THE RAI FILM PRIZE
Awarded biennially since 1980, this prize is for `the most outstanding film on social, cultural and biological anthropology or archaeology’. The value of the prize is £500.
Winner: A Colombian Family (dir. Tanja Wol Sørensen)
Commendation: Ayouni (dir. Yasmin Fedda)
Special mention: Survivors (dir. WeOwnTV)
THE BASIL WRIGHT FILM PRIZE
Awarded biennially since 1986 this prize is for a film in the ethnographic tradition that takes advantage of the evocative faculty of film as a means of furthering a concern for humanity and for communicating that concern to others. The value of the prize is £500.
Winner: The Body Won’t Close (dir. Mattijs van de Port)
Commendation: In Search… (dir. Beryl Magoko)
THE RICHARD WERBNER AWARD FOR VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Funded since 2011 by Richard Werbner, this award is given to a film that is made by an anthropologist – preferably as part of a doctoral or post-doctoral research project – based upon extensive fieldwork. The value of the prize is £250.
Winner: A Kali Temple Inside Out (dir. Dipesh Kharel, Frode Storaas)
Commendations:
Death of the One Who Knows (dir. Dana Rappoport)
The Healer and the Psychiatrist (dir. Mike Poltorak)
AUDIENCE PRIZE
Voted by the audience at the RAI Film Festival.
Winner: The Two Lives of Li Ermao (Dir. Jia Yuchuan)
ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE & MARSH SHORT FILM PRIZE
Introduced in 2019, this prize is for the most outstanding short film on anthropology or archaeology. This prize is sponsored by the Marsh Christian Trust. The value of the prize is £500.
Winner: New York, Just Another City (dir. André Lopes, Joana Brandão)
Commendation: Fatima the Oracle (dir. Geleck Palsang)
WILEY BLACKWELL STUDENT FILM PRIZE
Awarded for the first time in 1990, and since 2005 sponsored by Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, this prize is given to the most outstanding film in the ethnographic tradition made by a student enrolled in a recognized educational institution. The value of the prize is £250.
Winner: Unwritten Letters (dir. Max Bloching, Abd Alrahman Dukmak)
Commendations: The Daring Young Girl on the Flying Trapeze (dir. Nina Ross)
In Aiye’s Garden (dir. Eyob Defersha)
Ocak (dir. Zeynep Kaserçi)
Those Who Have Eyes to See (dir. Melanie Grant)
ETHNOMUSICOLOGY FILM AWARD
This award is the most outstanding film about music/sound in the world. The award is sponsored by the British Forum for Ethnomusicology. The value of the prize is £250.
Winner: In search of Bidesia (dir. Simit Bhagat)
Commendation: Elder’s Corner (dir. Siji Awoyinka)
The following Awards are announced prior to the Festival:
PRESIDENT’S AWARD
Assigned by the Film Festival Committee to a film of truly exceptional merit that addresses issues of great contemporary importance and concern in anthropology or archaeology. This film may take the form of either fiction or fact-based documentary, and need not necessarily belong to any conventional ethnographic genre.
One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk (dir. Zacharias Kunuk)
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Bestowed by the RAI Film Committee to honour outstanding contributions to ethnographic documentary film-making and/or academic visual anthropology.
