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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
Login
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Films
15 Films
shorter than 40 minutes
x
Keywords
“Alternative culture”
x
Status
“A”
x
short films
15
x
Region
British-Irish Isles
8
Central Asia and Far East
1
New Zealand and Polynesia
1
North America
2
Scandinavia
1
West Africa
1
Western Europe
1
Country
Denmark
1
Germany
1
Japan
1
New Zealand
1
Togo
1
United Kingdom
8
United States
2
Keywords
Alternative culture
15
x
Art / Artists / Artisans
2
Collective / Community identity
1
Environment
1
Health / Health care / Healing
2
Land Rights
1
Music / Ethnomusicology
1
Personal Narrative
2
Religion / Belief / Faith
1
Ritual
1
Rural
1
Social Conflict
1
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
1
Urban
2
Directors
Bolchover, James
1
Bruun, Dan
1
Clifford-Jaeger, Simone
1
Farrell, Emma
1
French, Dominic
1
Goldberg, Claudia
1
Grove-White, Will
1
Hatland, Line
1
Milling, Julie
1
Ono, Ray
1
Payne, Becky
1
Robertson, Rachel
1
Samir-Shakir, Yasmin
1
Schäuble, Michaela
1
Tovey, Ana
1
Series
Granada Center for Visual Anthropology Student Film
15
Country of production
United Kingdom
14
United States
1
Year of production
1994
1
1995
1
1997
3
2001
1
2002
1
2003
1
2004
1
2006
1
2007
2
2009
2
2010
1
Status
Film list
Back to Basics
1994
33
‘
Directed by
Dominic French
.
A group of environmentalists and homeless have purchased some land on which to settle and get back to a simpler way of life. But the nearby residents of the ‘best-kept village’ in Somerset,
British-Irish Isles
Social Conflict
Alternative culture
Land Rights
Cae Dai – a Home From Home
1997
30
‘
Directed by
Will Grove-White
.
After the closure of the North Wales psychiatric hospital in the late 1980s, Sparrow Harrison opened his family home to local people suffering from mental illness. This film explores the humour,
British-Irish Isles
Health / Health care / Healing
Alternative culture
Drive it, Crash it, Paint it
2002
26
‘
Directed by
James Bolchover
.
Kelzo grew up in Hulme and has been writing on walls, wrecked cars and other urban surfaces since 1984. But now that he is a ‘graffiti artist’ whose work is sold in galleries, is he still in touch with his roots?
British-Irish Isles
Personal Narrative
Alternative culture
Art / Artists / Artisans
Eco trip
1997
30
‘
Directed by
Rachel Robertson
.
A group of eco-activists travel around Britain attending festivals and other events aimed at raising awareness of ecological issues and of new, alternative ways of living. But sometimes relationships
British-Irish Isles
Alternative culture
Environment
In Pursuit of Happiness
2009
31
‘
Directed by
Ray Ono
.
Tokyo life as rarely seen on mainstream media. This short film takes you to the lives of men who live on the outskirts of the city and of Japanese society.
Central Asia and Far East
Alternative culture
Urban
Squatter Settlements / Homelessness
The Land on which We Stand
2007
31
‘
Directed by
Becky Payne
.
This film is a glimpse into the life of the Landmatters Co-operative, a community of 11 adults and 4 children living in benders and yurts in rural Devon as they develop a permaculture project. The 42
British-Irish Isles
Rural
Alternative culture
Making it Big in Berlin
2009
24
‘
Directed by
Claudia Goldberg
.
In Berlin, where low rents and space for creative ideas are still available, self-employed workers live the alternative to a nine-to-five-job. A sewing café owner, a freelance journalist and two
Western Europe
Alternative culture
Art / Artists / Artisans
A New Kind of Life
1997
28
‘
Directed by
Emma Farrell
.
How is someone’s life affected when faced with cancer? This film is a portrait of three people from Manchester, England, who have chosen to include complementary therapies as part of their daily coping strategies.
British-Irish Isles
Health / Health care / Healing
Alternative culture
A Saint from New York
1995
30
‘
Directed by
Line Hatland
.
Dorothy Day, ex-communist, anarchist, single mother and co-founder of the widespread ‘Catholic Worker’ movement — died in New York in 1980. Soon after the Claretian Fathers started a campaign
North America
Alternative culture
Religion / Belief / Faith
Smell the Roses
2003
28
‘
Directed by
Julie Milling
.
Christiania is a self-governing community in the heart of Copenhagen set up by squatters at the height of 1970s idealism. Faced with extinction or urban redevelopment, residents struggle to redefine a fading ideology.
Scandinavia
Alternative culture
Urban
Standing Places
2007
31
‘
Directed by
Ana Tovey
.
A model of Stonehenge has been built in rural New Zealand, functioning like the original not only in its astronomical alignment but also in its role as a ceremonial site. The film explores what
New Zealand and Polynesia
Alternative culture
Ritual
Suspend your Beliefs
2004
29
‘
Directed by
Simone Clifford-Jaeger
.
Suspension of the living body from hooks has been practiced in various cultural contexts and places in the past, but today forms part of a growing global interest in body modification. This film
British-Irish Isles
Alternative culture
Temporary Sanity: The Skerrit Boy Story
2006
32
‘
Directed by
Dan Bruun
.
This film deals with the culture of Jamaican dancehall music as it exists in New York. It follows one young dancehall participant who makes his living performing and promoting dancehall music.
North America
Music / Ethnomusicology
Alternative culture
Usch in the Bush
2001
32
‘
Directed by
Michaela Schäuble
.
In the 1980s Ursula Heimer leaves behind her husband and children in Germany and goes to live in the African bush. We meet her seventeen years later in a tiny village in Togo, where she has been
West Africa
Personal Narrative
Alternative culture
[S+P2]
2010
30
‘
Directed by
Yasmin Samir-Shakir
.
Following various members of The Forest Collective in the run-up to the ‘DIY’ arts space’s Tenth Birthday celebrations, we observe some of the internal and external struggles faced by this
British-Irish Isles
Alternative culture
Collective / Community identity