India
3
Italy
1
Japan
1
Pakistan
1
Romania
1
United Kingdom
14
Venezuela
1
Year of production
1975
1
1983
2
1988
1
1991
1
1992
1
1994
1
2000
2
2002
2
2003
3
2006
1
2007
1
2009
3
2011
1
2016
1
2019
2
2020
1
Film list
Barah Pal
2009
30
‘
Directed by
Jennifer Rosen
.
12 castes of gypsy artists ended their nomadic ways nearly 45 years ago to squat in New Delhi. Now the slum is being dismantled and rehabilitated. These are their last months in the colony as they
South Asia
Refugees / Displaced populations
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
Travellers / Roma
Urban
The Block
2016
60
‘
Student
Directed by
Maria Șalaru
.
From neighbourly disputes over garlic-heavy cooking to memories of Ceaușescu’s heatless winters, "The Block" explores the rich social and material universe of a Romanian apartment
Eastern Europe and Baltic States
Urban
Post-communism
Infrastructure / Transport
Celso and Cora
2000
109
‘
Directed by
Gary Kildea
.
The film is about one family who live in the slums of Manila. Gary Kildea and a Filipino collaborator enter this family’s life, filming them as they eat, as they care for their children, as they work
South-East Asia
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
Family / Kinship
Urban
Cinema Pedregal
1994
27
‘
Directed by
Ricardo Leizaola
.
For forty years Alejandro Farfán has been making and showing films in El Pedregal. Now located in the heart of Caracas, this community was a small village when Alejandro first went to the cinema.
Central America
Popular Culture
Urban
Film / Photography / Mass media
Memory
The City Beautiful
2003
78
‘
Directed by
Rahul Roy
.
Sunder Nagri (Beautiful City) is a small working class colony on the margins of India’s capital city, Delhi. Most families residing here come from a community of weavers. The last ten years have
South Asia
Urban
Labour
Socioeconomic conditions
Herat Films: The City of Herat
1983
21
‘
Directed by
John Baily
.
These videos were edited from seven hours of Super 8 film shot by John Baily during two years of ethnomusicological fieldwork carried out in the Herat region of western Afghanistan between 1973 and
Middle and Near East
Urban
Trade
Herat Films: The Shrines of Herat
1983
30
‘
Directed by
John Baily
.
These videos were edited from seven hours of Super 8 film shot by John Baily during two years of ethnomusicological fieldwork carried out in the Herat region of western Afghanistan between 1973 and
Middle and Near East
Religion / Belief / Faith
Urban
Holy Hustlers
2009
53
‘
Directed by
Richard Werbner
.
Charismatic, street-wise young men, living in Botswana’s capital, command the prophetic domain in Eloyi, their Apostolic faith-healing church, at a time of escalating crisis. Bitter, sinful
Southern Africa
Religion / Belief / Faith
Urban
Possession
Hulme Homes for Hulme People
1992
23
‘
Directed by
Aunund Austena
.
Summer ’92 and Hulme, a densely populated and culturally diverse area of inner city Manchester, is being demolished for the second time in 30 years, this time in consultation with local residents and
British-Irish Isles
Urban
In Pursuit of Happiness
2009
31
‘
Directed by
Ray Ono
.
Tokyo life as rarely seen on mainstream media. This short film takes you to the lives of men who live on the outskirts of the city and of Japanese society.
Central Asia and Far East
Alternative culture
Urban
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
Mongolia part 2: The City on the Steppes
1975
52
‘
Directed by
Brian Moser
.
The second of two films on Mongolia made by Granada Television in 1974–75 looks at life in Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia and home of a quarter of the population. The city celebrates the 53rd
Central Asia and Far East
Festivals / Carnival
Urban
Everyday Life
A New Era
2019
71
‘
Werbner Award
Directed by
Boris Svartzman
.
In 2008, local authorities evicted 2,000 villagers from Guanzhou, a river island in Southern China, to make way for new urban planning projects. In spite of the demolition of their houses and police
Central Asia and Far East
Urban
Development projects
Infrastructure\transport
Land rights
Resettlement
Nuba Wrestling
1991
42
‘
Directed by
Rolf Husmann
Werner Sperschneider
.
The weekly wrestling tournaments of the Sudanese Nuba migrants in Khartoum usually take place between Northern and Southern Nuba men. The sport helps them strengthen their ethnic identity in a
North and Northeast Africa
Collective / Community identity
Gender Role and Identity
Urban
Sport
Okinami
2019
24
‘
Directed by
Can Tamura (aka John Wells)
.
This film features a Japanese seaside ritual performed in honour of a marine deity, who is considered to hold the power to determine a safe and successful year of local fishing. This two-day event
Central Asia and Far East
Festivals/ Carnival
Urban
Folklore
Myths/ Fairy tales
Other Europe
2011
75
‘
Directed by
Rossella Schillaci
.
What happens to African migrants once granted political refugee status? In Turin, a northern Italian city, an abandoned clinic has been squatted by more than 200 refugees since December 2008. Khaled,
Western Mediterranean
Migration
Urban
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
Q2P
2006
55
‘
Directed by
Paromita Vohra
.
Q2P is a film about toilets and the city. It sifts through the dream of Mumbai as a future Shanghai and searches for public toilets, watching who has to queue to pee. As the film observes who has
South Asia
Gender Role and Identity
Urban
Socioeconomic conditions
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
Ravi and Bhajay
2002
26
‘
Directed by
Rachel Webster
.
Street boys Ravi and Bhajay lead a tough life on the pavements of Mumbai in India. To get away from it, they visit the nearby holy city of Ujjain with the film-maker. But the call of life on the streets is still strong.
South Asia
Children / Young people
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
Urban
Smell the Roses
2003
28
‘
Directed by
Julie Milling
.
Christiania is a self-governing community in the heart of Copenhagen set up by squatters at the height of 1970s idealism. Faced with extinction or urban redevelopment, residents struggle to redefine a fading ideology.
Scandinavia
Alternative culture
Urban
Southeast London Ethnography – Three Student Films: Anglesea Road; The Good Ol’ Days; Talk of Trade
2007
13
‘
Directed by
Elhum Shakerifar
Ed Owles
Jamie Taylor
.
These 3 films on Southeast London were made by GCC college students who took a course in anthropology & film. ANGLESEA ROAD: Situated in Woolwich, South East London, Anglesea Road is a small
British-Irish Isles
Urban
Street Fiction
2002
32
‘
Directed by
Dominic Elliot
.
Through combining their own dramatic reconstructions and real life observation, this film tells the story of children who run away from their homes in search of a better life on the streets of Blantyre, Malawi.
Southern Africa
Urban
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
Children / Young people
Ethnofiction
This Is A Majlis – A Sound Essay
2020
17
‘
Directed by
Timothy Cooper
Abeera Arif-Bashir
.
This short film is a multi-platform sound essay. It is primarily illustrated with still images, that conjure an atmosphere of intimacy and intensity of the majlis-e-aza, a mourning gathering central
South Asia
Music/Ethnomusicology
Urban
Art/ Aritists/ Artisans
Social Change
When Four Friends Meet
2000
43
‘
Directed by
Rahul Roy
.
Bunty, Kamal, Sanjay and Sanju, best of friends and residents of Jehangiripuri, a working class colony on the outskirts of Delhi are young and trying to make their lives in an environment which is
South Asia
Gender Role and Identity
Children / Young people
Urban
Worldwide, Streetwise
2003
32
‘
Directed by
Naomi Richards
.
A film that explores issues of faith and activism at a radical church in an ethnically and religiously diverse area of Leeds.
British-Irish Isles
Religion / Belief / Faith
Urban
Political Activists