Documentary Educational Resources - Subject / Urban & Rural Studies / Rural Ethnography / All Films

Oyate

Mon, 20 May 2019 09:47:00 GMT

Oyate is a time capsule of moments, gestures, and events that took place on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota during the summer of 2015. The narrative, pieced together mainly from the day-to-day activities of two Lakota families, anchors the viewer among the rhythms and sounds of everyday life.

While not an outwardly politicized film, Oyate is an unmistakably political one; a film that keenly and quietly positions a collection of seemingly commonplace events (a conversation in the back of a truck, a group of young girls lighting off fireworks, a birth, a wedding reception) as deeply felt occurrences of purpose, faith, and love in an often difficult world.

"This tightly packed and intimate documentary gives a rare glimpse into a forgotten world we only hear about in passing. One of the most important DOCS of the year."

-Devin Negrete, Film Note Magazine

“Unlike so many other documentaries about Pine Ridge that focus on the poverty and deprivation of Lakota residents, this film interrupts that narrative to celebrate families and the intimacy of their day to day lives." - Danette Pachtner, Librarian for Film, Video & Digital Media and Women's Studies, Duke University

SELECTED AWARDS & SCREENINGS

Artistic Vision Award, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, US, 2017
Regard Neuf Finalist, Visions du Réel, Switzerland, 2017

EthnoKino, Switzerland, 2018

Duluth Superior Film Festival Indigenous Screening Series, US, 2018

Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, US, 2017
Independent Film Festival Boston, US, 2017

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Faces of Change: Afghanistan

Fri, 7 Sep 2018 09:20:00 GMT

Faces of Change: Afghanistan
Buy Now: $495.00

Shot in 1972, these five films present a portrait of Afghan life in the last months before the Russian invasion.The films capture the daily economic and social exchanges in the market town of Aq Kapruk, an area inhabited by Tajik and other Central Asian peoples, 320 miles northwest of Kabul.

Situated along Balkh River, this agricultural community depended primly on wheat farming and a pastoral economy. These films offer a window into an Afghanistan on the cusp of change, and serve as a record of the culture and life ways of its rural people.

"These five films portray different aspects of technology, economic arrangements and social life in the village of Aq Kupruk in northern Afghanistan. The area is hilly, intensely arid, the elevation is about 2000 feet, the population consists mainly of Tajikagriculturalists. There is a substantial bazaar at Aq Kupruk and the valley lies on the migration track of Pushtun pastoral nomads. Clearly the area comprises the three main segments of Afghan society: the bazaar sector, the farmers, and the nomads."
— Asen Balikci, American Anthropologist, 1977

Films in the Afghanistan series

About the Faces of Change Collection

Faces of Change is comprised of 25 films that examine five cultures selected for their distinct geographic locations: starting with the China Coast at sea level and moving up to Taiwan, then to Afghanistan, Kenya and finally to the mountains of Bolivia. Each location is examined through five themes: Rural Society, Education, Rural Economy, Women, and Beliefs.

This innovative collection of 16mm films and videos was funded by the National Science Foundation, produced by Norman Miller and directed by some of the finest ethnographic filmmakers of its time.

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Faces of Change: China Coast

Fri, 7 Sep 2018 09:20:00 GMT

Faces of Change: China Coast
Buy Now: $495.00

The fishermen and the island farmers of the Soko Islands in the South China Sea typify coastal harbor communities that have existed for centuries along the China coast, controlled by mainland China or for many decades alien governments in Hong Kong and Macau.

The five films portray two independent cultures that rely on each other in complex ways, the boat people providing fish, transport to markets, and the necessities of survival on the island; the island farmers providing food, a school for boat children and labor when needed on boats and harbor facilities. The day-to-day lives of boat people and island people in this maritime culture three hours from Hong Kong are studies in mutual support, although historically discriminatory between a mainland farm family and boat people, who are seen as second class citizens who floated beyond "civilization."

After the filming in 1973, the entire population, farmers and boat people, were moved by government decree. The farmers were settled in nearby Lantau Island, the fishermen allowed to find harbors where they could. The initial government action was to accommodate refugee boat people from the Vietnam war era, the second to find harbors in Hong Kong's Aberdeen or nearby Cheng Chau where some had relatives and part-time work could be found ashore.

"These films are all set primarily in the Soko Islands, under British rule in Hong Kong territorial waters. They provide an interesting and valuable ethnographic picture of the lives of Chinese islanders and fishermen. Somewhat greater emphasis is given throughout to the fishing families, whose lives are spent almost entirely on their boats, broken only by brief visits to shore to fetch fresh water from a well or buy supplies in a market town.All are visually excellent, providing fascinating studies of details of daily life. In three of the five films narration is kept at a minimum, with direct simultaneous translation of interviews used effectively to provide verbal information, along with occasional translation of small talk and conversation among the Chinese as they go about their work." — Judith Strauch, American Anthropologist, 1977

Films in the China Coast series

China Coast Fishing
Hoy Fok and the Island School
The Island Fishpond
Island in the China Sea
Three Island Women

About the Faces of Change Collection

This innovative collection of 16mm films and videos was funded by the National Science Foundation, produced by Norman Miller and directed by some of the finest ethnographic filmmakers of its time.

Visit Rural Ethnography to see additional products in this category.

Faces of Change: Taiwan

Fri, 7 Sep 2018 09:20:00 GMT

Faces of Change: Taiwan
Buy Now: $340.00

Shot in 1973, these five films present a portrait of life in Taiwan by following the daily economic and social exchanges in Tsao Tun (also known as Tsaotun, or Caotun) Township, an area inhabited by farmers, in Nantou County 130 miles southwest of Taipei. This agricultural community depend primarily on wet rice and other mixed vegetable farming. Pigs and poultry, too, are important farm products. These films offer a window into Taiwan during a time of economic and social change, and serve as a record of the culture and life ways of its rural people as they stand on the cusp of tradition and modernization.

Films in the Taiwan series

A Chinese Farm Wife
People are Many, Fields are Small
The Rural Cooperative
They Call Him "Ah Kung"
Wet Culture Rice

About the Faces of Change Collection

This innovative collection of 16mm films and videos was funded by the National Science Foundation, produced by Norman Miller and directed by some of the finest ethnographic filmmakers of its time.

Visit Rural Ethnography to see additional products in this category.

A Chinese Farm Wife

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 08:16:00 GMT

A Chinese Farm Wife
Buy Now: $340.00

A Chinese Farm Wife gives us a peek into the life of Mrs. Li, a Taiwanese woman whose husband is a salaried factory worker. Along with the help of her eldest daughter and her neighbors, Mrs. Li runs their 3-acre farm, cultivating crops of tobacco and rice. She also supervises the children's education and manages the household, and is a full participant in community activities.

Films in the Taiwan series

A Chinese Farm Wife
People are Many, Fields are Small
The Rural Cooperative
They Call Him "Ah Kung"
Wet Culture Rice

About the Faces of Change Collection

This innovative collection of 16mm films and videos was funded by the National Science Foundation, produced by Norman Miller and directed by some of the finest ethnographic filmmakers of its time.

Visit Rural Ethnography to see additional products in this category.

Charcoal-Makers

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 08:16:00 GMT

Charcoal-Makers
Buy Now: $295.00

A strange landscape in the middle of the Greek mountains. The silhouettes of furnaces emerge from the hazy and smoke-dappled light. Charcoal-makers, who come sometimes from distant places with their families, are burning wood to make charcoal. They rent their services out to contractors during the five or six summer months. Verging on the poetic, the film describes the difficult and archaic process of charcoal-making in a modern world.

Films in the Greek series:

Charcoal-Makers

Every Day Is Not A Feast Day

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Cochengo Miranda

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 08:16:00 GMT

Cochengo Miranda
Buy Now: $320.00

Cochengo Miranda is a portrait of a farmer and his family living in the Pampas region of Central Argentina. Made by Jorge Prelorán, Argentina's best-known documentary filmmaker, the film is an example of his unique genre of ethnobiography, in which the story of an individual reveals larger truths about a culture and way of life.

The extensive region of the Pampas in Central Argentina is one of the most fertile in the world. However, as the rains subside towards the West, the land becomes arid and dry. Here live a sparse population of rugged cattlemen whose nearest neighbor may be 10 miles away. The center of life is a well and a windmill to which the cattle come every day to drink, and then go off to find the scarce grasses in the vast plains where no fences are necessary.

Cochengo Miranda has lived here for over 30 years, and raised his family after marrying at 45. In his youth he had been an itinerant singer and ranch hand, but hung up his guitar when he finally settled down. He is descendant from early Spanish stock in the region, where many of its traditions are still kept alive even though transculturation is rapidly taking its toll.

During a whole year Prelorán visited this family several times, filming a variety of occurrences that took place as the months and seasons passed. In each occasion he would record extensive monologues of don Cochengo as the basis for the film's structure. The result is a warm, intimate portrait of life in a little-known region of the world, as told to us by the settlers themselves.

This is the style of film that Prelorán has developed through the years based on the limitations of his equipment and budgets. He shot with a spring-wound 16mm Bolex camera, which accounts for the short length of the takes. He did not possess sync-sound equipment, so the soundtracks were later constructed painstakingly in order to give the impression that they are real. Because he could not record dialogues between his characters, he had to devise a style which appeared to be professional; so he used voice-over monologues. Thus his films are narrated by the protagonists themselves, conveying their feelings, wishes, philosophy and manners of expression, in order to complement the visuals rather than to just document what we see, or to be told by 'experts' how these people act or think, as is so common in ethnographic film.

It is interesting to point out that Prelorán does not consider his films pure ethnography, for he does not work with a scientific method nor is he interested in documenting material anthropology. He is more intent on capturing the human soul in its infinite varieties, and does not consider re-staging scenes for the camera a problem, if they are essentially truthful and do not call attention to themselves.

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Every Day Is Not A Feast Day

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 07:05:00 GMT

Every Day Is Not A Feast Day
Buy Now: $340.00

Every Day is Not a Feast Day is a chronicle of the daily life in Ano Ravenia, a mountain village in Greece. Although the village appears to be virtually self-sufficient, the truth is that its economical, social, and family life depends on the outer world to a great extent. Like many mountain villages, Ano Ravenia, has been progressively deserted by it most active population. The film shows the painful transformation from the holiday feasts and the temporary return of those who have left to live elsewhere to the monotony and calm of daily life. Without any commentary, the film respects the daily pace of the villagers.

Films in the Greek series:

Charcoal-Makers

Every Day Is Not A Feast Day

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Hoy Fok and the Island School

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 13:27:00 GMT

Hoy Fok and the Island School
Buy Now: $495.00

Hoy Fok is a fourteen-year-old boy who lives with his family on a fishing junk near a small island in the Hong Kong Territory. He helps his family in fishing and attends the island school. Education on this small island primarily involves teaching children basic things like simple arithmetic that would help them in selling fish.

The film features interviews with Hoy Fok's teacher, parents and the village headman, all of whom provide their differing viewpoints on his education and his future. His teacher feels that although he joined school too late, he has a natural curiosity and should pursue higher education; however, his parents think that secondary schooling is a waste of money, something they cannot afford.

Films in the China Coast series

China Coast Fishing
Hoy Fok and the Island School
The Island Fishpond
Island in the China Sea
Three Island Women

About the Faces of Change Collection

This innovative collection of 16mm films and videos was funded by the National Science Foundation, produced by Norman Miller and directed by some of the finest ethnographic filmmakers of its time.

Visit Rural Ethnography to see additional products in this category.

Island in the China Sea

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 12:45:00 GMT

Island in the China Sea
Buy Now: $495.00

Tai A Chau is home for both farmers and fishermen who use the island as a permanent harbor for their small floating homes. The daily routines of Mr. Wong, a fisherman, and Mr. Ng, a farmer, are representative of their respective problems of survival, mutual dependence, and hopes for the future.

Island in the China Sea is the introductory film in the China Coast series of Faces of Change. It provides a broad overview of the rural societies of both the island farmer and the boat people who harbor here. It traces the lifestyle of agricultural and fishing families, juxtaposing their daily activities and their tacit interaction. The symbiosis is in delicate balance, however, since ideas of class and caste set the two groups apart. Island farmers have traditionally regarded boat people as inferior.

Films in the China Coast series

China Coast Fishing
Hoy Fok and the Island School
The Island Fishpond
Island in the China Sea
Three Island Women

About the Faces of Change Collection

This innovative collection of 16mm films and videos was funded by the National Science Foundation, produced by Norman Miller and directed by some of the finest ethnographic filmmakers of its time.

Visit Rural Ethnography to see additional products in this category.