News

VISIONS: 8th Royal Anthropological Institute International Festival of Ethnographic Film

(12 June 2003)

The Royal Anthropological Institute’s world renowned International Festival of Ethnographic Film has come to the North-East (Durham) for the first time in its history.

Entitled VISIONS, the Festival, which runs from Friday 4 – Sunday 6 July 2003, is a wonderful opportunity to see a range of new documentary films about a variety of different cultures, made by film makers from around the world.

The University of Durham (Department of Anthropology and Institute for Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies) is delighted to have secured the Festival for the City. The Royal Anthropological Institute, partner in the Festival, has over the past decade established a prestigious international competition for documentary film makers and provides one of the few opportunities in the world to showcase the best documentary films. To the delight of the Festival, The Institute’s Patron, HRH The Duke of Gloucester will travel to Durham and perform the Opening Ceremony on Friday, 4th July.

The Festival will screen 50 outstanding documentaries, all of which have been shortlisted for a number of highly sought-after awards. The films will be open to public view and they provide a remarkable insight into cultures and societies that are often misunderstood or stereotyped by western commentators.

Being co-hosted by the Institute for Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies at the University, the programme of events accompanying the screening focuses on Islamic culture, with a series of talks from leading film makers such as Ziba Mir-Husseini (Runaway and Divorce Iranian Style), Tina Gharavi (of The Kooch Project in Newcastle) and Fadwa El-Guindi a famous anthropologist. There are also films from China, Estonia, South Asia, Taiwan, Australasia, the USA and Europe, all having their première screening at the Festival. Some of the films are made by English film makers and have already been commissioned for television.

This year, in a new departure, there will also be screenings of some outstanding international feature films in the Caedmon Hall, College of St Hild and Bede and in the Gala Theatre, Millennium Place, Durham. These include a zany Palestinian comedy, Divine Intervention (6pm, Saturday, 5th July - Caedmon Hall) and the outstanding Brazilian film that follows the lives of three teenagers growing up in the drug-gang controlled slums of Rio de Janeiro, City of God (8pm, Saturday, 5th July, Caedmon Hall). It is the first time that either of these films has been screened in Durham. Eden Valley, from regional film production Amber Films, set in East Durham, will also be shown on the Friday, with an after show discussion.

Tickets for most screenings are £3.00 (£2.50 concessions) with further considerable discounts for school parties and community groups.

Further information about the VISIONS Festival is available from: Louise Haysey, Festival Office, Institute for Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies, University of Durham, Al-Qasimi Building, Elvet Hill Road, Durham, DH1 3TU. Tel: 0191 3345179, Fax: 0191 33 45661, E-mail: rai.festival@durham.ac.uk.

Full programme details can be found on the Festival website: www.durham.ac.uk/rai.festival.

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Media Opportunity

A preview of some extracts of film will be shown on Tuesday 24 June from 10.30 am. If you would like to attend please contact the Festival Office.

Notes for the Editors

Please note that directors are available for interview throughout the Festival. For security reasons, it would be helpful if anyone wishing to attend the Opening Ceremony with HRH The Duke of Gloucester could inform the Festival Office in advance.

Visions is a collaboration between the Department of Anthropology and the Institute for Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies, University of Durham and the Royal Anthropological Institute, with support from Northern Film and Media, Durham, City Arts and Alliance Atlantic/Café Productions.