Subject: Cultural Groups
Set against mainstream culture, “the other” is often a group that exists as a unique social or religious unit within a larger cultural group or nation, such as the Romani people.
Adaminte Makan Abu (Abu, Son of Adam)
- Director: Salim Ahmed
- Release Date: 2011
- Production Country: India
As old-fashioned and out-of-date as the folk medicines he occasionally sells, Abu ekes out an existence with his wife, yet they still focus on their one remaining goal: to make the Haj pilgrimage. However, Abu's insistence on paying for their trip the old-fashioned way—entirely from their own funds and without assistance from helpful neighbors—may be the undoing of all his dreams.
Bab'Aziz (Bab'Aziz - The Prince That Contemplated His Soul)
- Director: Nacer Khemir
- Release Date: 2005
- Production Country: Switzerland, Hungary, France, Germany, Iran, Tunisia, United Kingdom
While wandering the desert in search of a reunion of dervishes, a blind dervish entertains his granddaughter with a tale of a prince who gave up his kingdom; the other desert travelers they meet with their own stories and destinations provide additional company and intrigue.
Como Era Gostoso o Meu Francês (How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman)
- Director: Nelson Pereira dos Santos
- Release Date: 1971
- Production Country: Brazil
As the French and Portuguese exploit rivalries between the native tribes in order to further their own territorial claims, a Frenchman is captured by the Tupinamba—only they are convinced he is Portuguese and therefore allied with their traditional enemies. Still, he is given a wife and taken into the tribe, only to discover that he must convince the tribe that he is actually French before the end of the year, when he will be killed and eaten as part of an annual ritual meant to give the Tupinamba power over their enemies.
Deli Deli Olma (Piano Girl)
- Director: Murat Saraçoglu
- Release Date: 2009
- Production Country: Turkey
In a village in Eastern Anatolia, an elderly Russian exile must deal with the enduring hostility of one of his fellow villagers, yet finds himself befriended by her youngest granddaughter.
Die große Stille (Into Great Silence)
- Director: Philip Gröning
- Release Date: 2005
- Production Country: France, Switzerland, Germany
Carthusian monks dedicate themselves to a life of solitude, silence, and prayer, as documented in this look at life inside the Grande Chartreuse, the head monastery of the Carthusian order.
Die Höhle des gelben Hundes (The Cave of the Yellow Dog)
- Director: Byambasuren Davaa
- Release Date: 2005
- Production Country: Germany
Nansal wants to keep the small dog she found in the cave, but her father fears it will lead wolves to their flocks and orders Nansal and her mother to get rid of it. Throughout their struggle over the dog, Nansal learns a bitter lesson about want and obedience--but it us not a lesson without hope.
Dutch Guiana: Land of the Djuka
- Director: James Fitzpatrick
- Release Date: 1933
- Production Country: United States
Short documentary detailing the lives of the Ndyuka people in the early 1900s. The Ndyuka are one of a number of "maroon" tribes in Suriname—descendants of Africans brought to South America in the 17th century as slaves—who escaped and fled into the mountains, forming their own tribes and developing unique cultures of their own.
Emitaï (God of Thunder)
- Director: Ousmane Sembene
- Release Date: 1971
- Production Country: Senegal
A village in Senegal has already given all its young men to the French colonial government, so when their supply of rice for religious ceremonies is also requisitioned, they object. However, the biggest conflict may not be with the French African soldiers sent to collect the rice from the recalcitrant villagers, but that between the men of the village, who run the ceremonies, and the women, who run the village.
Favela Rising
- Director: Matt Mochary, Jeff Zimbalist
- Release Date: 2005
- Production Country: United States
Determined to give the youth of his favela (slum) in Brazil more options than drugs and violence, Anderson Sá gives up his own life of crime and helps to found a group that offers music, soccer, and other lessons to poor children. Along the way, Anderson becomes an inspirational role model himself as he fronts his world-renowned band, AfroReggae.
Gadjo dilo (The Crazy Stranger)
- Director: Tony Gatlif
- Release Date: 1997
- Production Country: Romania, France
Searching for a singer whose voice haunts him and yet no one else seems to know about, young Stephane meets a Romani man who seems to have all his answers, if only Stephane could understand him. After living with the Romani community for a season, Stephane discovers that understanding is a two-way street—and traffic has been blocked from both sides for a while.
Hester Street
- Director: Joan Micklin Silver
- Release Date: 1975
- Production Country: United States
Yekl, now known as Jake, has happily assimilated to his new life in the United States, with a job and a new girlfriend. When Jake's wife, Gretl, arrives in New York from the old country, she finds herself with an unfaithful spouse pushing her to adopt a non-traditional lifestyle she does not believe in—until she realizes that she can take advantage of these new freedoms to assert her own right to live according to tradition.
Into the West
- Director: Mike Newell
- Release Date: 1992
- Production Country: Ireland, United Kingdom
A drunken Irish Traveller must find his two sons, who have fled their Dublin slum apartment with their horse.
Johanna D'Arc of Mongolia (Joan of Arc of Mongolia)
- Director: Ulrike Ottinger
- Release Date: 1989
- Production Country: West Germany, France
An ethnographer traveling the Trans-Siberian railroad has her life changed when she is among those kidnapped by the marauding horsewomen of a Mongolian princess. The princess is a woman who seems to have come directly out of a time when nomads roamed free and they ruled the steppes—as well as much of the rest of the world.
Jôi-uchi: Hairyô tsuma shimatsu (Samurai Rebellion)
- Director: Masaki Kobayashi
- Release Date: 1967
- Production Country: Japan
Isaburo is reluctant to accept the daimyo's gift of his former concubine Ichi as a wife for his son Yoguro, but the couple falls deeply in love and all seems well. However, when the daimyo demands her return, honor requires Yoguro and Isaburo to obey his order—but some things in life are more important than honor.
Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior)
- Director: Akira Kurosawa
- Release Date: 1980
- Production Country: Japan, United States
When their lord is killed by an assassin, a Japanese clan recruits a double to impersonate him in order to prevent their enemies from taking advantage of their vulnerability. But can a lower-class criminal truly embody the honor of a clan leader or will he be their downfall instead?
Kelin
- Director: Ermek Tursunov
- Release Date: 2009
- Production Country: Kazakhstan
A young Kazakh woman is sent to her new husband's home in an arranged marriage and must adjust to the difficulties of marital life. But when her old lover appears, determined to reclaim her for himself, and she must decide between the hope of her new family and the passion of her past.
La Perla (The Pearl)
- Director: Emilio Fernández
- Release Date: 1947
- Production Country: Mexico, United States
Desperate for money because the doctor will not treat his injured son without payment, Kino finds a great pearl; however, Kino and his family may have been better off without the pearl, as the people in their village and others are determined to get their share of the prize.
Latcho Drom
- Director: Tony Gatlif
- Release Date: 1993
- Production Country: France
Tracing the roots of this unique people through their music, the Romani culture and lifestyle is presented and explored from India to Spain.
Le jour avant le lendemain (Before Tomorrow)
- Director: Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu
- Release Date: 2008
- Production Country: Canada
It is the season of harvest and plenty, but one family's eldest mother cannot shake the feeling of dread that haunts her amidst rumors of strange white men to the south. When the rest of the family goes home one day from the fishing camp, she remains behind, unaware that the solitude in which she hopes to find an explanation for her unease will be both her salvation and her doom.
Les princes (The Princes)
- Director: Tony Gatlif
- Release Date: 1983
- Production Country: France
Persecuted by their neighbors and evicted unjustly from their squalid apartment, a Romani family takes to the open road in search of a lawyer who will help them regain their home, but their difficulties with outsiders, or gadje, are compounded by the tensions within the family itself.