Photography is known in China as the “Art of Regret”. In the rapidly changing city of Kunming, people are ambivalent about whether they want photography to be a medium of preservation and

Jero Tapakan is ‘entered’ by deities and spirits who converse with her clients. Unbeknown to her, they wish to contact the spirit of their dead son to learn the cause of his death and his wishes

A son dissects his parents’ marriage – they were film icons in 1960s Myanmar. It turns out the heartrending scenes they acted out on the silver screen are a pretty accurate reflection of their

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

This film is a record of the gren mahe rituals of the people of the domain of Wai Brama. The gren mahe is the largest religious event of the Wai Brama ceremonial system and requires the participation

The film is about one family who live in the slums of Manila. Gary Kildea and a Filipino collaborator enter this family's life, filming them as they eat, as they care for their children, as they work

These companion films (ANU Indonesia Series, DVD $ examine the philosophy and ritual practices of the followers of a holy man popularly known as Embah Wali. The movement, centred in Blitar, East

The recording follows a journey from the island of Palu'e to the mainland to purchase water buffalo. Back at Palu'e, a series of sacrifices is held to make amends for transgressions. The events, part

After more than a quarter of a century without any form of religious ceremony, the Na, an ethnic group living on the Himalayan plateau, began openly practising their religion again in the early

This film is an invitation to see Javanese palace dancing as performed in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and to go beyond appearances to discover what the dance means to those who continue the tradition. In

Swiss-Japanese filmmaker Aya Domenig, the granddaughter of a doctor on duty for the Red Cross during the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, approaches the experience of her deceased grandfather by

This film records the preparations for the wedding of two sisters in eastern Sumatra in December 1996. There is an emphasis on the importance of the role of women in the village. Ritual exchanges

After the volcanic eruption of Mount Rokatenda, the people of the island of Pulau Palue in east Indonesia are to be relocated. But are the planned relocation and the "new" life at the

Among the Wana people, semi nomads from the Indonesian (Sulawesi) forest, Indo Pino is a shaman recognized by everybody. Her nephew, who is also a shaman’s son, converted to Christianity some

In the teeming cities of the most populated country on earth, 20 years of economic reform have brought new opportunity, new energy, and new dangers. This film follows one family's efforts to navigate

These companion films examine the philosophy and ritual practices of the followers of a holy man popularly known as Embah Wali. The movement, centred in Blitar, East Java, regards wayang as a model

The small ethnic group of the Wana Wewaju live in Indonesia in the eastern part of Sulawesi (Celebes Island) among the dense equatorial rain forest of the Tokkala Mountains. The film documents the

Jero beings with an account of her family’s extreme poverty that culminated in her desire to leave her family and travel as a pedlar. She describes mystical experiences that led her to recognise

For the first time Jero sees herself on film as she watches 'A Balinese Trance Séance'. Her spontaneous comments provide insights into her feelings while possessed, her understanding of her

In the Saigang 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

Governments – even decades-old military regimes – may come and go but, like many rural communities in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), the lives of the villagers of Pyun Su on the banks of Moe

In the forested hills of eastern Burma, a war has been going on for more than 50 years. A war that is rarely reported and is often apparently at a stalemate. For the Karen people of this part of

Jero uses massage and traditional medicines to treat Ida Bagus, who suffers from sterility and seizures. Through her treatment and her words, Jero reveals her conceptions of the human body, the

Over the last three thousand years the Meo (Miao or Hmong) have migrated south from north and central China to avoid oppression and protect their way of life. Today they live in scattered mountain

'Wise'? 'Serene'? 'A Sage'? Mythologized as the Daoist physician from the Jade Dragon Mountain of Lijiang Province in southwest China , Dr Ho receives hundreds of visitors in search of the 'Real

In 1993, Anthony Forge filmed the cremation of an older woman from an affluent ‘commoner’ family. As her body was moved from her family compound to the cremation tower, men of the ward seized the

Separated from her daughter Gracelle at 7 months, Noemi Barredo left the Philippines for work in Malaysia before arriving in Ireland in 2000. Filmed over a five-year period, 'Promise and Unrest' is

In 1978, as part of the preparations for the island-wide ceremony eka dasa rudra, religious officials urged all Balinese to cleanse the island by cremating their dead. Many were forced to pool

The Sakuddei are a small and ethnically separate community living on the island of Siberut off the west coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. Their distinctive way of life and elaborate religious

In HIV testing, the second red line is the indication of a positive result. This film follows two volunteers working with HIV & Aids sufferers in the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana. In the

Murray Collins leaves his city life in search of a bipedal ape. On his journey to highland Sumatra, he meets an academic, three farmers, two conservationists and a shaman, all of whom advise him on

The film begins as the groom’s side gathers the animals and money for a bridewealth payment, and discusses problems that might arise in negotiating the exchange. In ritual silence, they walk to the

Jaipongan is a new style of music and dancing which was ‘invented’ about a decade ago on Western Java, Indonesia. Drawing on more classical Javanese music and taking elements from Japanese and

Once a year a ritual is held in a Javanese village. After a distribution of food, men dance with professional female dancers. Their allegedly sexual ethos makes these ‘tayuban’ unacceptable as

Tiger's Apprentice is the story of M. Trinh Nguyen's journey to her native Vietnam. She observes and documents her great-uncle's folk medicine practices treating many patients and making his

A recycling workshop in South Okkalapa in Myanmar’s former capital of Yangon is a place where discarded tyres are transformed from their original shape and use, and are re-purposed to new uses.

The film demonstrates how in Bali, development projects can threaten a carefully balanced ecological irrigation system that is maintained by temple priests. A biologist and an anthropologist look at

This film examines the ecology and poetry of everyday life. Two Rotinese narrate this film, each offering his perception of the importance of the Lontar (Borassus) palm: a clan leader describes the

The Whale Hunters of Lamalera was filmed over a period of four weeks during June 1987. Lamalera is a village which is perched on the rocky slopes of an active volcano on the southern coast of the

The Na are an ethnic group in south-east China. Their particularity is that all the members of each household are consanguineous relatives; their social organisation is absolutely matrilineal and as