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About
About RAI Film
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Watch on demand
Ethnographic Film Catalogue
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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
36 Films
Region
“South America”
x
Country of production
“United Kingdom”
x
films with a digital version
21
short films
17
films available on demand
1
Region
South America
36
x
Southern Africa
1
Country
Angola
1
Bolivia
1
Brazil
12
Chile
1
Colombia
5
Ecuador
1
Paraguay
1
Peru
6
Venezuela
7
not set
2
Keywords
Agriculture / Farming
2
Animals
2
Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany
1
Art / Artists / Artisans
1
Children / Young people
3
Collective / Community identity
2
Dance / Theatre / Performance
4
Death
1
Development projects
2
Education / Knowledge Transmission
1
Ethnofiction
2
Festivals / Carnival
3
Film / Photography / Mass media
3
Gender Role and Identity
3
Health / Health care / Healing
4
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
3
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
11
Informant-researcher relationship
3
Internet
1
LGBTQI*
1
Labour
2
Land Rights
8
Linguistics / Language
1
Marriage
1
Material Culture
1
Memory
3
Migration
1
Music / Ethnomusicology
2
Political Activists
3
Possession
1
Public Figure
1
Race / Racism / Antiracism
1
Reflexivity
1
Religion / Belief / Faith
9
Resistance
2
Ritual
6
Sex / Sexuality
1
Social Change
4
Social Conflict
4
Social Organisation
1
Socioeconomic conditions
2
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
1
Trade
1
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
2
Directors
Ash, David
1
Assunção, Matthias Röhrig
1
Beckham, Michael
2
Bonifacio, Valentina
1
Cheetham, Ben
1
Clarissou, Priscilla
1
Coppens, Sharis
1
Cross, Stephen
1
Davidson, John Paul
1
Dettmann, Christine
1
Dietrich, Martha-Cecilia
2
Drion, Georges
1
Edwards, Bob
1
Ford, Ellie
1
Getzels, Peter
1
Gordon, Harriet
1
Henley, Paul
5
Juárez-Allen, Gema
1
Kenneil, Alastair
1
Kurc, Julia
1
Leizaola, Ricardo
1
Lipsanen, Heidi
1
Marin, Nadja
1
Moser, Brian
3
Nairn, Charlie
1
Pakleppa, Richard
1
Pasini, Carlos
2
Pinhheiro, Joceny
1
Planas, María Elena
1
Sjøberg, Johannes
1
Solomons, Natasha
1
Tucker, Andrew
1
Williams, Stacey
1
Series
Disappearing World Series
9
Granada Center for Visual Anthropology Student Film
12
Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology Staff Film
3
National Film and Television School
2
not set
10
Country of production
Brazil
1
Peru
1
South Africa
1
Sweden
1
United Kingdom
36
x
United States
1
Year of production
1970
1
1971
3
1974
2
1977
1
1987
5
1989
3
1990
1
1996
1
1998
1
2000
1
2001
1
2002
1
2003
4
2004
1
2007
1
2008
3
2009
2
2011
1
2014
1
2015
1
2019
1
Film list
75 Grams
2008
31
‘
Directed by
Priscilla Clarissou
.
Nestled below the rugged Chilean peaks of the Andes lies the gold mining town of Andacollo. The town’s remoteness and mining economy has nurtured religious beliefs in the power of the Virgin over the
South America
Labour
Material Culture
Religion / Belief / Faith
Bailarinas
2003
32
‘
Directed by
Heidi Lipsanen
.
Majê Molê is an Afro-Brazilian dance group which offers girls and young women in Olinda, Northeast Brazil, the opportunity to rise above the poverty, drug addiction and crime that scars their
South America
Dance / Theatre / Performance
Gender Role and Identity
Children / Young people
Between Memories
2015
34
‘
Directed by
Martha-Cecilia Dietrich
.
Eudosia is still searching for her husband’s remains in the highlands of Ayacucho; Lucero has been in prison for 25 years now for the crime of terrorism against the Peruvian state; since 2009 the
South America
Memory
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Body Games – Capoeira and Ancestry
2014
87
‘
Student
Directed by
Richard Pakleppa
Matthias Röhrig Assunção
Christine Dettmann
.
The film follows master Cobra Mansa and his friends in the search for the African roots of the Brazilian martial art Capoeira. A powerful myth links Capoeira to a legendary Angolan game called Engolo
South America
Southern Africa
Dance / Theatre / Performance
Music / Ethnomusicology
Festivals / Carnival
Casado’s Legacy
2009
49
‘
Directed by
Valentina Bonifacio
.
For 100 years Maskoy people worked in Carlos Casado’s tannin factory. The factory, which had been founded on their land, based its production on the exploitation of local natural resources. After
South America
Political Activists
Labour
Land Rights
A Clearing in the Jungle
1970
52
‘
Directed by
Charlie Nairn
.
Like that of many other Indian groups in South America, the culture of the Panare Indians of Venezuela is threatened by their almost daily contact with neighbouring creoles, Spanish-speaking
South America
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
Informant-researcher relationship
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
The Condor and the Bull
1989
56
‘
Directed by
Peter Getzels
Harriet Gordon
.
Villagers from remote hamlets high in the Andes join together with people from the roadside village of Ocongate for the Peruvian Independence Day celebration. Festivities require that a wild condor
South America
Animals
Festivals / Carnival
Ritual
Cuyagua – Devil Dancers
1987
52
‘
Directed by
Paul Henley
.
The men of the Afro-Caribbean population of Cuyagua enact a ritual that occurs 60 days after Easter. The film is a portrait of two men who direct the devil dancing. They tell the history of the
South America
Ritual
Religion / Belief / Faith
Cuyagua – the Saint With Two Faces
1987
56
‘
Student
Directed by
Paul Henley
.
The film centres on the predominantly female celebration of the feast of Saint John. The women sing the songs associated with the Feast, describe their beliefs and how they organise the feast.
South America
Ritual
Religion / Belief / Faith
Festivals / Carnival
Doctors of Two Worlds
1989
55
‘
Directed by
Natasha Solomons
.
In the Bolivian highlands an English doctor is setting up a network of health care for remote mountain villages. While teaching the inhabitants the essentials of Western medicine the doctor is
South America
Health / Health care / Healing
Informant-researcher relationship
Development projects
Dreamland
2001
30
‘
Directed by
Gema Juárez-Allen
.
This film explores the dreams and frustrations of camp squatters in Rio de Janeiro State, as, supported by the MST (Landless People’s Movement), they wait for permission to settle on unused land close by.
South America
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
Land Rights
Embera — the End of the Road
1971
52
‘
Directed by
Brian Moser
.
The way of life of the 10,000 Embera Indians who live in the Choco region of Colombia, South American, is threatened by the encroachments of Negro Libres (descendants of freed slaves) and by the
South America
Land Rights
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Healer on the Street
2003
28
‘
Directed by
Joceny Pinhheiro
.
During the day, Isnar is a community paramedic who works in the local clinic and runs an arts and drugs rehabilitation centre for young people in Fortaleza on the coast of Northeast Brazil. But by
South America
Health / Health care / Healing
Ritual
Hillside Beauties
2008
25
‘
Directed by
Julia Kurc
.
In a violent, marginalized and discriminated environment such as the favelas in Rio de Janeiro, women create a time and a space to construct their identities and their beauty. Marcella, Thuany and
South America
Gender Role and Identity
Socioeconomic conditions
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
Ian Gleadell: A Falkland Farmer
1987
34
‘
Directed by
Bob Edwards
Alastair Kenneil
.
The 1982 war between Britain and Argentina brought the Falkland or Malwinas Islands into the news headlines. This film is less spectacular: It shows the way of life of one inhabitant of this
South America
Animals
Agriculture / Farming
The Internet Bride
2004
29
‘
Directed by
Ellie Ford
.
Cali in Colombia is celebrated for salsa music and beautiful women and is also the base of the Internet Bride agency, ‘Latin Best’ with 900 women on its files. Accompanying the British and American
South America
Marriage
Internet
The Kayapo
1987
52
‘
Directed by
Michael Beckham
.
This film focuses on the conflicts and determination of a group of people trying to survive and maintain their ethnic identity in the face of almost overpowering odds. The film contrasts the
South America
Land Rights
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Political Activists
Resistance
Social Conflict
The Kayapo: Out of the Forest
1989
52
‘
Directed by
Michael Beckham
.
Early in 1989 the Kayapo rallied other Brazilian Indians to attend a reunification of the tribes at Altamira«the proposed site of a massive hydro-electric dam, that will flood large parts of the
South America
Land Rights
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Resistance
Film / Photography / Mass media
Political Activists
Social Conflict
The Last of the Cuiva
1971
52
‘
Directed by
Brian Moser
.
The film focuses on recent changes in the culture and society of the Cuiva, hunters and gatherers in a remote forest region of south-eastern Colombia, brought about through contact with Colombian
South America
Social Change
Race / Racism / Antiracism
Land Rights
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
The Legacy of Antonio Lorenzano
2000
46
‘
Directed by
Paul Henley
.
Antonio Lorenzano was an acclaimed musician, shamanic healer and craftsman, and the leader of the Warao community of Morichito on the Winikina River, in the lower Orinoco Delta, Venezuela. The film
South America
Death
Public Figure
Informant-researcher relationship
Social Change
Memory
The Mehinacu
1974
52
‘
Directed by
Carlos Pasini
.
The Mehinacu live near the head-waters of the River Xingu in Central Brazil, in a single village within the protective confines of the Xingu National Park. Although the film concentrates upon the
South America
Social Organisation
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Collective / Community identity
Ritual
Message from a Saint
2003
27
‘
Directed by
Andrew Tucker
.
During the celebration of the Feast of San Juan Bautista in the village of Chuao, on the Caribbean coast of Venezuela, an image of Jesus appeared on a drinks tray. The community is trying to find out
South America
Religion / Belief / Faith
The Quechua
1974
52
‘
Directed by
Carlos Pasini
David Ash
.
This film is set in a community of peasant agriculturalists 2 1/4 miles above sea level in the southern Peruvian Andes. Concentrating on a single family, the film explores aspects of religious and
South America
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Religion / Belief / Faith
Social Change
Reclaiming the Forest
1987
39
‘
Directed by
Paul Henley
Georges Drion
.
National governments, itinerant gold-miners, and indigenous inhabitants compete for control of an area of the South American rainforest. The film shows the potential conflict between the interests
South America
Land Rights
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Social Change
Social Conflict
Saliendo Adelante
2011
28
‘
Directed by
Ben Cheetham
.
Growing up on the streets of Bogotá, where drugs and violence dominate, it seemed as though José might never escape this cycle. It is the job of Orlando and those at the Institution for the
South America
Children / Young people
Socioeconomic conditions
Development projects
Self Defence
2002
28
‘
Directed by
María Elena Planas
.
With the Shining Path guerilla movement in decline, the government in Peru set up a Commission for Peace and Reconciliation to hear the testimonies of those who had suffered in the war. Framed by the
South America
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Memory
Sin tierra, no somos Shuar
2009
23
‘
Directed by
Stacey Williams
.
Shuar traditions and land are intimately tied to another. This film explores how the traditions and relationships change when foreign mining companies enter their territory.
South America
Land Rights
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Social Conflict
The Storyteller
1990
50
‘
Student
Directed by
John Paul Davidson
.
Unaware of the written word until the 1950s, the Waura tribe who live in the headwaters of the Xingu river in Brazil still practise the art of storytelling. Tribal storyteller Aruta recounts one of
South America
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Dance / Theatre / Performance
Religion / Belief / Faith
Tenonde’i – a Beautiful Future
2008
30
‘
Directed by
Nadja Marin
.
In a village inside the world’s fifth largest and tough city, São Paulo, a young Guaraní created a children’s choir to raise money for his community. Filled with beautiful sounds, the film is a
South America
Indigenous peoples / First Nations peoples
Children / Young people
Transfiction
2007
58
‘
Directed by
Johannes Sjøberg
.
Transfiction explores ‘ethnofiction’ – an experimental ethnographic documentary film style in which the participants collaborate with the filmmaker to act out their own and others’ life experiences
South America
Reflexivity
Film / Photography / Mass media
Gender Role and Identity
Sex / Sexuality
LGBTQI*
Ethnofiction
Umbanda
1977
52
‘
Directed by
Stephen Cross
.
Umbanda is a syncretic religious movement, combining elements from orthodox Catholicism with submerged African and indigenous Indian spiritual beliefs. In spite of past attempts to suppress it,
South America
Possession
Health / Health care / Healing
Religion / Belief / Faith
Ritual
Uncle Poison
1998
60
‘
Directed by
Ricardo Leizaola
.
Filmed in the city of Caracas, capital of Venezuela, Uncle Poison is an intimate portrait of a traditional faith healer, set against the backdrop of his community’s Easter celebrations. Every day,
South America
Health / Health care / Healing
Religion / Belief / Faith
Archaeobotany / Ethnobotany
Vivir la Chicha
2003
28
‘
Directed by
Sharis Coppens
.
Chicha music evokes the experiences of the many Peruvians who migrate from the high Andes down to the cities. This film tells the story of Aurora Ramos, a cobbler and market saleswoman, and the role
South America
Music / Ethnomusicology
Trade
Migration
War of the Gods
1971
52
‘
Directed by
Brian Moser
.
While relying on a polemical stance directed against the cultural genocide wrought by missionaries, ‘War of the Gods’ also contains a wealth of information and detail about Amazonian Indian
South America
Religion / Belief / Faith
Collective / Community identity
Agriculture / Farming
Hunting / Gathering / Fishing
Writing Panare – Portrait of a Linguist on Fieldwork
1996
30
‘
Directed by
Paul Henley
.
Marie-Claude Muller is a linguist who has worked for many years with the Panare, an Amerindian people of Venezuelan Amazonia. She has now been commissioned by the government literacy programme to
South America
Linguistics / Language
Education / Knowledge Transmission