A selection of films from the Royal Anthropological Institute’s film catalogue, available for free viewing to conference delegates, 14-20 September 2020. For information about the RAI Film catalogue and about accessing the film after the conference visit www.raifilm.org.uk or email Caterina film@therai.org.uk
The Film Library is available here.
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Title: Abraham and Sarah II – Hosting the Gundagundo Pilgrims The film is part of the Guradians of Protected Landscapes series and a sequel to ‘Abraham and Sarah I: Creators of a productive landscape’. A Tigrean farmer and his wife, who host pilgrims to a festival at the Gundagundo monastery, have gained the biblical names Abraham and Sarah. We see Sarah and other women prepare food and drink for the pilgrims, while Abraham and other men erect a shelter. At dawn dozens of pilgrims descend the steep escarpment, eventually arriving at Gundagundo where celebrations are in full swing. We witness highlights of the festival, and the pilgrims’ return to the homestead of Abraham and Sarah. Here they receive food, drink and shelter, and sing the praises of their hosts. At midnight visitors arrive with an old, sick monk. Before the guests depart next morning, a monk thanks and blesses Abraham and Sarah. Directed by Tesfahun Haddis Ivo Strecker (Max Plank Institute, Germany), Mitiku Tesfaye (Mekelle University, Ethiopia), Eyob Defersha (Arba Minch University, Ethiopia), Tesfahun Hailu (Mekelle University, Ethiopia) will be discussing Guardians of Productive Landscape film series (Abraham and Sarah II; Dancing Grass; In Aiye’s Garden), which focuses on agricultural and pastoral practices in rural Ethiopia as part of Film2 on 16 September at 15.00. |
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Title: Kalès A film of wind and despair, of fire and solidarity, of hope and hell. Directed by Laurent van Lanker |
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Title: It Was Tomorrow After living in Italy for almost ten years without documents, three Egyptian men – Ali, Mahmoud and Mohamed – are suddenly awarded legal residence. As a whole new world of opportunities opens up to them, they revisit the ports where they arrived in Italy as teenagers after hazardous journeys across the Mediterranean. Here, difficult memories are intertwined with fantasies about what could be, or could have been, and their possible new lives. Through creative collaborative filmmaking that weaves animation, theatre and storytelling with documentary images, we are able to delve deep into the memories and imaginations of these young men. Directed by Alexandra D’Onofrio Alexandra D’Onofrio and Francesca Cogni will be discussing the film in Film2 on 16 September at 15.00. Alexandra D’Onofrio is also taking part in the panels MV06 on 17 September at 14.30 and MV17 on 15 September at 15.00 and the associated exhibition. |
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Title: The Absence of Apricots 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 massive floods which immersed fields and entire village. Thousands of people got dislocated and had to look for different places where to live. All that remain are memories, passed to the new generation in stories. The Absence of Apricots surveys this haunted landscape, sketching everyday life of its inhabitants, as it is interwoven with memory, myth, and loss. Directed by Daniel Asadi Faezi |
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Title: Dancing Grass – Harvesting teff in the Tigrean highlands Dancing Grass is a film in the Guardians of Productive Landscapes series (editor Ivo Strecker). It captures the communal harvesting of teff among Tigreans of Northern Ethiopia. Teff, an ancient indigenous grain, is central to the livelihood of smallholder farmers and may be called the ‘cereal core’ of Ethiopian national food identity. A local elder provides the commentary for the sequence of events that unfold in the homestead, fields and neighbourhood of the author’s eldest brother and family: the cutting of the ‘dancing grass’; the drying and stacking; the threshing and winnowing; then the sale of teff in the local market; off with a donkey to the mill; cooking enjera for family and guests; coffee drinking and blessing; and finally the Mesqel fire, an Orthodox Christian celebration at the end of the rainy season. Directed by Mitiku Gabrehiwot Ivo Strecker (Max Plank Institute, Germany), Mitiku Tesfaye (Mekelle University, Ethiopia), Eyob Defersha (Arba Minch University, Ethiopia), Tesfahun Hailu (Mekelle University, Ethiopia) will be discussing Guardians of Productive Landscape film series (Abraham and Sarah II; Dancing Grass; In Aiye’s Garden), which focuses on agricultural and pastoral practices in rural Ethiopia as part of Film2 on 16 September at 15.00. |
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Title: In Aiye’s Garden – Propagation and Processing of Enset in the Gamo Highlands In Aiye’s Garden is a film in the Guardians of Productive Landscapes series (editor Ivo Strecker). Enset, which is related to the banana plant, is very drought resistant and a good source of carbohydrates (in the stem and underground bulb). Enset has been farmed from time immemorial in the Gamo Highlands of southern Ethiopia, where women are the main cultivators. The film focuses on Aiye, the filmmaker’s grandmother, who shares her knowledge about the enset plant, and shows how it is possible to produce good organic food by using simple farming tools and natural fertilizers. We see how she and a young kinswoman cultivate (using animal dung and organic waste to fertilize the plants), propagate (generating suckers from the corm), harvest (digging up the plant) and process (scraping and fermentating) the enset, and finally produce a variety of nutritious dishes. Directed by Eyob Defersha Ivo Strecker (Max Plank Institute, Germany), Mitiku Tesfaye (Mekelle University, Ethiopia), Eyob Defersha (Arba Minch University, Ethiopia), Tesfahun Hailu (Mekelle University, Ethiopia) will be discussing Guardians of Productive Landscape film series (Abraham and Sarah II; Dancing Grass; In Aiye’s Garden), which focuses on agricultural and pastoral practices in rural Ethiopia as part of Film2 on 16 September at 15.00. |
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Title: Passager Asef, an Afghan refugee with limited eyesight, has tried several times to find his way to Western Europe from Greece. The film is composed of his 8-month mobile phone video diaries, in which he talks about the everyday life at the camps, as well as his dreams of a better life. He takes us to a tour of the spaces he hides in, including an abandoned wood factory, where refugees find shelter while waiting for their chance to hide under a truck that crosses the Adriatic to Italy. Directed by Arjang Omrani and Asef Rezaei Arjang Omrani and Asef Rezaei will be discussing Passager, a film made with the video diaries of Asef as he navigates the Greek refugee camps and attempts to reach western Europe by sea as part of Film2 on 16 September at 15.00.
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