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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
Facebook
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Films
30 Films
with a digital version available
x
Region
“South Asia”
x
Status
“A”
x
films with a digital version
30
x
short films
6
films available on demand
4
Region
Central Asia and Far East
1
South Asia
30
x
Country
Afghanistan
2
India
16
Japan
1
Nepal
4
Pakistan
6
Sri Lanka
1
Tibet
1
Keywords
Agriculture / Farming
2
Art/ Aritists/ Artisans
1
Children / Young people
3
Collective / Community identity
2
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
2
Development projects
1
Education / Knowledge Transmission
3
Environment
1
Everyday Life
1
Festivals / Carnival
1
Film / Photography / Mass media
1
Gender Role and Identity
2
Health / Health care / Healing
3
History
1
Informant-researcher relationship
1
Inter-religious relations
2
Intergenerational relations
1
Labour
6
Land Rights
1
Life Story / Life History
1
Marriage
1
Material Culture
1
Memory
1
Migration
2
Music / Ethnomusicology
5
Music/Ethnomusicology
1
Personal Narrative
1
Possession
2
Race / Racism / Antiracism
1
Refugees / Displaced populations
2
Religion / Belief / Faith
8
Resettlement
1
Ritual
5
Rural
1
Shamans and Shamanism
1
Social Change
4
Social Conflict
1
Social Organisation
1
Socioeconomic conditions
3
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
4
Urban
3
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
3
Directors
Aaltonen, Jouko
1
Arif-Bashir, Abeera
1
Asadi Faezi, Daniel
1
Baily, John
3
Balikci, Anna
1
Balikci, Asen
1
Balikci-Denjongpa, Anna
1
Banks, Marcus
1
Basu, Helene
1
Bhattachary, Nilanjan
1
Boonzajer-Flaes, Robert
1
Cooper, Timothy
1
Diengdoh, Wanphrang
1
Grossenbacher, Ulrich
1
Gupta, Meghna
1
Hajee, Amin
1
Harries, Andy
2
Hörmann, André
1
Jerstad, Jon
1
Kharel, Dipesh
2
Lepcha, Dawa
1
Lepcha, Dawa T
1
Luethi, Damaris
1
Mukhopadhayay, Kanchan
1
Nairn, Charlie
1
Pakaslahti, Antti
1
Saito, Asami
1
Sheppard, John
1
Singer, André
3
Sowa, Remigiusz
1
Vohra, Paromita
1
Wester, Hasse
1
Whitby-Coles, Charlotte
1
Winter, Pattie
1
Woodhead, Leslie
1
Yorke, Michael
1
Series
Disappearing World Series
6
National Film and Television School
1
Shorts Collection 2
1
Shorts collection 2
1
not set
21
Country of production
Finland
1
Germany
3
India
7
Japan
1
Nepal
1
Norway
1
Pakistan
2
Sweden
1
Switzerland
1
United Kingdom
15
not set
1
Year of production
1973
1
1977
1
1979
1
1980
2
1987
1
1988
2
1990
1
1997
1
2000
1
2005
2
2006
3
2008
4
2009
1
2011
1
2012
3
2013
1
2014
1
2018
1
2020
2
Status
Film list
The Absence of Apricots
2018
49
‘
Student
Directed by
Daniel Asadi Faezi
.
In the Hunza Valley in the northern Pakistan there is a magnificent turquoise lake. But the lake hasn’t been always there: it is the result of a massive landslide that blocked a river, causing
South Asia
Environment
Memory
Development projects
Resettlement
Across the Border: Afghan Musicians exiled in Peshawar
2008
54
‘
Directed by
John Baily
.
It is the year 2000 and most of Afghanistan is under the control of the Taliban. Hearing that many of Afghanistain’s musicians are now in exile across the border in Pakistan, ethnomusicologist John
South Asia
Refugees / Displaced populations
Music / Ethnomusicology
Religion / Belief / Faith
Afghan Exodus
1980
52
‘
Directed by
André Singer
.
When Granada Television visited Afghanistan to make the award-winning Disappearing World ‘The Kirghiz’, they were a proud, independent, nomadic people who made their living by rearing herds of yaks
South Asia
Refugees / Displaced populations
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Migration
Black Mountain
2008
84
‘
Directed by
Charlotte Whitby-Coles
Amin Hajee
.
A once unremarkable site of multi-faith pilgrimage to a Sufi Saint has been transformed and its local history rewritten – the film documents the journey of Charlotte, a student undertaking her PhD
South Asia
Religion / Belief / Faith
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
Inter-religious relations
Calcutta Calling
2006
16
‘
Directed by
André Hörmann
.
“Business Process Outsourcing” is the fastest growing industry in the world. In India, approximately 350,000 people are currently working in call centres to maintain the contact between western
South Asia
Labour
Dor, Low is Better
1988
47
‘
Directed by
Robert Boonzajer-Flaes
.
The film offers an experimental approach to the comparative study of cultures: the monks of a Tibetan monastery compare their own flutes with the Swiss alphorn and the Dutch windhorn introduced to
South Asia
Music / Ethnomusicology
Ritual
Drugs & Prayers
2009
55
‘
Directed by
Helene Basu
.
The Sufi shrine of Mira Datar in North Gujarat is a large pilgrimage centre specialising in healing possession and mental illness. It has become a site of experimenting with new forms of community
South Asia
Health / Health care / Healing
Ritual
Religion / Belief / Faith
The Golden Beach
2008
58
‘
Directed by
Hasse Wester
.
A small group of farmers belonging to the Halakki Gowda tribe live near a small beach in a valley in southern India. When the Swedish film maker Hasse Wester was first there twenty years ago the
South Asia
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
Rural
Social Change
Gula – Music for a sacred time
2020
15
‘
Directed by
Remigiusz Sowa
.
Introduces the rich and varied Hindu-Buddhist religious and ritual musical heritage of the ancient royal city of Bhaktapur (Nepal).
South Asia
Music / Ethnomusicology
Holy Men and Fools
2005
61
‘
Directed by
Michael Yorke
.
The film narrates the story of Uma Giri, a Swedish woman who has become a Hindu nun, called Uma Giri. She is one of the few western women to be accepted into the most radical order of wandering
South Asia
Religion / Belief / Faith
Inter-religious relations
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
The Kalasha: Rites of Spring
1990
60
‘
Directed by
John Sheppard
.
The Kalasha are a tribal people, 3,000 strong, who live in the high valleys of the Hindu Kush mountains in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. The Kalasha are unique as a pagan people in
South Asia
Festivals / Carnival
Land Rights
Agriculture / Farming
Social Conflict
Kataragama: A God for All Seasons
1973
52
‘
Directed by
Charlie Nairn
.
In ever-increasing numbers Sinhalese of all religions (Muslims, Christians and Buddhists) are turning to Kataragama, an ancient Hindu God, at times of trouble and desperation. Once a year pilgrims
South Asia
Religion / Belief / Faith
Ritual
Possession
Khyber
1979
49
‘
Directed by
André Singer
Andy Harries
.
For more than a century Britain was engaged in war with the Pashtun tribesmen of India’s North West frontier. It began with the bloodiest massacre in the history of the British Empire when, in
South Asia
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
History
Kusum
2000
69
‘
Directed by
Jouko Aaltonen
Antti Pakaslahti
.
Kusum is a 14-year-old Indian girl. She lives and attends school in Delhi. Kaushal, her father, drives a motorised rickshaw and works his fingers to the bone to support his family. Sumitra, Kusum’s
South Asia
Children / Young people
Health / Health care / Healing
Possession
A Life with Slate
2006
59
‘
Directed by
Dipesh Kharel
.
Alampu is a beautiful and exceedingly remote village in Nepal. The majority of the settlers there are Thami people, one of the indigenous groups of Nepal. More than 90 percent of them have been
South Asia
Labour
Socioeconomic conditions
The Pathans
1980
52
‘
Directed by
André Singer
Andy Harries
.
There are twelve million Pathans. Bound by a common language, a common heritage and the unifying force of Islam, these proud and independent people do not acknowledge the geographical boundary which
South Asia
War / Conflict / Reconciliation
Social Organisation
Gender Role and Identity
Playing with Nan
2012
88
‘
Directed by
Dipesh Kharel
Asami Saito
.
Playing with Nan is the story of a Nepali young man who migrated to work in a Nepali restaurant in northern Japan. The film explores his daily life at work and his family at home, which reflects
South Asia
Central Asia and Far East
Labour
Migration
Socioeconomic conditions
Q2P
2006
55
‘
Directed by
Paromita Vohra
.
Q2P is a film about toilets and the city. It sifts through the dream of Mumbai as a future Shanghai and searches for public toilets, watching who has to queue to pee. As the film observes who has
South Asia
Gender Role and Identity
Urban
Socioeconomic conditions
Rain in the Mirror
2012
48
‘
Directed by
Nilanjan Bhattachary
Kanchan Mukhopadhayay
.
Dorji Bhutia, a Buddhist monk and a reputed mask-maker with supernatural powers of bringing or stopping rain chose a self-determined death at the age of eighty-six. Dorji leaves his mystic image
South Asia
Religion / Belief / Faith
Children / Young people
Education / Knowledge Transmission
Intergenerational relations
Raju and His Friends
1988
40
‘
Directed by
Marcus Banks
.
This film is set in the city of Jamnagar, western India. The film focuses on the emotions, quality of life, and on duty. Raju’s friendship with different people, including the director, provide a
South Asia
Urban
Informant-researcher relationship
Life Story / Life History
Return of the Nightingales
2013
33
‘
Directed by
John Baily
.
In 2010 Afghan musicologist Dr. Ahmad Sarmast opened the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), a coeducational vocational music school in Kabul that teaches Afghan, Indian and Western
South Asia
Music / Ethnomusicology
Education / Knowledge Transmission
Children / Young people
Ritual Journeys
2011
75
‘
Directed by
Dawa Lepcha
Anna Balikci
.
The film is an intimate portrait of Merayk, an 80 years old Lepcha shaman or Padim. Merayk lives with his family in Dzongu, a Lepcha reserve in North Sikkim. He performs healing rituals for
South Asia
Ritual
Shamans and Shamanism
Health / Health care / Healing
Sherpas of Nepal
1977
52
‘
Directed by
Leslie Woodhead
Pattie Winter
.
Thami is a village 12,000 feet up in the Himalayas in the Kingdom of Nepal. As the film’s opening shots illustrate, in a type of filmic short-hand, Thami is composed of a patchwork of individual
South Asia
Tourism / Travel / Pilgrimage
Labour
Marriage
Social Change
Silk, Muthappar and VHS: Portraits from South India
1997
63
‘
Directed by
Ulrich Grossenbacher
Damaris Luethi
.
The documentary, filmed during ethnographic field research, shows three portraits of ‘ordinary’ personalities — Mala, a young weaver sharing a one-bedroom house with nine siblings; Santa Cruz,
South Asia
Labour
Everyday Life
Film / Photography / Mass media
This Is A Majlis – A Sound Essay
2020
17
‘
Directed by
Timothy Cooper
Abeera Arif-Bashir
.
This short film is a multi-platform sound essay. It is primarily illustrated with still images, that conjure an atmosphere of intimacy and intensity of the majlis-e-aza, a mourning gathering central
South Asia
Music/Ethnomusicology
Urban
Art/ Aritists/ Artisans
Social Change
A Tibetan New Year
1987
45
‘
Directed by
Jon Jerstad
.
This outstanding documentary is placed in Northern India among a group of Tibetan refugees. They celebrate the New Year, following a ritual of their religion, Bonpo, which is older than Buddhism.
South Asia
Religion / Belief / Faith
Ritual
Tingvong: A Lepcha Village in Sikkim
2005
60
‘
Directed by
Dawa T Lepcha
Anna Balikci-Denjongpa
Asen Balikci
.
The film illustrates the changes the Lepcha of the Dzongu reserve, North Sikkim, have been through in the last 60 years. From the 1940s, the Lepcha of Tingvong village gradually abandoned hunting,
South Asia
Social Change
Religion / Belief / Faith
Agriculture / Farming
Unravel
2012
14
‘
Directed by
Meghna Gupta
.
‘Unravel’ follows the Western worlds least wanted clothes, on a journey across Northern India, from sea to industrial interior. They get sent to Panipat, a sleepy town and the only place in the world
South Asia
Labour
Material Culture
Collective / Community identity
Ustad Rahim
2008
55
‘
Directed by
John Baily
.
Shot in the city of Heart, western Afghanistan 1994, in the period between the fall of the last leftist government and the coming of the Taliban, this is a portrait film of an outstanding musician,
South Asia
Music / Ethnomusicology
Education / Knowledge Transmission
Personal Narrative
Where the Clouds End
2014
52
‘
Directed by
Wanphrang Diengdoh
.
“My late great grandfather was a Bengali who came to Shillong in the early 1900s – long before the present political border divided the lands.” After the creation of borders between India and
South Asia
Colonialism / Postcolonialism
Race / Racism / Antiracism
Collective / Community identity