Film / News
‘Meet the World’ at the Watershed
The Royal Anthropological Institute’s (RAI) prestigious International Festival of Ethnographic Film comes to Bristol for the first time for a four-day 30th anniversary blowout at the Watershed from June 16-19. The rather academic-sounding blurb tells us that the fest “is one of the longest-established, leading global gatherings in its field. It has been both a forerunner and a catalyst in discussions about documentary making, and the relationships between film, anthropology, visual culture, and advocating cultural diversity by fostering an intercultural dialogue through film.”
What this actually boils down to is more than 70 diverse, award-winning films from the likes of Kim Longinotto, Joshua Oppenheimer, David MacDougall, and Phil Agland. If you want to know more about Swiss Yodellers, Capoeira dancers, World of Warcraft gamers and the last travelling shepherd in Milan this is most definitely the film festival for you. Other topics tackled are as diverse as life after genocide in Rwanda, the struggle of artists in Kashmir, the art of mud-building masons in Mali, and the experiences of a young dance troupe in a South African slum.
In addition, the Watershed has ‘partnership’ screenings of The Look of Silence on Tuesday June 16 and Boyhood on Wednesday June 17 – plus a preview screening of Wim Wenders’ Oscar-nominated documentary about Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, The Salt of the Earth, on Thursday June 18.
All the screenings are open to everyone. Day passes and festival passes can be purchased through the festival website, where you can also find the full programme. Tickets for individual screenings can be bought on the door, subject to availability.
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