Movies: Ethnography

An adventurous tragedy about Estonia's first film maker Johannes Pääsuke and his aspirations to travel around with a film camera and find happiness. Together with a good friend, Volter, Pääsuke will spend an incredible week in Setomaa....

A woman narrates the thoughts of a world traveler, meditations on time and memory expressed in words and images from places as far-flung as Japan, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, and San Francisco....

The extraordinary life story of science fiction and fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) who, in spite of remaining for many years on the sidelines of the mainstream literature, managed to be recognized as one of the most remarkable US writer...

A moving portrait of traditional Finnish American culture in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, highlighting that fragile community of memory connecting ourselves with parents and grandparents. It uses the “biographical model” of folklore filmmaking to...

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In 1810, 20 year old Sara Baartman got on a boat from Cape Town to London, unaware that she would never see her home again, or that she would become the icon of racial inferiority and black female sexuality for the next 100 years. Four years later, s...

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A century ago the Torres Strait Island were the subjects of the famous Cambridge Anthropological Expedition - the resulting depletion of their cultural artifacts left them with nothing but a history of remembered loss. The only people in the Pacific ...

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Film about the singing and dancing culture of the Ingush people...

The first of two coproductions by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the National Film Board of Canada, People of the Seal, Part 1: Eskimo Summer is compiled from some of the most vivid footage ever filmed of the life of the Netsilik Inuit in t...

A documentary on the experiences of the Nubetya Yaptiks nomadic family in the Yamal Peninsula, Eastern Siberia, from 1992 to 2001....

In the same vein as Meri's other documentations, this one takes advantage of the glasnost policy to discuss the social and ecologic impact of the Russian oil industry on the natives and the lands they inhabit....

John Cohen, founding member of the ‘50s folk troupe the New Lost City Ramblers, started making films in order to bring together the two disciplines he was heavily active in: music and photography. The End of an Old Song brings us to North Carolina, a...

In war-torn northern Syria, WHO LOVES THE SUN delves into the world of makeshift oil refineries and the stark realities of life within this post-apocalyptic landscape. Mahmood is a prominent figure in these operations, navigating harsh working condit...

As retailers, wholesalers, and negotiators, Asante women of Ghana dominate the huge Kumasi Central Market amid the laughter, argument, colour and music. The crew of this `Disappearing World' film have jumped into the fray, explored, and tried to expl...

A five-year visual ethnography of traditional yet practical orchestration of Semana Santa in a small town where religious woodcarving is the livelihood. An experiential film on neocolonial Philippines’ interpretation of Saints and Gods through many f...

A walk through the landscapes of the province of Barcelona, Spain, as well as a testimony of the daily life and customs of its inhabitants....