The Act of Killing is a documentary that explores the horrifying events of the Indonesian genocide. Through surreal reenactments, it exposes the brutal crimes committed by death squads and their self-justification. The film delves into the psychological and societal effects of the mass killings, revealing the corrupt and violent nature of the Indonesian government.
Nanook of the North is a groundbreaking documentary that provides a glimpse into the life of an Inuit family in the Canadian Arctic. The film showcases their struggles with hunting, survival, and the harsh Arctic climate, while also shedding light on their rich cultural traditions and unique way of life.
Chronicle of a Summer is a documentary film that follows the lives of various individuals in France during the summer of 1960. It explores themes of society, working-class struggles, loneliness, and the pursuit of happiness.
Leviathan is a visually stunning documentary that takes viewers into the heart of the fishing industry in the North Atlantic. Through stunning visuals and immersive storytelling, the film explores the harsh realities faced by fishermen and the impact of commercial fishing on the environment. Through a combination of ethnography, anthropology, and sociology, Leviathan provides a unique and thought-provoking glimpse into this often-overlooked industry.
X-ray images were invented in 1895, the same year in which the Lumière brothers presented their respective invention in what today is considered to be the first cinema screening. Thus, both cinema and radiography fall within the scopic regime inaugurated by modernity. The use of X-rays on two sculptures from the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum generates images that reveal certain elements of them that would otherwise be invisible to our eyes. These images, despite being generally created for technical or scientific purposes, seem to produce a certain form of 'photogénie': they lend the radiographed objects a new appearance that lies somewhere between the material and the ethereal, endowing them with a vaporous and spectral quality. It is not by chance that physics and phantasmagoria share the term 'spectrum' in their vocabulary.
Manakamana is a documentary film that takes viewers on a unique journey. The film follows the lives of various individuals as they take a cable-car ride to the Manakamana Temple, a Hindu pilgrimage site located high in the mountains of Nepal. Through a series of observational shots, the film explores themes of religion, culture, and human connection.
An anthropological study of a cargo cult in a fictitious self-marginalized commune, which existed next to the Moscow Ring Road - a highway that marks the boundaries of the Russian capital - and survived mainly on roadside trash. Although the road provided for their basic needs, the existence of the commune was extremely precarious and highly dependent on the roadway's fluctuations. This dependency led them to develop a cargo cult of the road.
The Danube Delta in Romania - the 'Last European Sanctuary’ - is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While major efforts are made to protect biodiversity, the plight of local communities is largely overlooked. Social scientists claim that the traumatic nature of the swamp bears heavy on the villagers' lives. But is Nature really to blame? Swamp Dialogues is based on an extensive field-research in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. Through a careful ‘argument montage’ built entirely on cinematic language the film represents an anthropological analysis formulated in image and sound.
As part of the research conducted by Diponegoro University's Anthropology Research Expedition community (ARE), this ethnographic film explores the annual Yadnya Karo celebration in Tosari Village, East Java. Yadnya Karo symbolizes the origin of human life. This documentation captures the sacred rituals, vibrant traditions, and enduring cultural identity of the Tengger people.
The Scars is a powerful documentary short that explores the journey of individuals who have overcome traumatic experiences. Through intimate interviews and personal stories, the film delves into the resilience and strength of the human spirit. It highlights the transformative power of healing and aims to inspire and empower viewers.
Follow the journey of a half-elf as they navigate the complexities of their personal and family relationships in Iceland. Through visual anthropology, the film delves into themes of aging, death, and folklore.
Every year the Sakha people celebrate the festival of summer - Ysekh. This ethnic holiday celebrates the Aiyy deities and the revival of nature; it embraces ritual prayers, plenty of rich food and koumiss, dancing, folk games, and horse races. Jehegey Aiyy is a serene deity worshiped by people. Jehegey gave horses to humans, and now is the heavenly patron of horse raising. In the majority of recorded songs and legends Jehegey is a male creature, but in some of them it has feminine gender and is called sylgy aiyhyta. According to legends it sometimes appears to people as a loudly neighing light-colored stallion.
"Sweet Osmanthus Flowering Late" is a feature-length ethnographic film that envisions social rejuvenation and collective convalescence in the aftermath of the pandemic. Filmed in Wuhan, the film follows the everyday lives of three middle-class households. It postulates the existence of a mass dreaming phenomenon that facilitated fatigued Chinese inhabitants to rejuvenate themselves following the secluded episode of lived experience and to coexist with the enduring imprints of "the event" on their social lives.
It is summer, a day in the life under the blistering heat. This is an archival journey through different pairs of eyes and different layers of skin - all in the hopes of finding someplace to sit and do nothing, while the world around you always wants you to do something.
Set in a war-torn region, the movie follows the harrowing journey of a woman as she strives to stay alive amidst chaos and violence. Her resilience and determination become the driving force behind her fight for survival.
Anuktatop: The Metamorphosis is a mesmerizing documentary that explores the traditions, rituals, and folklore of native warriors. Through stunning visual anthropology, it takes viewers on a psychedelic journey into the cosmos of ancient traditions.
A poetic documentary about life in a war-torn Chechen village, with the cemetery as its symbolic focal point. The village lives and breathes in unison. The Chechen gravediggers are always busy. Death is an everyday visitor. It does not even matter that yet another war has ended. The people live stuck in a circle of vengeance. They also gather into circles to chant prayers to God. Only the cows are grazing calmly next to the cemetery and the children are happily going about their business. The Chechens' parting words to one another are, "May you come back free!"
A film that explores the space of intimacy shared by three people who live under the same roof. Ariana, an eight-year-old foster girl from the city of Sao Luis, Iban, an anthropologist of European origin who intends to make a documentary film, and Doña Eloisa, a native woman from Itamatatiua who works in ceramics. The members of this kind of family in transit find in common a feeling that binds them intimately: the feeling of loss. Ariana, Doña Eloisa and Iban have lived the experience of separation from their mothers. Human fragility will become the truth of their relationship, even more so after Sheyla's death.
Photo poetry of Bunchanawingʉmʉ Jesús Camilo Niño Izquierdo' piece of lost feelings in the Arhuaco Indigenous Reservation, northern Colombia.
In an attempt to verify the hypothesis that her Aromanian grandfathers were photographed by the famous brothers Milton and Ianaki Manakia, the director embarks on a Balkans journey through Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Greece.