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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
Login
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Films
69 Films
available to watch on demand
x
films with a digital version
34
films hosted on Kanopy
11
short films
34
films available on demand
69
x
Region
Australia
2
British-Irish Isles
2
Caribbean Islands
2
Central America
2
Central Asia and Far East
10
East Africa
4
Eastern Europe and Baltic States
1
Middle and Near East
3
North America
4
North and Northeast Africa
3
South America
10
South Asia
9
South-East Asia
5
South-East Europe
3
West Africa
4
Western Europe
9
Western Mediterranean
2
not set
1
Country
Anguilla
1
Australia
2
Belgium
2
Bolivia
1
Brazil
3
Cameroon
1
Chile
1
China
3
Colombia
4
Ethiopia
3
France
2
Germany
3
Ghana
1
Greece
1
Haiti
1
India
5
Indonesia
4
Italy
4
Japan
1
Kenya
4
Los Angeles
1
Mexico
2
Myanmar
1
Nepal
2
Netherlands
1
Nigeria
1
Pakistan
3
Peru
1
Romania
1
Russia
1
Senegal
1
Sierra Leone
1
Singapore
1
South Korea
1
Syria
2
Taiwan
1
Turkey
1
United Kingdom
3
United States
3
Uzbekistan
1
not set
1
Keywords
Agriculture / Farming
4
Agriculture/ Farming
1
Animals
4
Animation
2
Archaeology
1
Archival material / Museum displays
4
Art / Artists / Artisans
4
Art/ Aritists/ Artisans
1
Art/ Artists/ Artisans
2
Children / Young people
3
Children/ Young people
1
Collective / Community identity
6
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
5
Dance / Theatre / Performance
4
Development projects
3
Digital media
1
Disasters
1
Education / Knowledge Transmission
1
Elderly People
1
Elderly people
2
Environment
5
Essay film
3
Ethnofiction
3
Everyday Life
6
Family / Kinship
6
Family/ Kinship
1
Festivals / Carnival
1
Festivals/ Carnival
1
Film / Photography / Mass media
6
Folklore
2
Food / Water
5
Forensic
1
Gender Role and Identity
13
Gender Role and identity
1
Health / Health care / Healing
5
Health / Healthcare / Healing
1
Health/ Health care/ Healing
1
Herding
3
History of Anthropology
2
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
1
Hunting/Gathering/Fishing
1
Indigenous Filmmaking
2
Indigenous peoples / First Nation peoples
2
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
5
Infrastructure / Transport
2
Infrastructure/transport
1
Intergenerational relations
3
Internet
2
LGBTQI*
3
Labour
2
Land Rights
1
Life Story / Life History
5
Life Story/ Life History
1
Linguistics / Language
1
Love
5
Marriage
4
Material Culture
2
Memory
7
Migration
8
Music / Ethnomusicology
4
Music/ Ethnomusicology
1
Music/Ethnomusicology
1
Myths / Fairy tales
1
Myths/ Fairy tales
1
Nationalism
1
Nomads and Nomadism
2
Participatory / Collaborative methods
6
Personal Narrative
4
Political Activists
4
Post-communism
1
Prison
1
Race / Racism / Antiracism
5
Reflexivity
6
Refugees / Displaced populations
4
Refugees/ Displaced populations
1
Religion / Belief / Faith
9
Research Methods
1
Research methods
1
Resettlement
2
Resistance
1
Ritual
1
Rural
6
Sensory Ethnography
1
Sex / Sexuality
5
Shamans and Shamanism
1
Social Change
2
Social Conflict
2
Social Norms
1
Social Organisation
1
Social participation
1
Socioeconomic conditions
2
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
2
Tourism/ Travel/ Pilgrimage
2
Urban
4
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
2
Directors
Akin, Dorcas
1
Arif-Bashir, Abeera
1
Asadi Faezi, Daniel
1
Atieno, Lavine
1
Awino, Effie
1
Baily, John
1
Balanydjarrk, Meredith
1
Balpatji, Warren
1
Barreiro, Georgina
1
Baskin Coffey, Victoria
1
Basu, Paul
1
Bloching, Max
1
Brandão, Joana
1
Brewer, Teri F.
1
Burstin, Costanza
1
Cabezas Pino, Angélica
1
Choi, Hyewon
1
Colucci, Erminia
3
Cooper, Timothy
1
D’onofrio, Alexandra
1
Danusiri, Aryo
1
De Groof, Matthias
1
Defersha, Eyob
1
Deger, Jennifer
2
Dietrich, Martha-Cecilia
1
Djingadjingawuy, Kayleen
1
Dukmak, Abd Alrahman
1
Dyson, Jane
1
Eagle, Rob
1
Entell, Peter
1
F. Quigua, Claudia
1
Fedda, Yasmin
1
Ferrarese, Adriana
1
Gabrehiwot, Mitiku
1
Ganambarr, James
1
Gao, Ang
1
Gurrumuruwuy, Paul
1
Guruŋulmiwuy, Enid
1
Gómez Ruíz, Sebastián
1
Harrison, Ross
1
Hennies, Jan-Holger
1
Holtedahl, Lisbet
1
Huffschmid, Anne
1
Kaserci, Zeynep
1
Kawanami, Hiroko
1
Lloyd, Ravi Hart
1
Lopes, André
1
Lowe, Sebastian
1
MacDougall, David
4
MacDougall, Judith
3
Magnússon, Jón Bjarki
1
Mai, Nick
1
Mekonen, Solomon
1
Meliqo’ziev, Iqbol
1
Ndinya, June
1
Niglas, Liivo
1
Nitzky, William
1
Njoki, Ruth
1
Owles, Edward
1
Palmer, Lisa
1
Papenbrook, Jana
1
Ross, Nina
1
Sarabi, Abtin
1
Satija, Dhruv
1
Sojob, María
1
Sowa, Remigiusz
1
Sterre Schmitz, Julia
1
Sørensen, Tanja Wol
1
Tamura (aka John Wells), Can
1
Tender, Priit
1
Teo, Qi Yu
1
Thomas Allen, Christopher
1
Tsai, Futuru C.L.
1
Uribe, Simón
1
Villafaña Chaparro, Amado
1
Vohra, Paromita
1
Wunungmurra, Paul
1
Xu, Beina
1
de Bromhead, Toni
1
van Lanker, Laurent
1
van de Port, Mattijs
3
Șalaru, Maria
1
𝗟𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗿, Ana
1
Series
Decolonising Shorts
4
Guardians of Productive Landscapes
2
Pleasure Shorts
3
Shorts Collection 1
1
Shorts Collection 2
11
Shorts collection 2
5
Turkana Conversations
3
not set
40
Country of production
Argentina
1
Australia
8
Belgium
2
Chile
1
China
1
Colombia
4
Denmark
1
Estonia
1
Ethiopia
2
France
4
Germany
7
Iceland
1
India
3
Indonesia
3
Italy
3
Japan
1
Kenya
1
Mexico
1
Netherlands
3
Norway
1
Pakistan
2
Peru
1
Romania
1
Singapore
1
South Korea
1
Switzerland
1
Taiwan
1
Turkey
1
United Kingdom
17
United States
5
Uzbekistan
1
not set
2
Year of production
1976
1
1977
1
1981
1
1984
1
1985
1
1988
1
1996
1
2006
1
2008
1
2014
1
2015
3
2016
5
2017
5
2018
12
2019
16
2020
16
2021
2
Film list
The Absence of Apricots
2018
49
‘
Student
Directed by
Daniel Asadi Faezi
.
In the Hunza Valley in the northern Pakistan there is a magnificent turquoise lake. But the lake hasn’t been always there: it is the result of a massive landslide that blocked a river, causing
South Asia
Environment
Memory
Development projects
Resettlement
Amir – An Afghan Refugee Musician’s Life in Peshavar, Pakistan
1985
52
‘
Directed by
John Baily
.
The film investigates and portrays the life of Afghan refugees living in and around the city of Peshawar in northern Pakistan through the experiences of the musician Amir. The aspirations of Afghan
South Asia
Music / Ethnomusicology
Refugees / Displaced populations
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
Ayouni
2020
75
‘
Directed by
Yasmin Fedda
.
Bassel was a successful open source developer and hacker in Damascus. Paolo was a well-known priest based in Mar Musa monastery. Both men were active in the 2011 Syrian revolution, and witnesses to
Middle and Near East
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Memory
Political Activists
Bang the Drum
2020
28
‘
Directed by
William Nitzky
.
For the Yao minority in rural southwest China, the bronze drum is a sacred heritage. Its sound aids the souls of deceased elders in reaching the ancestral land. When the Chinese government steps in
Central Asia and Far East
Music/ Ethnomusicology
Tourism/ Travel/ Pilgrimage
Rural
Shamans and Shamanism
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
The Body Won’t Close
2020
74
‘
Main Competition
Directed by
Mattijs van de Port
.
Our bodies are semi-permeable. All over the world, stories are being told about heroes who magically “close” their bodies, so as to become invincible. This film follows one such story, as it is
South America
Essay film
Gender Role and Identity
Folklore
Reflexivity
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
A Colombian Family
2020
80
‘
Main Competition
Directed by
Tanja Wol Sørensen
.
A powerful mother-daughter drama is at the centre of this film. Rooted in disagreement—both personal and political—the film follows the consequences of a war that leaves them with an impossible
South America
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Family / Kinship
Gender Role and Identity
Intergenerational relations
Memory
Migration
Personal Narrative
Political Activists
Refugees / Displaced populations
Social Conflict
Come Here Come Here
2019
28
‘
Directed by
Julia Sterre Schmitz
.
As a poetic manifesto for a more plural understanding of female sexuality, this associative film interweaves many theories, images, fantasies, memories and confusions drawn from popular culture,
Western Europe
Sex / Sexuality
Love
Gender Role and Identity
Research Methods
Dancing Grass. Harvesting teff in the Tigrean highlands
2018
40
‘
Directed by
Mitiku Gabrehiwot
.
Dancing Grass is a film in the Guardians of Productive Landscapes series (editor Ivo Strecker). It captures the communal harvesting of teff among Tigreans of Northern Ethiopia. Teff, an ancient
North and Northeast Africa
Agriculture / Farming
Food / Water
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
Depending on Heaven
1988
56
‘
Directed by
Peter Entell
.
The film is in two parts and focuses on the Mongols living in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. Part One (28 minutes) follows the life of a nomadic Mongol family on their yearly journey
Central Asia and Far East
Environment
Nomads and Nomadism
Herding
Everyday Life
A Donation to the Museum
2015
25
‘
Directed by
Teri F. Brewer
.
Human remains from the California Channel Islands were donated to an English city museum nearly a century ago. More recently research began into how they came to be there, and whose remains they
North America
Western Europe
Archaeology
Archival material / Museum displays
Emails to My Little Sister
2018
35
‘
Directed by
Solomon Mekonen
.
An autoethnographic phenomenology of blackness in Berlin via Ethiopia. The film explores the historical and ongoing relationship between the so-called West and Africa. A brother who lives north of
Western Europe
North and Northeast Africa
Migration
Race / Racism / Antiracism
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
Reflexivity
Even Asteroids Are Not Alone
2018
17
‘
Directed by
Jón Bjarki Magnússon
.
Eve Online is a computer game in which players mine, trade and fight their way through computer-generated galaxies. Whilst computer game aficionados are often depicted as isolated, this game is
Internet
Faces Voices
2018
18
‘
Directed by
Paul Basu
Christopher Thomas Allen
.
The film complicates any simple reading of a colonial photographic archive from Southern Nigeria and Sierra Leone that was collected between 1909 and 1915. Through a collaborative creative effort
West Africa
British-Irish Isles
Archival material / Museum displays
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
Race / Racism / Antiracism
Forget Alberto For Now
2020
19
‘
Directed by
Beina Xu
.
A refugee known only as Alberto flies from Athens to Brussels on a fake passport. Three years later, a small crew from Berlin tries to make a film by shooting the landscape of his transit. Things
Western Europe
Western Mediterranean
Reflexivity
Migration
Resettlement
Refugees/ Displaced populations
From There to Here
2019
30
‘
Directed by
Qi Yu Teo
.
In 1949, the author’s young grandfather migrated from An Xi, China, to Singapore. Spending almost 70 years in Singapore, he has only been back home four times. As an immigrant from China,
Central Asia and Far East
Migration
Intergenerational relations
Life Story / Life History
Gandhi’s Children
2008
185
‘
Directed by
David MacDougall
.
A monolithic building on the outskirts of Delhi provides food and shelter for 350 boys. Some are orphans, some have been abandoned, others have run away from home. About half are held under a court
South Asia
Children / Young people
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
Socioeconomic conditions
Gula – Music for a sacred time
2020
15
‘
Directed by
Remigiusz Sowa
.
Introduces the rich and varied Hindu-Buddhist religious and ritual musical heritage of the ancient royal city of Bhaktapur (Nepal).
South Asia
Music / Ethnomusicology
Guli Armug’on
2019
23
‘
Directed by
Iqbol Meliqo’ziev
.
Uzbek and Tajik women in eastern Uzbekistan celebrate the arrival of spring by gathering at the grave of an Islamic saint. The Afghan redbud trees growing on the site are in full bloom. The magical
Central Asia and Far East
Religion / Belief / Faith
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
Horror in the Andes
2019
33
‘
Special Interest
Directed by
Martha-Cecilia Dietrich
.
Horror in the Andes is a behind-the-scenes documentary that follows the process of making a horror movie in Ayacucho, Peru. Directed by audio-visual anthropologist Martha-Cecilia Dietrich, it
South America
Art / Artists / Artisans
Dance / Theatre / Performance
Ethnofiction
Film / Photography / Mass media
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
House No. 15
2018
7
‘
Directed by
Aryo Danusiri
.
Jakarta, Indonesia. Monsoon season. Children are at play in their flooded house, located in the riverside area of Ciliwung, known for its informal housing settlements. What unfolds before the camera
South-East Asia
Everyday Life
Children/ Young people
Sensory Ethnography
IT WAS TOMORROW
2018
53
‘
Student
Directed by
Alexandra D’onofrio
.
After living in Italy for almost ten years without documents, three Egyptian men – Ali, Mahmoud and Mohamed – are suddenly awarded legal residence. As a whole new world of opportunities opens up to
Western Mediterranean
Animation
Art / Artists / Artisans
Dance / Theatre / Performance
Film / Photography / Mass media
Life Story / Life History
Memory
Migration
Research methods
Participatory / Collaborative methods
In Aiye’s Garden. Propagation and Processing of Enset in the Gamo Highlands
2019
58
‘
Directed by
Eyob Defersha
.
In Aiye’s Garden is a film in the Guardians of Productive Landscapes series (editor Ivo Strecker). Enset, which is related to the banana plant, is very drought resistant and a good source of
North and Northeast Africa
Agriculture / Farming
Food / Water
IntranQu’îllités
2019
20
‘
Directed by
Edward Owles
.
Lyrically narrated by award-winning Haitian poet James Noël, the short film interweaves the work of several Haitian artists who want to redefine how their nation is perceived. The film explores the
Caribbean Islands
Art/ Artists/ Artisans
Nationalism
Social Organisation
Journey of the Maggot Feeder
2015
68
‘
Directed by
Liivo Niglas
Priit Tender
.
This film tries to solve the mystery of a bizarre Arctic fairy tale. Priit Tender, an Estonian animator, makes a film about an old Chukchi legend – The Maggot Feeder. The unconventional narrative
Central Asia and Far East
Animation
Film / Photography / Mass media
Myths / Fairy tales
Kalès
2017
63
‘
RAI Basil Wright
Directed by
Laurent van Lanker
.
A film of wind and despair, of fire and solidarity, of hope and hell. An intimate and inside perspective of the ‘jungle’ of Calais, evoked through a polyphony of bodies, tales, and
Western Europe
Migration
Refugees / Displaced populations
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
Participatory / Collaborative methods
Keepers of the Faith: The Buddhist Nuns of Sagaing Hills
1996
51
‘
Directed by
Hiroko Kawanami
.
In the Sagaing Hills, 12 miles from the ancient capital of Mandalay are hundreds of pagodas, stupas, monasteries and nunneries which form a focal point of worship for Buddhism in Burma. In 1986 the
South-East Asia
Religion / Belief / Faith
Collective / Community identity
Gender Role and Identity
Knots and Holes. An Essay Film on the Life of Nets.
2018
74
‘
Special Interest
Directed by
Mattijs van de Port
.
A singular anthropological essay film that observes the various nets we find across different contexts in Bahia (from fishing nets to delicate nets of lace), and the emotions and sensations
South America
Essay film
Reflexivity
Love
Land Lot S7
2020
28
‘
Directed by
Abtin Sarabi
.
Following sugar cane field workers in Senegal as they chop and burn their way through seemingly endless fields, this poetic film takes an unconventional approach to understanding the gruelling work
West Africa
Labour
Agriculture / Farming
Lives and Deaths between Ebbs and Flows
2019
14
‘
Directed by
Futuru C.L. Tsai
.
Futuru Tsai explores the relationship between Amis people and the sea in this playful portrait of maritime culture in coastal Taiwan. The film focuses on various social and practical activities in
Central Asia and Far East
Animals
Indigenous peoples / First Nation peoples
Lorang’s Way
1977
69
‘
Directed by
David MacDougall
Judith MacDougall
.
The Turkana are a group of semi-nomadic pastoralists who inhabit a harsh environment of dry thorn country in northwestern Kenya. Lorang’s Way focuses upon a Turkana elder. Having spent time away
East Africa
Herding
Social Change
Nomads and Nomadism
Making Worlds Otherwise
2020
28
‘
Directed by
Paul Gurrumuruwuy
Jennifer Deger
Enid Guruŋulmiwuy
Warren Balpatji
Meredith Balanydjarrk
James Ganambarr
Kayleen Djingadjingawuy
Victoria Baskin Coffey
Sebastian Lowe
.
An exuberant experiment in the ethnographic art of remix that gives new form to Miyarrka Media’s project of yuṯa, or new, anthropology. Sound, images, colour, light, and deeply felt patterns of
Australia
Collective / Community identity
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
Internet
Digital media
Participatory / Collaborative methods
Motels
2020
27
‘
Directed by
Claudia F. Quigua
.
Have you ever been in a motel room with rounded beds, love chairs, coloured lights and dancing poles? This film explores a prominent yet often overlooked aspect of Colombian culture through the
South America
Sex / Sexuality
Love
Tourism/ Travel/ Pilgrimage
My Eyes as a Stranger
1984
53
‘
Directed by
Toni de Bromhead
.
This film tells the story of the friendship between an English filmmaker and Nicola, a Sicilian ex-gangster who lives in Florence. The film moves to and fro between a street of ill repute, and the
South-East Europe
Gender Role and Identity
New York Just Another City
2019
18
‘
Directed by
André Lopes
Joana Brandão
.
Brazilian Guarani filmmaker Patrícia Ferreira reflects on New York City and Indigenous representation in dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History. This film is part of the collected DVD
North America
Archival material / Museum displays
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
Indigenous peoples / First Nation peoples
Race / Racism / Antiracism
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
Ocak
2020
28
‘
Directed by
Zeynep Kaserci
.
The story of a family who earns their livelihood as hazelnut cultivators in rural north-eastern Turkey. Filmed in an observational style, it offers glimpses into the local social life of the village
Middle and Near East
Collective / Community identity
Agriculture / Farming
Rural
Oink!
2020
22
‘
Directed by
Rob Eagle
.
An experimental research documentary offering a portrait of gay men who‚ in different ways‚ relate to the “pig” sexual imaginary. It provides insight into their experiences of identity,
Western Europe
North America
Sex / Sexuality
LGBTQI*
Collective / Community identity
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
The Ospreys and the Old Man
2020
9
‘
Directed by
Ang Gao
.
A 76-year-old man living in a village in the middle of China continues the traditional practice of using ospreys (鱼鹰. 鱼鹰 usually referred to as great cormorant in English) to fish while most
Central Asia and Far East
Hunting/Gathering/Fishing
Animals
Elderly People
Paani: of women and water
2018
22
‘
Student
Directed by
Costanza Burstin
.
Against the bleached sky of Rajasthan, we encounter the women of a small Muslim village as they engage in their work. Here, water binds their daily labour rituals: they collect and carry water in
South Asia
Environment
Food / Water
Gender Role and Identity
Rural
Everyday Life
Palimpsest of the Africa Museum
2019
69
‘
Directed by
Matthias De Groof
.
In 2013, the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Brussels (Belgium) closed for renovation. It is not only the building and the museum cabinets that are in need of renewal: the spirit of the museum has
Western Europe
Archival material / Museum displays
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
Race / Racism / Antiracism
Education / Knowledge Transmission
History of Anthropology
The People Next to Coal Power Plant
2019
22
‘
Directed by
Hyewon Choi
.
Vegetable crops are contaminated, fish have disappeared, illness is rife. Life in the shadow of a Korean coal power plant is difficult, but the locals have no choice but to struggle on nonetheless.
Central Asia and Far East
Infrastructure/transport
Environment
Disasters
Persistence
2019
54
‘
Main Competition
Directed by
Anne Huffschmid
Jan-Holger Hennies
.
Human bodies don’t simply disappear. They were kidnapped, buried, broken into pieces. But they are also searched for, recovered and if forensic experts achieve the unlikely, reconstructed as
Central America
Forensic
Memory
The Possibility of Spirits
2016
72
‘
Directed by
Mattijs van de Port
.
What is it that you film when you film a spirit? I was brought up to believe that spirits do not exist. Years of research on an afro-Brazilian spirit possession cult taught me the limits of such
South America
Essay film
Religion / Belief / Faith
Reflexivity
Processes
2016
23
‘
Directed by
Adriana Ferrarese
.
Like every year, Corigliano Calabro, a small village in the south of Italy, celebrates Easter: from the investiture of a man to embody Jesus during a night procession, to the passionate debates for
South-East Europe
Religion / Belief / Faith
Festivals / Carnival
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
Ringtone
2014
30
‘
Directed by
Jennifer Deger
Paul Wunungmurra
.
Yolngu Aboriginal families offer glimpses into their lives and relationships through their choice of ringtones. From ancestral clan songs to 80s hip hop artists and local gospel tunes, these songs
Australia
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Music / Ethnomusicology
Material Culture
Spirit
2019
19
‘
Directed by
Jane Dyson
Ross Harrison
.
Saraswati is a new arrival in an Indian Himalayan village. She wonders how she will ever feel at home in the new setting. “Spirit” by Jane Dyson and Ross Harrison is a story of longing and
Central Asia and Far East
Gender Role and identity
Agriculture/ Farming
Everyday Life
Family/ Kinship
Suspension
2019
73
‘
Werbner Award
Directed by
Simón Uribe
.
This film documents the building of a modern road through the imposing geography of southern Colombia. It brilliantly captures some of the absurdities and contradictions of a construction project
South America
Development projects
Infrastructure / Transport
Material Culture
Rural
TOTE_Grandfather
2019
80
‘
Main Competition
Directed by
María Sojob
.
This film portrays an unexpected encounter between an old Tzotzil man, who is going blind, and his granddaughter, who does not remember her childhood well. The granddaughter, having grown up in the
Central America
Indigenous Filmmaking
Gender Role and Identity
Family / Kinship
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Elderly people
Love
Intergenerational relations
Linguistics / Language
Memory
Tara’s footprint
2018
70
‘
Intangible Culture
Directed by
Georgina Barreiro
.
Tara’s Footprint skilfully conjures the atmosphere of Khechuperi, a village in the Himalayas in north eastern India. Eschewing standard exposition the film follows four young siblings as they go
South Asia
Children / Young people
Dance / Theatre / Performance
Everyday Life
Music / Ethnomusicology
Religion / Belief / Faith
Rural
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
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
Travel (double screen)
2016
63
‘
Directed by
Nick Mai
.
(This version of the film uses a split-screen device throughout. For the single screen version see ‘Travel’). Joy left Nigeria to help her family after her father’s death. She knew that she was
Western Europe
Sex / Sexuality
Labour
Migration
Ethnofiction
Reflexivity
Treasured Moments
2016
33
‘
Student
Directed by
Ravi Hart Lloyd
.
This is the personal story of a boy who grew up mixed in every aspect of his life, his parents, where he was from, his race. The black kid who thought that he was white. The white kid who thought
Caribbean Islands
North America
Family / Kinship
Race / Racism / Antiracism
Collective / Community identity
Film / Photography / Mass media
Uma: a water crisis in Bolivia
2020
76
‘
Directed by
Ana 𝗟𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗿
.
Uma: a water crisis in Bolivia tells the story of three Andean indigenous communities in the highlands of Bolivia who are fighting to protect their water from diversion and contamination amid a
South America
Environment
Food / Water
Gender Role and Identity
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Land Rights
Political Activists
Resistance
Rural
Social Conflict
Unwritten Letters
2020
59
‘
Directed by
Max Bloching
Abd Alrahman Dukmak
.
Abd is a 24-year-old Syrian who took part in the early days of the 2011 revolution and now lives in Padova, Italy. Together with his German friend Max he is working on a film called Unwritten
South-East Europe
Middle and Near East
Migration
Refugees / Displaced populations
Participatory / Collaborative methods
Life Story / Life History
The Wedding Camels
1976
108
‘
Directed by
Judith MacDougall
David MacDougall
.
Also about individuals from the Turkana in north-western Kenya (see ‘Lorang’s Way’ and ‘A Wife Among Wives’), this film chronicles a series of events which surround the marriage of Lorang’s
East Africa
Family / Kinship
Marriage
Animals
Herding
Welcome Valentine 2017
2017
16
‘
Student
Directed by
Dhruv Satija
.
In a temple dedicated to Hanuman in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, a priest flouts convention by marrying couples who are shunned elsewhere: mostly those who have eloped from families who disapprove of their
South Asia
Marriage
Love
LGBTQI*
Religion / Belief / Faith
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
A Wife Among Wives
1981
72
‘
Directed by
Judith MacDougall
David MacDougall
.
This segment of the trilogy on the Turkana of northern Kenya (see ‘Lorang’s Way’ and ‘The Wedding Camels’ above) evolves around the role of women in the society. The audience follows the
East Africa
Gender Role and Identity
Marriage
Family / Kinship
Wild Honey: Caring for bees in a divided land
2019
30
‘
Directed by
Lisa Palmer
.
For more than a century, the island of Timor has been divided by a colonial border. Timor’s migratory wild honey bees challenge this division. In community honey harvest rituals, queen bees are
South-East Asia
Animals
Food / Water
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
Wives
2017
85
‘
RAI Basil Wright
Directed by
Lisbet Holtedahl
.
Alhajji Ibrahim is an Islamic scholar who has served as judge at the Sultanate of Ngaoundéré in Northern Cameroon for 46 years. The film follows Alhajji during the last years of his life, focusing
West Africa
Family / Kinship
Everyday Life
Gender Role and Identity
Marriage
Personal Narrative
Religion / Belief / Faith
Social Norms
Wási
2017
16
‘
Shorts
Directed by
Sebastián Gómez Ruíz
Amado Villafaña Chaparro
.
As the sun rises on a village in northern Colombia, we glimpse its inhabitants as they begin their day. As the scene emerges from obscurity, a voiceover reflects on the nature of sight. It is the
South America
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Indigenous Filmmaking
History of Anthropology
Film / Photography / Mass media