1. Cracks in the Mask
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 to make elaborate turtleshell masks have none left - they are all in foreign museums. In a quest to reclaim the past, Ephraim Bani, a wise and knowledgeable Torres Strait Islander, travels with his wife to the great museums of Europe where his heritage lies. The film, an SBS Independent production, shows that the thickest of masks cracks when a descendant of the original owners enters a museum.
2. Salamanca (Salamanca)
A walk through the landscapes of the province of Salamanca, Spain, as well as a testimony of the daily life and customs of its inhabitants.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
3. Barcelona (Barcelona)
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.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
4. Wild Honey (Wild Honey)
(Wild Honey)
5. Peasant Family Happiness (农家乐)
This film depicts the everyday experience of 'doing tourism' in two rural, ethnic tourism destinations in contemporary China: Ping'an and Upper Jidao villages. Focusing on the perspectives of village residents, the film portrays how modern, rural Chinese negotiate between the day-to-day consequences of tourist arrivals in their home villages and ideal projections of who they are and what their lives can achieve through tourism development.
6. Son of Torum (Toorumi Pojad)
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.
7. Batouk (Batouk)
This uneven and uninspired documentary of Africa is a collection from various stock footage. Female dancers in mod clothes dance on the Eiffel Tower in comparison to the primitive dances of native Africans. A lone runner trains for a marathon, and a few animals are shown in their natural habitat. Commentary and modern jazz and pop music help to make this seem much longer than 66 minutes.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
8. Mangbetu (Mangbetu)
An ethnographic documentary about the Mangbetu tribe of the Belgian Congo . The film features a discussion of various rites including the Mangbetu practice of head binding, as well as various examples of traditional music and dance.
9. Dos Antigos aos Filhos do Amanhã (Dos Antigos aos Filhos do Amanhã)
(Dos Antigos aos Filhos do Amanhã)
10. Carving Thy Faith (Pag-ukit sa Paniniwala)
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 forms of rituals and iconographies, exposing wood as raw material that undergoes production processes before becoming a spiritual object of devotion. - A sculpture believed to have been imported in town during Spanish colonial conquest, locally known as Mahal na Señor Sepulcro, is celebrating its 500 years. Meanwhile, composed of non-actors, Senakulo re-enacts the sufferings and death of Jesus. As the local community yearly unites to commemorate the Passion of Christ, a laborious journey unfolds following local craftsmen in transforming blocks of wood into a larger than life Jesus crucified on a 12-ft cross.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
11. Melodies of the mountains (Мелодии гор)
Film about the singing and dancing culture of the Ingush people
12. O Arco e a Lira (O Arco e a Lira)
(O Arco e a Lira)
It has an average vote of 9 on TMDB.
13. Live, song, live! (Даха, илли, даха!)
The film tells the story of ancient Ingush lullabies - Ingush women and men tell the lullabies of their families and the stories associated with them: love, friendship, blood feud.
14. Amazônia Indomável (Amazônia Indomável)
(Amazônia Indomável)
15. Asante Market Women
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 explain the complexities of the market and its traders. As the film was to be about women traders, an all female film crew was selected and the rapport between the two groups of women is remarkable. The relationship was no doubt all the stronger because the anthropologist acting as advisor to the crew, Charlotte Boaitey, is herself an Asante. The people open up for the interviewers telling them about their lives as traders, about differences between men and women, in their perception of their society and also about marriage.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
16. Caught (Caer)
In this innovative blend of documentary and fiction, Rosa and Paloma, two trans Latina sex workers in Queens, New York, fight transphobic violence, persecution from the police, and defend their cases of trafficking in an increasingly anti-migration political environment in the U.S.
It has an average vote of 1 on TMDB.
17. Traces: People of the Peacock (Traces: People of the Peacock)
Filmmaker Binevsa Bêrîvan travels to Armenia to capture the daily life, customs, and history of the country's Yazidi Kurdish community.
18. Circumcision
Rites and operation of the circumcision of thirty Songhai children on the Niger. Material of this film has been used to make "Les Fils de l'Eau".
It has an average vote of 3.5 on TMDB.
19. Bunda Reinha - Celebrating 500 Years of Tuan Ma (Bunda Reinha - Celebrating 500 Years of Tuan Ma)
(Bunda Reinha - Celebrating 500 Years of Tuan Ma)
20. Sweet Osmanthus Flowering Late (Sweet Osmanthus Flowering Late)
"Sweet Osmanthus Flowering Late" is a feature-length ethnographic film that envisions social rejuvenation and collective convalescence in the aftermath of the pandemic. Filmed in Wuhan, the film follows the everyday lives of three middle-class households. It postulates the existence of a mass dreaming phenomenon that facilitated fatigued Chinese inhabitants to rejuvenate themselves following the secluded episode of lived experience and to coexist with the enduring imprints of "the event" on their social lives.
