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About
About RAI Film
Meet the team
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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
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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
Facebook
Instagram
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Films
4 Films
Region
“Central Asia and Far East”
x
Keywords
“Shamans and Shamanism”
x
films with a digital version
3
short films
3
films available on demand
1
Region
Central Asia and Far East
4
x
Country
China
2
Mongolia
1
Russian Federation
1
Keywords
Gender Role and Identity
2
Herding
1
Music/ Ethnomusicology
1
Nomads and Nomadism
1
Post-communism
1
Ritual
1
Rural
1
Shamans and Shamanism
4
x
Social Change
1
Tourism/ Travel/ Pilgrimage
1
Directors
Merli, Laetitia
1
Nitzky, William
1
Rousso-Schindler, Steven
1
Seaman, Gary
1
Sheppard, John
1
Song, Zhifang
1
Series
Disappearing World Series
1
Granada Center for Visual Anthropology Student Film
1
Shorts Collection 2
1
Song Family Village
1
Country of production
China
1
United Kingdom
2
United States
2
Year of production
1989
1
2000
1
2009
1
2020
1
Film list
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
Call for Grace
2000
30
‘
Student
Directed by
Laetitia Merli
.
During Mongolia’s seventy years of domination by the Soviet Union, shamanism, like many aspects of Mongolian tradition, was forbidden by the Communist authorities, and went into decline. Since the
Central Asia and Far East
Shamans and Shamanism
Post-communism
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
The Herders of Mongun-Taiga
1989
52
‘
Directed by
John Sheppard
.
The Tuvinians live deep inside the Soviet Union, at the very centre of Asia. Tuva is geographically closer to Peking than to Moscow. It only entered the USSR in 1944 and was closed to foreigners
Central Asia and Far East
Herding
Nomads and Nomadism
Shamans and Shamanism
Gender Role and Identity
Social Change