The School of Anthropology and Conservation will be holding a screening of two award-winning student films from previous editions of the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) Film Festival this Friday, 22nd March at 17:00 in the Lupino cinema.
The screening is in anticipation of the 16th edition of the festival, taking place between the 27th and 30th March, 2019 at the Watershed Cinema in Bristol. The films that will be shown are Treasured Moments (2016, 33 mins) by Ravi Hart Lloyd and Fighting For Nothing To Happen (2015, 48 mins) by Nora Wildenauer.
Treasured Moments
This is the personal story of a boy who grew up mixed in every aspect of his life: his parents, where he was from, his race. The black kid who thought that he was white. The white kid who thought he was black. The director, Ravi Hart Lloyd, narrates the film alongside interviews with his family. The film begins with Ravi’s love of boats. Born on the island of Anguilla, British West Indies, he grew up sailing and fishing. A catastrophic hurricane hits the island in 1995 and the family leaves for the United States. The film goes on to articulate the mixed race experience in the US through themes of identity, displacement, educational inequalities and police harassment.
More details on the film can be found here.
Fighting For Nothing To Happen (Perjuangan Tiada Akhir)
After the volcanic eruption of Mount Rokatenda, the people of the island of Pulau Palue in east Indonesia are to be relocated. But are the planned relocation and the “new” life at the neighbouring Pulau Besar really promising? This film accompanies Father Cyrillus, priest and employee of a Christian NGO, in his efforts to promote and drive forward the relocation project. A worried host community, unclear land rights at the relocation site, a corrupt and disorganised government in the district capital, as well as impatient refugees in temporary shelters, are challenging the protagonists in their attempts to make the best of the situation.
More details on the film can be found here.
The RAI Film Festival
The RAI Film Festival is a biennial event dedicated to the celebration of the best in ethnographic, anthropological and archaeological filmmaking from around the globe. It has served as a leading forum for exploring the multiple relationships between documentary filmmaking, anthropology, visual culture, and the advocacy of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue through film. It is organised by the Royal Anthropological Institute in partnership with the Center for Visual Anthropology, University of Southern California Dornsife.