Documentary Educational Resources - Filmmaker / Guzzetti, Alfred / All Films

A Family in History

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:52:00 GMT

A Family in History
Buy Now: $320.00

Digitally Remastered 2-DVD Set

Living at Risk: The Story of a Nicaraguan Family, made in 1984-85 at the height of the Contra war, brings us inside Sandinista Nicaragua five years after the revolution that overthrew the dictator Anastasio Somoza. It centers on five siblings of the privileged, well-connected Barrios family, all deeply committed to the revolution and working for it in various capacities, often at considerable risk to themselves.

The second DVD, The Barrios Family 25 Years Later, including a group of 20 short films made in 2009-10, long after the historical opportunity for large-scale social transformation in Nicaragua had passed. This collection of works carry forward the story of the Barrios family and their country, tracing their multi-generational struggle to find ways to live and work according to the ideals that inspired their youth.

This chronicle, unusual for its depth and completeness, is a case study in the opportunities and frustrations history offers to the individuals who live through it. It will be of special interest to students of Latin America, politics, history, sociology and biography.

Disc 1 - Living at Risk: The Story of a Nicaraguan Family (59 min, 1985, 4:3 fullscreen)

The film centers on five brothers and sisters who commit themselves to remaining and working with the revolutionary government in various professional capacities: medicine, community organizing, agricultural reform. This valuable documentary provides a dimension lacking in other films about Nicaragua: a sense of the fabric of everyday life, of the ways in which perpetual danger and tension are incorporated into the ongoing vital routines of doing one's job, raising one's family, going to market, finding entertainment, treating the sick, feeding the hungry. Level-headed and deeply felt, Living At Risk conveys above all an impression of quiet, believable heroism, most vividly in a dramatic sequence of a doctor delivering a vaccine to a remote village where his predecessor was recently executed by the counter-revolutionaries.

Disc 2 - The Barrios Family 25 Years Later (131 min, 2011, 16:9 anamorphic)

Made in 2009-2010, long after the historical opportunity for large-scale social transformation in Nicaragua had passed. This set of 20 short films — portraits, interviews, short documentaries — carries forward the story of the Barrios family, tracing their multi-generational struggle to find ways to live and work according to the ideals that once inspired them to put their lives at risk.

Film Festivals, Awards, Screenings

6th International Festival of Anthropology Film Festival, University of British Columbia, Canada, 2012
Film Forum, New York
Red Ribbon, American Film Festival
Vancouver Film Festival
Festival dei Popoli, Florence, Italy
Robert Flaherty Seminar
Melbourne Film Festival
Cinéma du réel, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Tyneside Film Festival, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England
Telecast by WNET, New York and other public television stations

Visit Guzzetti, Alfred to see additional products in this category.

Khalfan and Zanzibar

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 11:13:00 GMT

Khalfan and Zanzibar
Buy Now: $295.00

Khalfan and Zanzibar is an anthropological documentary shot on digital video — a new departure for the filmmakers, who previously worked exclusively with 16-mm film. Three separate topics are woven together in this innovative project: 1) the life and work of Khalfan Hemed Khalfan, founder of Zanzibar's Association of the Disabled; 2) scenes from the lives of Zanzibar's disabled — job skill training, a class for deaf children, a soccer scrimmage; 3) the history and culture of Zanzibar.

This video is a study of Mr. Khalfan Hamid Khalfan and the handicapped people's organization Mr. Khalfan founded and continues to run. Mr. Khalfan, a charismatic figure well known in Zanzibar, is himself wheelchair-bound and oversees the tasks of representing, training, and helping handicapped people throughout the island state. Mr. Khalfan coordinates the efforts of donor agencies, state and federal governments, politicians and development experts, but he is not paid by the government and does not belong to any political party. For many years a high school principal, he looks on his work as primarily an educational one, "raising consciousness" about the needs and potential contributions of people with handicaps.

Not a portrait film pure and simple, Khalfan and Zanzibar's differentiation is to place the protagonist in Zanzibar culture, history, ethnicity, religion and everyday life. It intersperses interviews, scenes of Mr. Khalfan's daily chores at work and at home, handicapped people at work and leisure activities, and footage of Zanzibar (with innovative use of superimposed texts discussing history, ethnicity, politics, and Islam). The challenge of the video is to integrate, through visual form and style, the diverse materials mentioned above, in a single unfolding film structure.

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Certificate of Merit, INTERCOM Competitions of the Chicago International Film Festival, 2000

Best International Documentary, Brooklyn Film Festival, 2000

Academic Look International Film Festival, Lisbon, Portugal

Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival, New York, 2000

Center for Cross Cultural Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, 2000

Seagull Media Centre, Kolkata, India, 2001

Dialektus Film Festival, Budapest, Hungary, 2002

5th World Congress of Anthropological Sciences, Florence, Italy, 2003

Brunei Gallery, SOAS, London

Visit Guzzetti, Alfred to see additional products in this category.

Seed and Earth

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 07:46:00 GMT

Seed and Earth
Buy Now: $295.00

Made by a team of distinguished filmmakers/anthropologists, Seed and Earth is a film about everyday life in rural West Bengal, India. It follows the daily schedule of the families of two brothers who live side by side and cooperate in many daily activities. We see how gender and age determine work, ritual and leisure activities.

Janta is a prosperous, multicaste village that derives its livelihood from agriculture. Rice, the main crop, is cultivated in small plots. The working day starts early with men ploughing and women beginning preparations for cooking. The ritual cycle of the village moves from brief daily prayers to big village-wide celebrations lasting several days. Seasonal worship of the gods and numerous life cycle rituals complete the sacred year. Eating, washing, gossiping, visiting — the fabric of daily life is captured eloquently on film with no intrusive narration.

This DVD features a secondary audio track containing ethnographic notes written & spoken by Lina & Ákos over relevant sequences.

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Honorable Mention, Society of Visual Anthropology Film and Video Festival, Washington, 1995

award of merit, Sinking Creek Film and Video Festival, 1996

Director's Choice, Black Maria Film Festival, 1996

Prix Planet Cable, Bilan du Film Ethnographique, Paris, 1996

Best of Festival, Windy City International Documentary film Festival, Chicago, 1996

Director's Choice Award, Black Maria Film and Video Festival, 1996

Finalist, National Short Film and Video Competition, USA Film Festival, Dallas, 1996

Bronze Apple Award, National Educational Media Network Competition, 1996

Visit Guzzetti, Alfred to see additional products in this category.