Elphinstone Institute

Ethnographic Film Series

Ethnographic Film Series

Field research yields audio-visual materials ideal for the presentation of findings in alternative and accessible formats such as film, audio, and the internet. The MLitt in Ethnology and Folklore now has practical film and radio-editing elements to it so, alongside this initiative, we have launched a monthly Ethnographic Film Series, hosted by lecturer in Ethnomusicology, Dr Frances Wilkins. Films cover a range of genres from material culture to song traditions.

Films are normally screened on the first Thursday of each month entry is free and all are welcome. Each film will be followed by a discussion.

Baye Falls Baye Falls

Directed by Adelina Sasnauskite

Thursday, 7 November 2024

6:30pm, MR051, MacRobert Building

Baye Falls is a documentary following Sufi spiritual teacher Ibrahima Fall, who played an important role during French colonial rule in strengthening the morale of oppressed Senegalese working and lower classes. A disciple of Sufi Saint Amadou Bamba, Ibrahima Fall stood out with a different approach to the Mouride brotherhood order. His teaching prioritised hard work, modesty and sharing over the usual pillars of Islam, like praying five times a day or fasting. This unorthodox and free spirited version of Islam has been looked down upon by the middle classes of Senegal, seeing Baye Falls just as scruffy street beggars. The majority of Senegal's population is Muslim, however, the indigenous animist beliefs are intertwined within, resulting in a very expressive religious movement with ritual trance-like chanting and dancing playing a huge roll in their spiritual devotion, since it is believed to bring them closer to the divine. The tradition of gathering to perform a ritual has been a crucial part of African history, culture and community healing. In a way, Baye Fall ceremonies also hold space for indigenous traditions to crossover within Islam.

Lithuanian artist and film maker Adelina Sasnauskaite has been travelling with the Baye Falls to their devotional festivals all around the country, staying in Daaras, filming them and recording their spiritual chanting. It was visible that the movement and the human connection it provided to the followers, gave a sense of belonging, identity and pride to a lot of young men and women who struggled financially in a country that faces a huge lack of work and opportunity. Tens of thousands of Senegalese youths are risking their lives each year to migrate to Spain by boats, driven by financial desperation. Spending countless sleepless nights at the Baye Fall chants, she felt the enticing power of singing and dancing together, as a means of survival, spirituality guiding the positive path in an otherwise often hopeless situation.

Ballaké Sissoko, Kora Tales (2023) kora tales poster

Directed by Lucy Duràn and Laurent Benhamou

Presented in person by director Lucy Duràn

Thursday 9 January 2025

6:30pm, MR051, MacRobert Building

The screening will be as part of the Royal Musical Association Postgraduate Conference 2024, hosted by the Department of Music, University of Aberdeen.

The story of the kora, one of Africa's most iconic and virtuosic instruments, is told here on film. Ballaké Sissoko, the award-winning musician from Mali, takes us on a unique journey in search of the origins and development of the 21-string harp, through legend, history, tradition, and innovation.

After studying biology, Laurent Benhamou gravitated quickly towards his twin-loves: sound and vision. In 2008 he created Crunk, his own audio-visual production company, with music and musicians being central to his themes.

Lucy Durán is an Emeritus Professor of Music at SOAS, University of London. She specialises in the music of Mali and Cuba. Between 2000-2013, she presented the BBC Radio 3 weekly programme World Routes. Her research on Mande music of West Africa dates back to the late 1970s.

The film will be following by an in-person Q&A with director Lucy Duràn

In the Moment: Poetry Duels and Improvisations (2022) In the Moment image

By Steve Zeitin and Amanda Dargan

Thursday, 6 February 2025

6:30pm, MR051, MacRobert Building

In the Moment reveals a world of improvised poetry traditions and competitions, and explores their variety, commonalities, history, and complexity. The hour-long documentary introduces the viewers to payadores, emboladores, decimistas, extempo artists and more from Argentina, Uruguay, Canary Islands, Brazil, Portugal, Italy, Trinidad, the Basque region of Spain, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgystan as well as freestyle rap artists from the U.S. The film features charismatic poets and musicians who are masters of the art of improvisation, dueling with one another and commenting on the meaning of the traditions and of life itself in improvised rhymes. Performances and interviews with poets are interwoven throughout the film, giving the viewer an opportunity to learn about individual traditions through featured poets and to see the interconnections between the traditions.

Steve Zeitlin is a folklorist, writer, cultural activist, and the Founding Director of City Lore, New York's center for urban folk culture. He received his Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife from the University of Pennsylvania, and is the author or coauthor of 10 award-winning books on America's folk culture.

Amanda Dargan has been a public sector folklorist and educator for forty years. As Education Director for City Lore, she designs folk arts education programs that serve over 10,000 New York City students each year. She has taught folklore as an adjunct at several universities, has published numerous articles on folklore and education, and is a co-author of City Play, winner of an Opie Prize. She curates exhibits and produces documentary films, including In The Moment: Poetry Duels and Improvisations. She has a Ph.D. in Folklore from Penn and an M.A. in Folklore from Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Hallout (2022) Hallout

by Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev

Thursday, 6 March 2025

6:30pm, MR051, MacRobert Building

Hallout Follows a man waiting in his hut in the desolate expanse of the Russian Arctic. He is holding out in order to observe a natural event that occurs here, every year, but ocean warming is taking its toll.

Evgenia Arbugaeva was born in the town of Tiksi, located on the shore of the Laptev Sea in the Republic of Yakutia in Siberia. In her personal work she often looks into her homeland - the Arctic, discovering and documenting the remote worlds and people who inhabit them. Evgenia is a National Geographic Society Storytelling Fellow, and a recipient of the ICP Infinity Award, Leica Oskar Barnack Award. Her work has been exhibited internationally and appeared in publications such as National Geographic, Time and The New Yorker magazines among others. In 2023 her short documentary film HAULOUT has been nominated for an Academy Award. She lives in London, UK.

Born in 1991 in Tiksi, on the shoreline of the Arctic Ocean, Russian director and cinematographer Maxim Arbugaev grew up to be a professional ice hockey player. Discovering his passion for filmmaking in the solitude of the New Siberian Islands, he currently studies documentary filmmaking at The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow. His directorial debut The Hunters (2014) earned several awards.

 

Previous film showings were as follows