Documentary Educational Resources | Ethnographic, Documentary, and Non-fiction Films from Around the World

COVID-19 Update

To protect our community in light of COVID-19, the DER staff will be working remotely until further notice. We’re doing our best to meet the needs of filmmakers, educators, students, and others during this challenging time. READ MORE

NEW RELEASE

Mundo

Matilde is elderly alpaca herder who lives high in the high plains along the borders of Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina. For many in the Aymara community, to which Matilde belongs, the magnificent landscape surrounding them has been reshaped by evangelical notions, introduced by Spanish campaigns over the past few decades. Now Matilde trusts more in Heaven than in Earth, which she has come to regard as Satan’s domain.
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NEW RELEASE

Sankara Is Not Dead

After Burkina Faso’s 2014 popular uprising, the young poet Bikontine travels along the country’s only rail line to meet his fellow citizens and learn about their dreams and disappointments while confronting his poetry with the realities of a rapidly shifting society. His journey ultimately reveals the enduring political legacy of former president Thomas Sankara, known as the “African Che Guevara.”
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FILMMAKER INTERVIEWS

Mixing Time and Space: A Conversation with Steven Feld

Steven Feld’s “Voices of the Rainforest” provides viewers extraordinary access to the complex human and non-human soundscape of Papua New Guinea’s Bosavi rainforest. Alice Apley “sat down” with Steve and, over email, discussed the making of the film.
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NEW RELEASE

The Healer and the Psychiatrist

On the South Pacific Island group of Vava’u, the traditional healer Emeline Lolohea treats people affected by spirits. One day away by ferry, the only Tongan Psychiatrist Dr Mapa Puloka has established a public psychiatry well known across the region. Though they have never met in person, this film creates a dialogue between them on the nature of mental illness and spiritual affliction.
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FEATURE

COVID-19 Micro-Ethnographies

COVID-19 has turned our world upside down, its impact reaching across the globe, affecting individuals in virtually every nation on the planet. This curated collection of short, stylistically diverse micro-ethnographies provides a window into the personal experiences of DER filmmakers from around the world during these extraordinary times.
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EVENTS

DER50: Tim Asch Symposium at USC

In November 2018, the USC School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California held a day-long symposium on the work of Timothy Asch, an event which also helped celebrate DER’s 50^thanniversary.
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EVENTS

The Cinema of Patience: Reflecting on N!ai, the Story of a !Kung Woman

As part of DER’s 50^th Anniversary celebrations, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology at Harvard University hosted a film screening & panel discussion on N!ai, the Story of a !Kung Woman.
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NEWS

DER Featured in WBUR's The ARTery

A recent feature in WBUR’S The ARTery takes a look back at 50 years of DER’s history and reflects on the influence its founders have had on documentary cinema.
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