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About
About RAI Film
Meet the team
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Watch on demand
Ethnographic Film Catalogue
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About RAI Film Festival
Film Festival 2025
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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
27 Films
Region
“North and Northeast Africa”
x
films with a digital version
17
films hosted on Kanopy
5
short films
6
films available on demand
3
Region
North and Northeast Africa
27
x
Western Europe
1
Country
Algeria
1
Egypt
2
Eritrea
1
Ethiopia
13
Germany
1
Morocco
3
Sudan
7
Keywords
Agriculture / Farming
6
Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany
1
Art / Artists / Artisans
1
Children / Young people
2
Collective / Community identity
4
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
1
Dance / Theatre / Performance
1
Development projects
2
Environment
1
Everyday Life
1
Family / Kinship
1
Film / Photography / Mass media
1
Food / Water
4
Gender Role and Identity
5
Health / Health care / Healing
4
Informant-researcher relationship
1
Infrastructure / Transport
1
Labour
1
Marriage
3
Material Culture
1
Migration
3
Nomads and Nomadism
1
Possession
1
Race / Racism / Antiracism
1
Reflexivity
2
Refugees / Displaced populations
3
Religion / Belief / Faith
2
Ritual
2
Rural
2
Social Change
3
Social Conflict
2
Social Norms
1
Social Organisation
4
Socioeconomic conditions
1
Sport
1
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
2
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
2
Trade
1
Urban
1
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
4
Directors
Cook, Alistair
1
Curling, Chris
1
Defersha, Eyob
1
Dumont, Dirk
1
Dunne, Bryony
1
Gabrehiwot, Mitiku
1
Haddis, Tesfahun
1
Haensch, Valerie
1
Hardie, Amy
1
Harries, Andy
1
Howes, Arthur
2
Husmann, Rolf
1
Kawase, Itsushi
1
Llewelyn-Davies, Melissa
1
Longinotto, Kim
1
Lydall, Jean
2
MacDonald, Bruce
1
Mekonen, Solomon
1
Merrun, Gabriel
1
Nairn, Charlie
1
Singer, André
1
Sperschneider, Werner
1
Strecker, Ivo
1
Strecker, Kaira
2
Wason, David
1
Woodhead, Leslie
5
Series
Decolonising Shorts
1
Disappearing World Series
10
Granada Center for Visual Anthropology Student Film
2
Guardians of Productive Landscapes
5
In Search of Cool Ground: The Mursi Trilogy
3
Sudan Trilogy
2
not set
7
Country of production
Belgium
1
Egypt
1
Ethiopia
4
Germany
9
Japan
1
United Kingdom
15
Year of production
1972
1
1974
1
1976
1
1977
1
1979
2
1982
1
1985
1
1989
1
1990
1
1991
3
1993
1
1995
1
2001
1
2003
1
2006
1
2009
2
2014
1
2017
1
2018
2
2019
3
Film list
Abraham and Sarah II. Hosting the Gundagundo Pilgrims
2019
41
‘
Directed by
Tesfahun Haddis
.
The film is part of the Guardians of Productive Landscapes series and a sequel to ‘Abraham and Sarah I: Creators of a productive landscape’. A Tigrean farmer and his wife, who host pilgrims to a
North and Northeast Africa
Agriculture / Farming
Food / Water
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
Abraham and Sarah. Creators of a productive landscape.
2017
53
‘
Directed by
Ivo Strecker
.
In the highlands of Tigray – northern Ethiopia – on the edge of the escarpment that descends steeply to the Danakil dessert, Hagos Mashisho and Desta Gidey have toiled and struggled for years to turn
North and Northeast Africa
Rural
Agriculture / Farming
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
Duka’s Dilemma
2001
87
‘
Directed by
Jean Lydall
Kaira Strecker
.
Filmmaker and anthropologist Jean Lydall has been making films with the Hamar community of southern Ethiopia since the 1970s. In 2001 she returned with her daughter and grandson to follow the
North and Northeast Africa
Family / Kinship
Marriage
Gender Role and Identity
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
Family Subsistence in the Hills of Hamar. We are guests of Shawa
2019
58
‘
Directed by
Jean Lydall
Kaira Strecker
.
The film is a sequel to former films on Hamar directed by Jean Lydall and Kaira Strecker, and contributes to the Guardians of Productive Landscapes series. Kaira’s childhood friend Shawa moved as a
North and Northeast Africa
Agriculture / Farming
Everyday Life
Food / Water
Fresh Fields
1995
31
‘
Directed by
Alistair Cook
.
From conflict to construction — this is the story of two disabled ex-fighters rebuilding their lives. What does the future hold for them in Eritrea, the homeland to which they are committed?
North and Northeast Africa
Health / Health care / Healing
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Development projects
Hidden Faces
1990
52
‘
Directed by
Kim Longinotto
.
This film reveals contradictions in the lives of Egyptian women in Muslim society. Living abroad, Safaa Fathy returns to Egypt to interview the internationally renowned feminist writer Nawal El
North and Northeast Africa
Gender Role and Identity
Development projects
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
Kafi’s Story
1979
53
‘
Directed by
Arthur Howes
Amy Hardie
.
Shot in 1989, Kafi’s Story captures Nuba life at the moment before it was engulfed in the Sudanese civil war. Kafi narrates his own story into a portable tape record as he travels from his village,
North and Northeast Africa
Film / Photography / Mass media
Marriage
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
The Kwegu
1979
52
‘
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
Andy Harries
.
*’The Kwegu’ is an entirely tasteful and dignified presentation of the harsh realities of subsistence living, and it may help us understand how, even in stateless societies, dominated groups come to
North and Northeast Africa
Collective / Community identity
Agriculture / Farming
Social Organisation
Marriage
Trade
Living with the Invisibles
2003
52
‘
Directed by
Dirk Dumont
.
When they emigrated to Europe in the 60’s and 70’s, Moroccans brought with them their culture and their “diseases” ( caused by the the jinn that inhabit some of them). In Europe, most North
North and Northeast Africa
Health / Health care / Healing
Possession
Migration
The Migrants
1985
52
‘
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
David Wason
.
The Migrants is the third film in the trilogy ‘In Search of Cool Ground’ for Granada Television’s Disappearing World series. It is about a drought-induced migration of Mursi from their traditional
North and Northeast Africa
Social Change
Collective / Community identity
Refugees / Displaced populations
The Mursi
1974
52
‘
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
.
The Mursi are a cattle-keeping and agricultural group without chiefs or leaders from south-west Ethiopia. This film, made under extremely difficult conditions, focuses on the way decisions are made
North and Northeast Africa
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Social Organisation
Mursi: The Land is Bad
1991
52
‘
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
.
A further visit to the Mursi of Southern Ethiopia with whom contact was established 17 years ago, for an important coming of age ceremony which has had to be postponed many times. An elder of the
North and Northeast Africa
Ritual
Social Conflict
Health / Health care / Healing
Mursi: Nitha
1991
52
‘
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
.
The proper time for a man to go through the Age Set Ceremony, the nitha, is just as he reaches physical maturity. But many years may elapse from one nitha to the next, so it is inevitable that some
North and Northeast Africa
Ritual
Social Conflict
Gender Role and Identity
Nuba Conversation
1989
53
‘
Directed by
Arthur Howes
.
Ten years after he made ‘Kafi’s Story’, director Arthur Howes returns to the Sudan to find the members of the Nuba who featured in his earlier documentary film. Soon after he had left the Sudan, the
North and Northeast Africa
Children / Young people
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Refugees / Displaced populations
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
Only Thinking
2009
27
‘
Directed by
Gabriel Merrun
.
On the North African coast in Ceuta, illegal migrants wait and hope to eventually continue onto the Spanish peninsula where they can attain asylum. Whilst waiting there, they are caught bewteen the borders.
North and Northeast Africa
Migration
The Orchard Keepers
2014
24
‘
Directed by
Bryony Dunne
.
Against the backdrop of political upheaval, an ancient network of orchards thrives in the mountains of the Sinai desert. Filmmaker Bryony Dunne shadows two Bedouins as they nurture their gardens and
North and Northeast Africa
Environment
Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany
Rural
Orphans of Passage: The Uduk
1993
52
‘
Directed by
Bruce MacDonald
.
In 1987 Sudanese government forces attacked the Uduk of Southern Sudan, and 20-25000 Uduk fled. Since then they have criss-crossed the Sudanese/Ethiopian border 5 times. In the spring of 1992, 13000
North and Northeast Africa
Refugees / Displaced populations
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Religion / Belief / Faith
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
Room 11, Ethiopia Hotel
2006
23
‘
Directed by
Itsushi Kawase
.
The film recounts the life of children living on the street in Gondar, Ethiopia, by witnessing the interaction between two children and the filmmaker. The entire film was shot in the room of Ethiopia
North and Northeast Africa
Children / Young people
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
Informant-researcher relationship
Reflexivity
The Shilluk of Southern Sudan
1976
52
‘
Directed by
Chris Curling
.
This film presents a compelling visual and aural analysis of Shilluk kingship in 1975, and provides a very useful complement to Evans-Pritchard’s 1948 text, The Divine Kingship of the Shilluk.
North and Northeast Africa
Collective / Community identity
Social Organisation
Sifinja – The Iron Bride
2009
70
‘
Directed by
Valerie Haensch
.
A film about mobility, human creativity, and technology in a Sudanese truck community. The English Bedford-Lorry was introduced to Sudan in the late 1960s. Since then, local craftsmen technically
North and Northeast Africa
Infrastructure / Transport
Material Culture
Art / Artists / Artisans
Some Women of Marrakech
1977
52
‘
Directed by
Melissa Llewelyn-Davies
.
In Marrakech, traditional attitudes to women prevail perhaps more strongly than in other Moroccan cities. This is especially true for those women who live by the standards of traditional ideals in
North and Northeast Africa
Gender Role and Identity
Labour
Dance / Theatre / Performance
Social Norms
The Tuareg
1972
52
‘
Directed by
Charlie Nairn
.
This film is about a group of nomadic Tuareg living high up in the Hoggar Mountains near Tamanrasset in Algeria. The main focus of the film is the collapse of the former economic basis of their
North and Northeast Africa
Social Organisation
Social Change
Socioeconomic conditions
Nomads and Nomadism
Witchcraft Among the Azande
1982
52
‘
Directed by
André Singer
.
*Witchcraft among the Azande’ is suitable for showing in undergraduate and graduate classes on topics of religion, philosophy, and African ethnography. It could also be stimulating to discussions of
North and Northeast Africa
Religion / Belief / Faith
Health / Health care / Healing
Social Change