Documentary Educational Resources - Subject / Business & Economics / Inequality / All Films

A Kalahari Family

Wed, 5 Sep 2018 11:07:00 GMT

A Kalahari Family
Buy Now: $1,200.00

A Kalahari Family is a five-part, six-hour series documenting 50 years in the lives of the Ju/'hoansi of southern Africa, from 1951 to 2000. These once independent hunter-gatherers experience dispossession, confinement to a homeland, and the chaos of war. Then as hope for Namibian independence and the end of apartheid grows, Ju/'hoansi fight to establish farming communities and reclaim their traditional lands. Through depiction of their efforts of the Ju/hoansi to participate as farmers in the contemporary economy and advocate for their rights to do so, the series challenges stereotypes of primitive and unchanging "bushmen."

"There are two kinds of films. Films that show us in skins are lies. Films that show the truth show us with cattle, with farms, with our own water, making our own plans." —Oma Tsamkxao

"The old life was too thin. We wanted foods that made us strong. We wanted clothes like other people... A new life called us to Tjum!kui." —Oma Tsamkxao

"We heard stories about whites killing Ju/'hoansi. We were traveling to find bush foods when /Ui Legs told us white people had come. He said you would return to look for us and stay a long time. We were afraid you would capture or kill us. I'm glad you whites were different." —Oma Tsamkxao

John Marshall's documentary shows the objective story of one Namibian family and testifies to the challenges and the effects of changing times on the entire nation. This not only supports the constructive political revelations preached by our first president but is a touching testimony seen from within and without our society how it changes without reflection to its past history sacrificing part of its capacity to the demands put to them by the fast changing environment making it impossible to keep up and adjust. There is no progress possible if any help from the outside does not generate capacity building from within. This documentary shows that listening to the local voices and capacity building is the only answer to sustainable development. Such help is this documentary, so that each Namibian irrespective of any rank should be obliged to see it several times and keep it for generations to come. This is part of our invisible history innocently captured to testify in vision what has so far been invisible to the naked eye.

We owe enormous gratitude to the Marshall family for this valuable contribution to the History and welfare of our nation.
— Levi Namaseb, Namibian Visiting Scholar, University of Toronto

Films in the A Kalahari Family series:

Part One: A Far Country
Part Two: End Of the Road
Part Three: Real Water
Part Four: Standing Tall
Part Five: Death By Myth

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Best Environmental TV Series, FICA - International Festival of Environmental Film & Video, Brazil, 2003

Special Prize: Homage to the Films of John Marshall; Bilan du Film Ethnographique, Paris, 2003

Grand Jury Award (Best in World Cinema), DC Independent Film Festival, Washington DC, 2003

Basil Wright Film Prize, RAI Ethnographic Film Festival, England, 2003

Beeld Voor Beeld, Ethnographic Film Festival, Amsterdam, 2003

Jury Award, Athens Film Festival, 2003

Best Film - Jury Award, XII International Festival of Ethnographical Films, Nuoro, Italy, 2004

Planet In Focus Film Festival, Toronto, 2003

Margaret Mead International Film Festival, NYC, 2002

Sithengi International Film Festival, Capetown, 2002

African Film Festival, Seattle, 2003

Boston Premiere, Museum of Fine Arts, 2003

Archaeology Channel Film Festival, Oregon, 2003

Beeld Voor Beeld, Ethnographic Film Festival, Amsterdam, 2003

Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge, MA, 2004

Göttingen International Film Festival, Germany, 2004

Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, Greece, 2005

Ecocinema Festival, Athens, Greece, 2005

This film is part of the !Kung Series.

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Cartoneros

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 08:16:00 GMT

Cartoneros
Buy Now: $320.00

Cartoneros follows the paper recycling process in Buenos Aires from the trash pickers who collect paper informally through middlemen in warehouses, to executives in large corporate mills. The process exploded into a multimillion dollar industry after Argentina's latest economic collapse. The film is both a record of an economic and social crisis and an invitation to audiences to rethink the value of trash. Visit the film's official website: http://cartonerosdoc.com

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Java Jive

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 11:12:00 GMT

Java Jive
Buy Now: $295.00

"Hot as hell, strong as sin, and black as the devil". However you take it - or even if you don't - coffee has a special status in society. Fast-paced and lively, Java Jive explores the vitality of cafe culture, the conditions of coffee production and the links between the two.

Traveling through Latin American coffee plantations, the NY Coffee Exchange, espresso-making and the old-fashioned coffee house now being taken over by corporate chains and franchises, the film mixes the serious with the silly, the entertaining with the informative. Java Jive is a caffeinated journey into a surprisingly complex world that is part stimulant, part ritual, part fun and all business.

Recommended for Cultural Studies, Communication, Western/American Culture/ Latin American Studies, Economics/World Economy/US Economy.

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Honorable Mention, 47th Columbus International Film & Video Festival

Latin American Studies Association, selection September 2001

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Joe Leahy's Neighbors

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 11:12:00 GMT

Joe Leahy's Neighbors
Buy Now: $340.00

This film is the followup of First Contact. It traces the fortunes of Joe Leahy, the mixed-race son of Australian explorer Michael Leahy, in his uneasy relationship with his tribal neighbors. Joe built his coffee plantation on land bought from the Ganiga in the mid 1970s. European educated, raised in the highlands of Papua, freed by his mixed race from the entanglements of tribal obligation, Joe leads a Western lifestyle governed by individualism and the pursuit of affluence.

While Joe may live in Western grandeur, he is still surrounded by his subsistence level Ganiga "neighbors," who never let him forget the original source of his prosperity. Joe spends much of his waking hours just keeping the lid on things.

Filmmakers Connolly and Anderson lived for eighteen continuous months on the edge of Joe's plantation, in the "no man's land" between Leahy and the Ganiga. Their lively, non-judgemental narrative eloquently captures the conflicting values of tribalism and capitalism.

"This is one of the best ethnographic movies I've seen. It's set in the New Guinea highlands and focuses on Joe Leahy, a half-white, half-Ganiga owner of a coffee plantation whose role in the community is fraught with ambiguity. Is he (as some claim) a colonialist exploiter, ripping off his Ganiga brothers? Or, on the contrary, is he a new kind of tribal chief, one who brings economic development to a place badly in need of modernization? Anderson and Connolly deftly lay out the situation; but they do not tell us what to make of Leahy or his role in New Guinea. You leave the theater aware that, in its very complexity and lack of resolution, this movie reveals something profound about what's going on in New Guinea, and many other "developing" countries." — Los Angeles Weekly

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Grand Prix, Cinema du Reel, Paris

Earthwatch Award

Best Documentary, Australian Film Institute Awards

Best Documentary, Australian Film Critics Circle

Award of Excellence, Society for Visual Anthropology

Basil Wright Prize, Best Documentary, Royal Anthropological Institute

Grand Prix, Festival dAurillac

Films in the The Highlands Trilogy

First Contact

Joe Leahy's Neighbors

Black Harvest

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The Lost Water

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 06:41:00 GMT

The Lost Water
Buy Now: $295.00

73% of the total salt production in India comes from Gujarat State, almost 60% of which comes from Little Rann of Kutch (LRK), Gujarat. The government of Gujarat has consistently ignored the LRK area. The salt workers of LRK, known as Agariyas, are predominantly from the Koli and Chuvaliya Koli tribes. As bonded laborers, they are not only victims of wage discrimination, they are endure serious physical and mental health hazards due to the dangerous nature of their work. Kharaghoda village itself is home to 437 widows. Working in extreme temperatures without any protective gear, many Agariyas suffer major health complications, including blindness and skin damage due to unprotected exposure to salt. Living in abject poverty, Agariyas now face water scarcity as well as malnutrition since green vegetables are not available in this area. The LRK area has recently been designated as a wildlife sanctuary for the threatened Indian Wild Donkey, making salt workers and salt production in LRK now illegal. Agariyas have been forced by government authorities to look outside the LRK for work, now struggling for both their ancestors' land and their livelihood.

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Mallamall

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 14:49:00 GMT

Mallamall
Buy Now: $320.00

India is undergoing a retail revolution in which the aspiring middle-class is demanding more western goods and services. Modern malls are muscling into the traditional marketplace, pushing India's economic infrastructure to the limits and threatening to put thousands of bazaar owners and small farmers out of business.

In Hindi, mallamall literally means “bountiful goods,” and nowhere else in the world are the markets so lively with their jewel-colored saris, aromatic spices, and personalities to match. But in cities like Bangalore, street vendors and small business owners are pitted against savvy developers of super-stores. Generations of small merchant families have survived and thrived in urban centers, but foreign companies such as Canada's Perennial Design, are eager to capitalize on India's $650 billion retail industry. As Canadian marketing guru Chris Lund affirms: “India is where we want to channel our energy.”

“This is a positively brilliant work. Not only is it a large scale case study of marketing in India, but it gives the viewer a valuable view into corporate culture, decision making, and everyday transactions. This work is informative and engaging throughout, complete with excellent camerawork, editing, and music.”
— Educational Media Reviews Online (EMRO)

“A look at what happens when consumers ditch the street markets to shop in super malls.”
— Ranga Rajah, Suhaag.com

“The documentary looks at how vendors and small-business owners are becoming activists against the developers.”
— Kevin Connor, Toronto Sun

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Honorary Mention, Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award, Margaret Mead Film Festival, USA, 2013

Association of Asian Studies Film Expo, USA, 2014

The Archaeology Channel International Film and Video Festival, USA, 2014

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, USA, 2014

HumanDOC International Film Festival, Poland, 2013

Intimate Lens Ethnographic Film Festival, Italy, 2013

Calgary International Film Festival, Calgary, Alberta, 2012

FILMI: Toronto's South Asian Film Festival, Toronto, Ontario, 2012

South Asian Film Festival, Vancouver/Abbotsford/Surrey, British Columbia, 2012

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Poto Mitan

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 10:58:00 GMT

Poto Mitan
Buy Now: $320.00

Told through the compelling lives of five courageous Haitian women workers, Poto Mitan gives the global economy a human face. Each woman's personal story explains neoliberal globalization, how it is gendered, and how it impacts Haiti. And while Poto Mitan offers in-depth understanding of Haiti, its focus on women's subjugation, worker exploitation, poverty, and resistance makes it clear that these are global struggles.

Marie-Jeanne details her dual struggles as a woman and worker: employed in a garment factory, she toils under miserable conditions to give her children the schooling she was denied because of education's high costs and gender discrimination. Living and braving death in Cité Soleil, Solange spells out how Haiti's current violence stems from a long-brewing economic crisis and the global apparel industry's inherent instability. Frustrated with male-dominated unions, Frisline joined a woman's organization. She offers a gendered and class analysis of Haiti's contemporary situation. Working for thirty years, Thérèse brings a perspective that is historical and comparative. Her ailments also highlight the critical state of public health. Pushed off her land by foreign agricultural policies, Hélène leads a new grassroots campaign against violence, encouraging women to defend themselves. These five brave women demonstrate that despite monumental obstacles in a poor country like Haiti, collective action makes change possible.

Initiated by the women themselves, Poto Mitan aims to inspire solidarity activism to end injustice in the global economy. Our struggles have a common thread. Fighting for justice: for women, workers, or Haiti can't help but bring about our own liberation.

“Now as never before, Poto Mitan is needed in the classroom... Raw but not crude, stark yet not simplistic, this film illustrates how, even prior to the earthquake, global and national factors impact the everyday lives of low-income Haitian women, intensifying their struggle against poverty... The breadth and depth of Poto Mitan make it suitable for both undergraduate and graduate students.”
— Fauzia Erfan Ahmed, Miami University, Teaching Sociology

“A moving and stirring film, showing Haitian women speaking for themselves. A must see.”
— Edwidge Danticat

“For many years now I've been telling people that fanm se poto mitan tout sosyete (women are the central pillars of society). This wonderful film is definitely a testimony of the courage, resilience and determination of Haitian women. Needless to say that I'm very thrilled! I encourage everyone to support this great endeavour!”
— Marleine Bastien, MSW, LCSW, Founder/Executive Director, FANM (Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami)

“Poto Mitan will be a valuable tool. Indeed, the value of the film for advocacy and education results not just from the quality of the story telling but also from the quality of the film itself. People will want to see this film, and be open to demanding change from the policymakers.”
— Quixote Center

“The great strength of this film is in allowing the five women... to speak from their hearts at length, without moralizing from a narrator. The film should be in all university libraries for classroom use. ”
— Contemporary Sociology, May 2010, Vol 39, No 3

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Indie Spec Best Documentary Award, Boston International Film Festival, 2009

Nominated for Social Justice Award, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, 2009

Social Justice Film Festival, Seattle, WA, 2009

Reel Work Film Festival, CA, 2009

M.A.L.I. Women's Film & Performance Arts Festival, Austin, TX, 2009

New Filmmakers at Anthology Film Archives, New York, 2009

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The Swahili Beat

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 07:47:00 GMT

The Swahili Beat
Buy Now: $295.00

The Swahili Beat is an upbeat look at the remarkable history of the Swahili people of Kenya and Tanzania's East African coast. Packed with the music and dance of its indigenous peoples, the film takes viewers along the coast from the fabled island of Lamu to Zanzibar, Mombasa, Kilwa, Bagamoyo and Dar es Salaam, tracing the development of the Swahili culture through the intermarriage of Arab settlers, arriving from Oman in the 8th century, with local Africans. The resulting Islamic hybrid culture cemented economic and social stability.

The emergence of the Swahili as prosperous merchant brokers in the Indian Ocean basin and in the growing East African slave trade made them a lucrative target for successive waves of settlers, invaders and colonizers, including the Persians, Portuguese, Arabs, Germans, and British. Though the strength of Swahili culture has prevailed through much of this invasion and colonization, communities now face new threats in the face globalization, the internet, and tourism.

This DVD also includes:

Swahili History (11 minutes)

A ground-breaking interview with archaeologist Dr. Stephanie Wynn-Jones, on new perspectives in the study of Swahili history.

Dreadlox (3 minutes)

Alu Mohammed, a resident of Lamu, illustrates the effects of the personal loss of culture and belief system.

The Swahili Beat is an ideal tool for social studies teachers in grades 6-12 as well as for first-year college teachers in any African Studies program. Punctuated with plenty of Swahili music and dance, the film is easy to watch, its colorful visual elements seamlessly covering the history of the Swahili coast while offering viewers a new and dynamic perspective on this area that is well known as a travel destination for American and European tourists, but whose history is seldom revealed. The film is immensely appealing to younger viewers who relate to the music, particularly to the upbeat drumming and the more contemporary Swahili Rap that is heard toward the end of the film. In addition, the film's half-hour length makes it easily incorporated into any classroom curriculum.

The Swahili Beat raises many issues and questions on African history and Swahili history, and incorporates an understanding of general themes in social studies that are required in standard Social Studies Curricula, as follows: Belief Systems; Change; Conflict; Choice; Culture; Diversity; Empathy; Identity; Interdependence; Imperialism; Movement of People and Goods; Nationalism; Urbanization.

AFRICAN STUDIES: THE SWAHILI COAST

1) Historical perceptions of East African coastal culture and how these have changed over time

2) The development of Swahili culture as an Afro-Arab hybrid

3) The cultural connections between the Swahili and other Islamic peoples of Africa and the Middle East

4) The development of trade between the Swahili, the African interior and the Indian Ocean Basin

5) Swahili literature and poetry as a source for interpreting historic events 6) The significance of the Swahili coast to European explorers

7) The effect of various invasions on the culture and language of the Swahili people

8) The East African slave trade as compared to the West African slave trade 9) The significance of the Swahili Coast to international Colonial enterprise 10) The factors leading to the current economic marginalization of the Swahili coast

SOCIAL STUDIES: MAJOR THEMES

1) How do historians organize Time and Information? What are some alternative ways of viewing History and Time?

2) The use of primary and secondary sources in the interpretation of history

3) The use of maps to locate an area geographically and to explore the themes listed below

4) What aspects of a culture attract international trade?

5) How does international trade promote prosperity, communication, and culture?

6) What factors lead to settlement in specific areas?

7) What are the differences between urban and rural settlements?

8) What diverse forces work together to raise any specific culture above others? (technology; immigrants; trade; migration)

9) How can a language reflect the history of a people?

10) What factors lead to the formation of a community or national identity? 11) How does globalization effect indigenous cultures?

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Seguir Siendo

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 07:46:00 GMT

Seguir Siendo
Buy Now: $295.00

A portrait of the Mbyá-Guarani people living in Misiones, a subtropical province in Northeast Argentina. The people demonstrate everyday life existing on a geographical as well as a cultural border.

The filmmaker lives in Argentina and has produced Life at the Borderland (original Escenas de la Vida en el Borde) a series of films dealing with indigenous people living in the area of Argentina between Paraguay and Brazil. The series won a national contest, "Best Project for a Documentary TV Series", portraying everyday life at a particular "frontier space" in Northeast Argentina. Seguir Siendo is one of the four programs produced.

Suitable for teaching Anthropology, Ethnography, Globalization, Latin American Studies, Environmental Studies.

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Best Anthropological Documentary, Best Audiovisual Approach, National Anthropological Institute Documentary Film and Video Festival, Argentina, 1999

GNT Prize to Language Renewal, International Festival of Ethnographical Films, Brazil, 1999

Best Cultural TV Program, Latin American Film and Video Contest, Argentina, 1999

Mention for Best Expressive Approach, Annual Argentine Video Festival, Argentina, 1999

Honorary Diploma for Ethnographical and Testimonial Interest, Spanish Association of Scientific Cinema

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Send in the Clowns

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 07:46:00 GMT

Send in the Clowns
Buy Now: $320.00

Send in the Clowns follows performers from the organization Clowns Without Borders. Their mission is to travel to areas of crisis and relieve stress and suffering through laughter. The clowns are volunteers, armed with a unique set of skills and an earnest desire to change the world. But is their work any different from all of the other agenda-driven aid organizations?

In 2009 the clowns go to Haiti, a country known as the poorest in the Western Hemisphere with the highest number of NGOs per capita in the world. They have a grueling schedule of three or more shows a day in schools, orphanages and slums. While there is a positive response to their work, the clowns are conflicted by the overwhelming needs of the Haitian people and their effectiveness in a place saturated, yet sustained by international intervention.

On January 12th, 2010 Haiti is hit by a devastating earthquake. An outpouring of aid floods the country in an attempt to address the immediate demands of food and housing. But in the wake of such extreme devastation, what is the point of sending clowns? The clowns decide to shift their focus and return to Haiti in September 2010 to teach workshops to young adults in the hope of having a more lasting impact. The workshop participants embrace the clown activities but share the challenges of their daily lives.

One year later, we find a country still struggling with basic necessities and it's unclear where all the pledged funds have gone. The Haitian workshop participants reflect on their lives in the past year and have a strong reaction to the aid they have received. So how do the clowns measure up amidst all of the other efforts? Send in the Clowns begins as a film about artists with good intentions but slowly reveals Haiti's crippling and conflicted relationship with an arguably more absurd global aid industry.

“Send in the Clowns is less a story of corruption and ill-will than of structural failures with implications far beyond the Haitian case. The film is beautifully shot and constructed, able to hold the attention of undergraduates, grad students, and jaded development professionals alike. It is suitable for use in undergraduate and graduate courses on international development, international organizations, policy planning, cultural studies and anthropology, as well as courses on the Caribbean. It could also be useful in courses on international public health and a valuable training tool for UN agencies and NGOs.”
— David A. Feingold, Ph.D., Director, Ophidian Research Institute, Bangkok, Thailand

“As someone who has had the privilege to live and work in post earthquake Haiti for 5 years, I was relieved at the honest approach Send in the Clowns has taken to educate its viewers on the real experience of both Haitians and relief workers. The film opens doors for an honest dialog about the relief efforts in Haiti, and is truly a tool for educational purposes. Send in the Clowns is one of the best films I have seen that explains the dilemma of charitable aid and the human spirit. ”
—Julie Colombino, Founder, Rebuild Globally

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Screening at United Nations, CINE-ONU program, Brussels, 2015

Rising 15, Coventry Peace Forum, UK, 2015

Awareness Film Festival, Los Angeles, 2015

Socially Relevant Film Festival, New York, 2014

Global Peace Festival, Florida, 2014

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