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Founded in 1968, our mission is to promote thought-provoking documentary film and media for learning about the people and cultures of the world.

Richard Leacock & Valerie Lalonde: The Paris Years 1989 to 2009 5 DVD Set

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Richard Leacock & Valerie Lalonde:
The Paris Years 1989 to 2009


A 5-DVD set of 11 films made by documentary luminary Richard Leacock with his great love and creative collaborator Valerie Lalonde. In 1989, the then-new Video-8 cameras delivered them from working with film, and allowed them to shoot more freely to capture the beauty, charm, and poignancy of life itself. Read more read more

The Chairman and the Lions

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The Chairman and the Lions


The Maasai leader of a Tanzanian village battles many lions that threaten his community — ”bush“ lawyers, land grabbers, migration and lack of education. Chairman Frank Ikoyo provides a glimpse into the current world of Maasai — burdened with problems that the community is ill-equipped to overcome. Read more read more

Development Communications Workshop Collection

NEW RELEASE

Development Communications Workshop Collection


A collection of six films made as a creative collaboration between social scientists with teaching objectives and veteran filmmakers with great pride in their craft. Centrally themed to explore the nature of poverty and varied approaches to its alleviation, these films were designed to enrich and support courses on international development. Read more read more

A Media Archaeology of Boston

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A Media Archaeology of Boston


Using the Boston region as a laboratory for exploring different modes of urban representation across both history and media, Media Archaeology exhibits a carefully-selected excavation of the city's spaces through a montage of short films, photographs, postcards, and soundscapes of the larger metropolitan area. Read more read more

Films of Jorge Prelorán

COMING SOON

Films of Jorge Prelorán


A cinematic icon in his native Argentina, Jorge Prelorán was a pioneer in the field of ethnographic documentary film and a professor at UCLA. DER is proud to announce our forthcoming collection of his works, including Imaginero (Hermógenes Cayo), Zulay, Cochengo Miranda, Zerda's Children, and others. Read more read more

Framing the Other

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Framing the Other


In southern Ethiopia, Mursi women are known for wearing large plates in their lower lips and richly decorated earrings, which has recently begun to attract ethnotourism. This insightful film portrays the interaction between and private thoughts of a Mursi woman and a Dutch tourist. Read more read more

The One and the Many

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The One and the Many


The Nath Yogis of Northern India are holy seekers who desire to find the One amongst the many and return to the source of all things. Continuing his journey from The Lover and the Beloved, Rajive McMullen presents the story of his own guru, the great Guru Gorakh Nath. Read more read more

Stori Tumbuna

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Stori Tumbuna


Conceived as an opportunity for the Lak people of Papua New Guinea to tell their stories in their way, Stori Tumbuna takes its structure from the traditional mythologies of the region and presents a collaborative account that privileges the Lak point of view and ethos. Read more read more

Smokin' Fish

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Smokin' Fish


Cory Mann, a quirky Tlingit businessman, decides to spend a summer at his family's traditional fish camp in Alaska. By turns tragic, bizarre, or just ridiculous, Smokin' Fish chronicles his attempts to navigate between the modern world and an ancient culture. Read more read more

John Marshall Retrospective at DocsDF

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Funeral Season


Travelogue and ethnography meet in this comedic ghost story about a Canadian Jew wandering through an African culture where 'the dead are not dead.' This subjective film imaginatively and symbolically turns the gazes of two different worlds upon each other. Read more read more

Unity Through Culture

NEW RELEASE

Unity Through Culture


Unity looks at a group of Baluan islanders in the South Pacific who wish to revive old cultural practices such as log drumming and penis dances in an attempt to attract international tourism and revolt against '70 years of cultural oppression' by Christianity. Read more read more

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