The RAI FILM Festival is a biennial event providing a leading showcase for the best in groundbreaking and innovative anthropological documentary filmmaking from around the globe. Organised by the Royal Anthropological Institute since 1985, it currently assigns nine awards:
Film Committee Lifetime Achievement Award
Since 1990, the RAI FILM Committee has periodically awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award to honour outstanding contributions to ethnographic documentary filmmaking and academic visual anthropology.
President’s Award
The President’s Award was first introduced in 2017. It is granted by the RAI FILM Committee to a film of exceptional merit that addresses significant contemporary issues related to anthropology or archaeology. This award can be given for either fictional films or fact-based documentaries and does not have to conform to traditional ethnographic genres.
The winning film is screened on the opening night of the festival.
Royal Anthropological Institute Film Award
Awarded since 1982, this prize recognises the most outstanding film focusing on social, cultural, and biological anthropology or archaeology. The award is valued at £500.
Basil Wright Film Award
Awarded since 1986, it was established by the late North American filmmaker Robert Gardner in honour of Basil Wright, a key figure in the British Documentary Movement of the 1930s. As Gardner described it, the award is given for a film created “in the ethnographic tradition” that utilises “the evocative power of film” to enhance “a concern for humanity” and effectively communicate that concern to others. The award is valued at £500.
Marsh RAI Short Film Award
The Marsh Charitable Trust established the Marsh RAI Short Film Prize in 2019 in collaboration with the RAI. This award celebrates the most outstanding short film (under 40 minutes) focusing on social, cultural, and biological anthropology or archaeology. The prize recognises the growing importance of short form and encourages experimentation within the genre. This initiative builds on the Trust’s long-standing relationship with the RAI, where they have previously recognized outstanding individuals outside academia who apply anthropological ideas to positively impact or enhance our understanding of global challenges. The award is valued at £500.
Richard Werbner Award for Visual Ethnography
Since 2011, the distinguished Africanist anthropologist and filmmaker Richard Werbner has funded an award for films created by academic anthropologists, ideally as part of a doctoral or post-doctoral research project. The film must be a minimum duration of 40 minutes and should be based on extensive fieldwork conducted by the filmmaker among the film’s subjects. Special consideration will be given to works that highlight the unique ability of film to complement and enhance anthropological knowledge that is typically conveyed through text. The award is valued at £250.
Wiley Blackwell Student Film Award
This prize was first awarded in 1990 and has been sponsored by Wiley Blackwell Publishing since 2005. It is given to the most outstanding film in the ethnographic tradition created by a student enrolled in a recognised educational institution. When evaluating the films, judges will consider not only their anthropological relevance but also the budget constraints, technical resources, and professional input available to the filmmakers. The award is valued at £250.
Ethnomusicology Film Award
The British Forum for Ethnomusicology (BFE) sponsors an award for the most outstanding film (minimum 20 minutes) focusing on music or sound from around the world, with special consideration given to innovative audio-visual works enhancing understanding of musicians, music cultures, or soundscapes, exploring issues relevant to ethnomusicology. This Award reflects the increasing access to multi-media and film for anthropologists and ethnomusicologists, emerging from the resurgence of the RAI’s Ethnomusicology Committee in 2013, previously chaired by filmmaker Prof John Baily, who trained a generation of filmmakers, including current BFE Chair Dr Fiorella Montero-Diaz and Prof Barley Norton, who partnered with the RAI to instigate this first-of-its-kind UK prize, providing a creative meeting point for ethnomusicologists and anthropologists telling stories about the world’s music. The award is valued at £250.
Audience Film Award
Voted by the audience at the RAI FILM Festival. The award is valued at £250.
Former Awards
Intangible Culture Film Prize (Music – Dance – Performance)
This award was offered between 2007 and 2019. Named with reference to the UNESCO designation ‘Intangible Culture’, this prize was for ethnographic films dealing with music, dance and performance.
Material Culture and Archaeology Film Prize
This award was offered by the Film Festival Committee between 1990 and 2019 and was for the best film about the social use and cultural significance of material objects, be it at the present time or any previous period in human history.
