Documentary Educational Resources - Subject / Tradition & Revitalization / Continuity of Tradition / All Films

The Bride Market of Imilchil

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 10:15:17 GMT

The Bride Market of Imilchil
Buy Now: $320.00

Each September, during a three-day event, eligible men and women from the Berber tribes of Aït Benhaddou in central Morocco gather in front of the shrine of Imilchil to select a spouse and marry. Through interviews and observational footage The Bride Market of Imilchil presents an intimate portrayal of the Souk Aam marriage festival, enabling viewers to read the signs and subtle behaviors that shape this unique ritual, and offering insight into local ideas about marriage and divorce. In the final sequences, the film suggests the increasing presence of tourists as an explanation for the declining participation in the festival.

Shot in 1985 and originally released in 1987, the film remains a classic in ethnographic cinema and is an excellent resource for teaching about gender, kinship, and related topics.

“This is an exciting film. The very content captures attention. The photography is superb, not only aesthetically satisfying with its often muted colors, but also sensitive in its lingering portrayal of hands, faces, body language. An old woman praying, a dust storm in slow motion, accelerated shadows of clouds across the tent city: these are scenes of rare beauty…”
— Visual Anthropology Review, Spring 1990

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King for a Day

Wed, 12 Apr 2023 15:11:45 GMT

King for a Day
Buy Now: $320.00

King for a Day immerses viewers in the past and present of the ‘Obby ‘Oss tradition, celebrated in Padstow, UK to welcome the arrival of summer. Filmed over nine years, and drawing on archival materials reaching back 150 years, the film explores the rite in the context of dramatic cultural and economic changes. The festival emerges as a form of Cornish identity and community defiance for one marginalized British community. King for a Day asks whether this will be the last generation to practice this ancient springtime rite.

King for a Day is a companion piece to Barbara Santi's written thesis. The study examines Padstow's visual past to explore transformative ways of representing Cornish culture and identity. Intangible cultural heritage provides a lens to consider if documentary film can support protection of local communities and their customs.

Selected Screenings & Awards

Doc Rowe Prize, The Folklore Society, UK 2025

Celtic Media Festival, Ireland, 2023

St. Just, Cornwall, UK, 2023

Tate Gallery, St. Ives, 2023

Heritales International Heritage Festival, Portugal, 2022

Berlin International Film Festival, Germany, 2022

Wales International Film Festival, UK, 2022

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Video in the Villages: Amazon Projects series

Wed, 5 Sep 2018 11:07:00 GMT

Video in the Villages: Amazon Projects series
Buy Now: $400.00

These videos give examples of environmental protection and sustainable development projects taking place in indigenous areas of the Amazon. With their cultural respect for natural resources, these indigenous groups have a lot to teach other cultures about co-operation with the environment.

Films in the Amazon Projects series:
Agenda 31

Signs Don't Speak

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Video in the Villages: Ashanika Villages series

Wed, 5 Sep 2018 11:07:00 GMT

Video in the Villages: Ashanika Villages series
Buy Now: $850.00

Made by indigenous filmmakers, these inventive videos document a range of development projects, beliefs and cultural practices in indigenous communities of Acre, Brazil. We see how contemporary people have maintained some traditional practices and adopted new ones in these dynamic and diverse cultures.

Films in the Ashanika Villages series:
Iauaretê, Waterfall of the Jaguars

Imbé Gikegü, The Scent of Pequi Fruit
Kiarãsâ Yõ Sâty, The Agouti's Peanut

New Era

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Video in the Villages: Conflicts in the Amazon series

Wed, 5 Sep 2018 11:07:00 GMT

Video in the Villages: Conflicts in the Amazon series
Buy Now: $400.00

This series examines conflict and sustainable development in indigenous areas.

Films in the Conflicts in the Amazon series

Free-For-All In Sararé

It's Now or Never!

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Diary of a Maasai Village series

Wed, 5 Sep 2018 11:07:00 GMT

Diary of a Maasai Village series
Buy Now: $1,360.00

"A rich man in Maasai has children and cows.... and he has wives - many wives."

This series of five films by Melissa Llewelyn-Davies looks at daily life among the Maasai. The films are presented as a diary of a 7-week visit to a single village. The structure is episodic and the content dependent on various events or stories, some of which are developed through more than one film. The tapes can be used independently or together, to give an in-depth sense of Maasai life.

The senior man in the village is the most important Maasai prophet and magician who is known as the Laibon. He is regarded as a wealthy man because he has so many wives and children. He has 13 wives living in the village as well as a large number of children, about 20 daughters-in-law, and 30 grandchildren. All the main characters in the films are somehow related to the Laibon, who was nearly 80 years old when the films were made.

A common thread to the events of all five films is the ever-present anxiety about the state of the herds. These appear to be slowly depleting due to drought, disease and an increasing need to sell livestock for cash. Cash and/or livestock are needed by the Laibon and his kin to trade for wives, to pay off debts and to compensate for previous thefts.

Films in the Diary of a Maasai Village Series

Part 1: The Prophet's Village

Part 2: Two Ways Of Justice

Part 3: Two Mothers

Part 4: Two Journeys

Part 5: Nine Cows And An Ox

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Video in the Villages: Encounters series

Wed, 5 Sep 2018 11:07:00 GMT

Video in the Villages: Encounters series
Buy Now: $400.00

The Encounters series demonstrates of the ways in which video can facilitate interchanges and solidarity between indigenous groups. Using a combination recorded images and personal contacts, Indians previously isolated from one another are able to form friendships and forge cultural and political alliances.

Films in the Encounters series

Meeting Ancestors

We Gather as a Family

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Video in the Villages: Indians in Brazil series

Wed, 5 Sep 2018 11:07:00 GMT

Video in the Villages: Indians in Brazil series
Buy Now: $1,400.00

A series of videos produced for the 'TV Escola' (TV School) of Brazil's Ministry of Education. Presented by Indian leader Ailton Krenak, "Indians in Brazil" draws a picture of contemporary indigenous reality, attempting to overcome stereotypes and promote understanding between Indians and non-Indians.

Films in the Indians in Brazil series:
A Different Story
The First Contacts
From the Other Side of the Sky
Our Languages
Our Rights
Our Territory
Who Are They?

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Video in the Villages: Indigenous Video Makers series

Wed, 5 Sep 2018 11:07:00 GMT

Video in the Villages: Indigenous Video Makers series
Buy Now: $2,700.00

In production workshops, young indigenous filmmakers learn to use video equipment and set their own priorities about what to film. The result is a wide variety of videos about rituals, natural resources, village life, family, mythology and even video making.

Films in the Indigenous Video Makers series

Dancing with a Dog
From the Ikpeng Children to the World
Kinja Iakaha, A Day in the Village
The Living Forest
Moyngo
Nguné Elü
One Must Be Curious
A Path to Live
The Rainy Season
Shomõtsi
Trainees for the Future
Wapté Mnhõnõ, The Xavante's Initiation
Wai'á Rini, The Power of the Dream

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Video in the Villages: Rituals series

Wed, 5 Sep 2018 11:07:00 GMT

Video in the Villages: Rituals series
Buy Now: $320.00

This series approaches ritual and cultural traditions in complicity with Indians, allowing for respectful documentation that is staged by ritual participants. Indians themselves give insight into the beliefs that motivate their traditional rites, as opposed to an outside observer.

Films in the Rituals series

Yákwa, The Banquet of the Spirits

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