Skip to main content

RAI FILM Festival takes place on 27-30 March 2025. Learn more.

Search our film database

The Ainu Bear Ceremony

Directed by Neil G. Munro

1931 – 27'

Synopsis

The RAI has reedited the original film of this ceremony among the Ainu people of Japan. In the bear ceremony, now no longer performed, a specially reared bear was reverently killed and its flesh and blood eaten by the participants. The film shows a series of ritual acts with some commentary on their meaning.

RAI FILM Festival 2025

The next RAI FILM Festival will take place in person from 27-30 March 2025 at the Watershed Cinema and the Arnolfini International Centre for Contemporary Arts in Bristol (UK) and online throughout the month of April 2025.