Copyright 2026, Documentary Educational Resources https://store.der.org/grossman-alyssa-c644all.aspx Mon, 21 Sep 2026 19:44:32 GMT 60 Nexternal RSS 2.0 en-us https://store.der.org/into-the-field-p751.aspx Product751 Wed, 29 Aug 2018 12:45:00 GMT <div style="float:left"><a class="url" href="https://store.der.org/into-the-field-p751.aspx"><img src="//cdn.nexternal.com/der/images/into-the-field.jpg" alt="Into the Field" border="0" hspace="3"></a></div><span class="riRssTitle"><a href="https://store.der.org/into-the-field-p751.aspx">Into the Field</a></span><br><a href="https://store.der.org/into-the-field-p751.aspx">Buy Now:</a> <span color="#990000"><b>$295.00</b></span> <br /><br /><div>This film examines the everyday secular lives of nuns residing in the Romanian Orthodox monastery of Varatec. The majority of the 450 members of this monastery live as small groups in private houses, much like regular villagers, rather than inside the walls of the communal abbey. Throughout the year, they integrate their duties at home with their religious responsibilities to their community and to the church.&nbsp;<div><br /></div><div>By visually exploring the social aesthetics of the monastery, the film depicts certain aspects of the nuns' everyday, lived experiences. Instead of exclusively focusing on the spiritual qualities of monastery existence, it documents the secular aspects of the nuns' relationships, activities, and routines, and offers a glimpse into the concrete ways in which they negotiate their identities within the separate yet connected spaces of home and church.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>The film also incorporates brief sequences of stop-motion animation, demonstrating some of the trials and tribulations that anthropologists sometimes encounter during filming and fieldwork. Intended as a reflexive meta-commentary, these passages point to some of the unpredictable and often uncontrollable processes of ethnographic investigation.</div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;"><div>“Visually, Grossman captures the dazzling Romanian countryside in summer as well as the women's calmness and happiness with the life they have chosen... an interesting ethnographic field study of a small but vibrant closed community in central post-Soviet Europe. Recommended for undergraduates.”&nbsp;</div><div>— Linda Frederiksen, Washington State University,&nbsp;</div><a href="http://emro.lib.buffalo.edu/emro/emroDetail.asp?Number=2921">Educational Media Reviews Online (EMRO)</a></blockquote><br /><div><hr><br /></div><div><b>SELECTED SCREENINGS &amp; AWARDS</b></div><div><i>Student Award for Excellence</i>, Society for Visual Anthropology / AAA Film &amp; Video Festival, 2006<br /><i>Romanian Public Television Award: First Prize for Best Student Film</i>, Astra International Film Festival, 2006<br /><i>First Prize, Student Film Competition</i>, Göttingen International Film Festival, 2006<br /><i>Honorable Mention</i>, Black Maria Film &amp; Video Festival, US, 2007<br /><i>Honorable Mention, Student Section</i>, Iowa City Int'l Documentary Festival, 2006&nbsp;</div><br /><br />Visit <a href="https://store.der.org/grossman-alyssa-c644all.aspx">Grossman, Alyssa</a> to see additional products in this category.</div>