Ethnographic Film Movies

  • 2025
    Behind the Shadows

    Behind the Shadows

    Behind the Shadows

    102025HD

    The Greek shadow puppetry began 130 years ago. A student of Greek shadow puppetry travels to China, where shadow puppetry began over 2000 years ago....

    Behind the Shadows
  • 2021
    The Lyrical Rongdanis

    The Lyrical Rongdanis

    The Lyrical Rongdanis

    02021HD

    A musical documentary woven around the endangered musical culture of the Rangdani Rabhas from Manikganj, Meghalaya, North East India.

    The Lyrical Rongdanis
  • 2008
    A vodou memory

    A vodou memory

    A vodou memory

    02008HD

    Marianne Lehmann, born in Switzerland in 1936, married a Haitian and moved to Port-au-Prince in 1957. Fascinated by voodoo cult objects, she began...

    A vodou memory
  • 1913
    Journey Through Setomaa

    Journey Through Setomaa

    Journey Through Setomaa

    71913HD

    Estonia's first ethnographic film. Made by Johannes Pääsuke in 1913 on his expedition to Setomaa, the South-Eastern region in Estonia.

    Journey Through Setomaa
  • 2020
    Snowflakes

    Snowflakes

    Snowflakes

    12020HD

    Rye, a photographer, and Chris, a political science student, are in their final year of college, and have lived together in the same house for three...

    Snowflakes
  • 2010
    Amin

    Amin

    Amin

    02010HD

    AMIN portrays Qashqai musician Amin Aghaie, a young modern nomad and his family who despite facing steep financial, cultural and political obstacles...

    Amin
  • 2015
    Saynatakuna: Masks and Transfigurations in Paukartambo

    Saynatakuna: Masks and Transfigurations in Paukartambo

    Saynatakuna: Masks and Transfigurations in Paukartambo

    02015HD

    An ethnographic film that tells the story of the mask makers and dancers during the festival of the Virgen del Carmen in Paukartambo, Cuzco. The...

    Saynatakuna: Masks and Transfigurations in Paukartambo
  • 1974
    An Afghan Village

    An Afghan Village

    An Afghan Village

    101974HD

    A collage of daily life in Aq Kupruk builds from the single voice that calls the townspeople to prayer, the brisk exchange of the baazar, communal...

    An Afghan Village
  • 1982
    Asante Market Women

    Asante Market Women

    Asante Market Women

    101982HD

    As retailers, wholesalers, and negotiators, Asante women of Ghana dominate the huge Kumasi Central Market amid the laughter, argument, colour and...

    Asante Market Women
  • 1970
    Beauty and the Beast: Two Igbo Masquerades

    Beauty and the Beast: Two Igbo Masquerades

    Beauty and the Beast: Two Igbo Masquerades

    91970HD

    Beauty and the Beast: Comparing Two Igbo Masquerades By Herbert M. Cole

    Beauty and the Beast: Two Igbo Masquerades
  • 1966
    Dogon Drums, Elements of a Study in Rhythm

    Dogon Drums, Elements of a Study in Rhythm

    Dogon Drums, Elements of a Study in Rhythm

    101966HD

    The young goat herders from the cliff of Bandiagara practice on the stone drums of their ancestors. An ethnomusicological film experiment describing...

    Dogon Drums, Elements of a Study in Rhythm
  • 1970
    The River in Me

    The River in Me

    The River in Me

    01970HD

    Traversing 700,000 square kilometers over 700 days, the filmmakers bring the stories of five people who crisscross the Yellow River to perform their...

    The River in Me
  • 1974
    Afghan Nomads (The Maldar)

    Afghan Nomads (The Maldar)

    Afghan Nomads (The Maldar)

    81974HD

    At dawn a nomad caravan descends on Aq Kupruk from the foothills of the Hindu Kush. In their camp, and in commerce with the townspeople, the Maldar...

    Afghan Nomads (The Maldar)
  • 2018
    Harlem School 1970

    Harlem School 1970

    Harlem School 1970

    02018HD

    A unique 'direct cinema' feature length documentary (no narration or interviews) originally filmed in the Spring of 1970 and concluded during the...

    Harlem School 1970
  • 1976
    La chaskañawi

    La chaskañawi

    La chaskañawi

    81976HD

    After his father dies, law student Adolfo (Jorge Marchand), returns to his native village in the South of Bolivia, where he falls in love with...

    La chaskañawi
  • 1932
    Cooking Milk with Hot Stones

    Cooking Milk with Hot Stones

    Cooking Milk with Hot Stones

    01932HD

    An ethnographic film by Milovan Gavazzi, the founder of Croatian ethnology. The films displays a practice that was already a rarity at the time.

    Cooking Milk with Hot Stones
  • 2026
    in the present tense

    in the present tense

    in the present tense

    02026HD

    What is an ethnographic film? Can there even be one? This film is an attempt— or, as we have come to call it, a "botched baby"— of trying...

    in the present tense
  • 1970
    Los Toques del Tambor Afro Montevideano

    Los Toques del Tambor Afro Montevideano

    Los Toques del Tambor Afro Montevideano

    01970HD

    Los Toques del Tambor Afro Montevideano
  • 2022
    Pileni paualala. Dried giant clams in the Reef Islands

    Pileni paualala. Dried giant clams in the Reef Islands

    Pileni paualala. Dried giant clams in the Reef Islands

    02022HD

    The Reef Islands Ethnographic Film Project was started in 1994 by the two anthropologists, Jens Pinholt and Peter I. Crawford, and village...

    Pileni paualala. Dried giant clams in the Reef Islands
  • 1932
    Palästina, Syrien und das Ostjordanland

    Palästina, Syrien und das Ostjordanland

    Palästina, Syrien und das Ostjordanland

    01932HD

    Palästina, Syrien und das Ostjordanland