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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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Films
17 Films
Region
“Middle and Near East”
x
Series
“0”
x
films with a digital version
11
films hosted on Kanopy
2
short films
5
films available on demand
2
Region
Middle and Near East
17
x
South-East Europe
1
Western Mediterranean
1
Country
Afghanistan
6
Iran
2
Israel
1
Italy
2
Jordan
1
Palestine
1
Syria
3
Turkey
1
Yemen
2
Keywords
Animals
1
Children / Young people
2
Collective / Community identity
1
Dance / Theatre / Performance
1
Development projects
1
Everyday Life
1
Family / Kinship
1
Film / Photography / Mass media
1
Gender Role and Identity
3
Herding
1
History
1
Infrastructure / Transport
1
Labour
1
Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy
1
Life Story / Life History
1
Marriage
1
Material Culture
2
Memory
2
Migration
4
Music / Ethnomusicology
3
Myths / Fairy tales
1
Nomads and Nomadism
2
Participatory / Collaborative methods
1
Political Activists
1
Refugees / Displaced populations
2
Religion / Belief / Faith
3
Social Change
1
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
1
Trade
2
Urban
2
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
3
Directors
Al Akash, Ruba
1
Asch, Timothy
1
Baily, John
5
Balikci, Asen
1
Bloching, Max
1
Boswall, Karen
1
Dukmak, Abd Alrahman
1
Esteva, Jordi
1
Fales, Ludovica
1
Fedda, Yasmin
1
Hopkins, Ben
1
Langer, Vanessa
1
Longinotto, Kim
2
Mir-Hosseini, Ziba
1
Newman, David
1
Sorensen, Richard
1
Tari, János
1
Wessels, Joshka
1
Series
not set
17
x
Country of production
Germany
1
Hungary
1
Jordan
1
Netherlands
1
Spain
1
Switzerland
1
United Kingdom
11
United States
1
Year of production
1978
1
1983
3
1989
1
2001
1
2002
2
2003
1
2004
1
2006
1
2007
1
2011
1
2014
1
2016
1
2020
2
Film list
37 Uses for a Dead Sheep
2006
85
‘
Directed by
Ben Hopkins
.
The Pamir Kirghiz are a tribe of some 2,000 people from the Pamir region of Central Asia. For the last 27 years they have lived in exile in Eastern Turkey. In 2005 an Anglo-Turkish film crew arrives
Middle and Near East
Film / Photography / Mass media
Animals
Migration
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
Boya Boya (Shine Shine)
2014
18
‘
Directed by
Karen Boswall
Ruba Al Akash
.
A portrait of Syrian refugee Mohammed, a 12-year-old shoe shine boy, ‘Boya Boya (Shine Shine)’ looks at the reality of the growing population of urban refugees from a child’s point of view. While
Middle and Near East
Children / Young people
Refugees / Displaced populations
Labour
Distant Temple
2002
90
‘
Directed by
János Tari
.
The last orthodox synagogue in Makó was renewed and inaugurated in 2002. The little temple, as they call it, is more than hundred years old and represents the link between the Jews who emigrated
Middle and Near East
Migration
Religion / Belief / Faith
Divorce Iranian Style
1989
80
‘
Directed by
Kim Longinotto
.
This film is set in the Family Law Courts in central Tehran. The three main characters are Jamileh who punishes her husband for beating her, Ziba, a 16 year old girl who is trying to get a divorce
Middle and Near East
Marriage
Gender Role and Identity
Law and Legislation / Bureaucracy
Family / Kinship
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 Annual Cycle of Music in Herat
1983
54
‘
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
Dance / Theatre / Performance
Music / Ethnomusicology
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
A Kabul Music Diary
2003
52
‘
Directed by
John Baily
.
Ethnomusicologist John Baily returns to Kabul to see what is happening in the world of music one year after the defeat of the Taliban. The film documents a variety of musical activities, including
Middle and Near East
Music / Ethnomusicology
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Letters from Palestine
2011
35
‘
Directed by
Ludovica Fales
.
What if in your great-grandfather’s letters there is a mystery your family doesn’t want to talk about? In 1920 Angelo Levi Bianchini set out to Palestine on an Italian diplomatic mission and never
Western Mediterranean
Middle and Near East
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Memory
History
Little Waterfall
2002
52
‘
Directed by
Joshka Wessels
.
Shallalah Saghirah (‘Little Waterfall’) is a small village of about 20 households located in the Khanasser valley, in north Syria. The village has no electricity and still uses an ancient ganat
Middle and Near East
Infrastructure / Transport
Material Culture
Development projects
Runaway
2001
87
‘
Directed by
Kim Longinotto
Ziba Mir-Hosseini
.
This film is set in a refuge for girls in Tehran and follows the stories of five girls who come here. These girls, in leaving a situation that has become intolerable, show incredible courage and
Middle and Near East
Children / Young people
Social Change
Gender Role and Identity
Scenes of Afghan Music: London, Kabul, Hamburg, Dublin
2007
97
‘
Directed by
John Baily
.
Scenes of Afghan Music is Part IV of ‘A Quartet of Afghan Music Films’, made in the author’s personal “fieldwork movie” style. It reveals the diversity of music and dance practices in the
Middle and Near East
Music / Ethnomusicology
Migration
Collective / Community identity
Socotra, the Island of Djinns
2016
64
‘
RAI Basil Wright
Directed by
Jordi Esteva
.
The film is the story of a journey across the island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Yemen. Socotra is isolated during the monsoon season, when it is impossible to land on it. This
Middle and Near East
Myths / Fairy tales
Nomads and Nomadism
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
Trade
Sons of Haji Omar
1978
58
‘
Directed by
Timothy Asch
Asen Balikci
David Newman
Richard Sorensen
.
Haji Omar and his three sons belong to the Lakenkhel, a Pashtun tribal group in northeastern Afghanistan. Concentrating within one family, the film draw sharp, colourful portraits of the protagonists
Middle and Near East
Everyday Life
Nomads and Nomadism
Herding
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 Veil Unveiled
2004
29
‘
Directed by
Vanessa Langer
.
In Yemen, the land of Queen Saba, a wide variety of veils can be found. In the capital Sana’a, the women, although at first sight appearing to all be wearing but black, distinguish themselves one
Middle and Near East
Gender Role and Identity
Material Culture
Religion / Belief / Faith