Pragda | Anthropology Film Collection

Poets of the Sky

Poetas del cielo

Documentary Mexico, Brazil, France

In the sky, for just a few seconds, sounds and shapes of one of the strongest artforms: fireworks. After, it all vanishes but remains in our mind.

Siembra

Fiction, Drama Colombia

Colombian fisherman Turco yearns to return to the land he abandoned years ago due to an ongoing conflict. When his son is killed, it shatters Turco's dreams of returning.

Samadhi Road

Documentary Brazil, Portugal

From the directors’ childhood in India to interviews with worldwide personalities, the film promises an immersive experience in the human experience.

Sacromonte. The Wise of the Tribe

Sacromonte. Los sabios de la tribu

Documentary, Musical Spain

Sacromonte aims to recover the memory of the most important flamenco community in the world. Through the survivors of a lost and golden age, elder flamenco men and women, we dive in their past in search of their roots and memories.

The Rock

La roca

Documentary Spain

Despite being declared enemies by their countries, people in the Rock of Gibraltar and La Linea depended on each other, got married, and lived with their bilingual children. But Franco’s decision to close entrance to the British territory forced the separation of thousands of mixed families.

River Silence

Documentary Canada

As construction of one of the world’s largest dams destroys the Amazon’s ancient ecosystems, the filmmaker offers a plea for those brutalized for rampant development.

The River's Retreat

El ciar del río

Documentary Argentina

A kayaker embarks on an expedition down a wild river following an explorer's old navigation letters.

Red Land

Tierra escarlata

Drama, Classic, Fiction Colombia

Andrés, a boy from the countryside, arrives at a coastal town searching for his brother. He finds a town marked by the violent reality in Colombia.

Secrets from Putumayo

Segredos do Putumayo

Documentary Brazil

A documentary about the man widely considered to be the pioneer of international human rights inquiries, Roger Casement (1864-1916). His work in Africa, Brazil, and his native Ireland still has repercussions today.

Pan Seco

Pan seco

Documentary

At 93 years old, Justo is taking an unconventional spiritual path. With the asceticism of a monk with the imagination of the architect, he has been building a Cathedral since 1961.

Porro Made in Colombia

Porro hecho en Colombia

Documentary Colombia

The singer and composer Adriana Lucía undertakes a multi-year musical journey to discover the origins of one of the most characteristic and lively rhythms of the Caribbean.

Spain in Two Trenches: The Civil War in Color

Documentary Spain

The extraordinary and moving story of the convulsive years of the Spanish Civil War (1935-1939) is explained as never seen before thanks to the coloring and restoration of 150,000 frames.

Persistent Woman

Mujer perseverante

Documentary Argentina

In 1994, the people of the northern Argentina were left without work when mines closed. There, a kolla woman creates an organization of weaving women.

Pakucha

Documentary Peru

In a Peruvian Andean community, a family celebrates rituals evoking alpaca spirits. Immersed in Andean mysticism, they embrace new beginnings.

Our Song to War

Nuestro canto a la guerra

Documentary, Experimental Colombia, Belgium

Following a massacre by the FARC guerrillas, a Colombian village emerges as a mysterious place where people sing as they guide spirits across a mystic river.

Off the Road

Fuera del camino

Documentary, Musical Mexico, United States

Each year, the slow-paced lifestyle on Mexico’s largest desert in Baja Peninsula is given a turbo boost by the Baja 1000, the largest off-road motorsport race in the world.

Nudo Mixteco

Nudo mixteco

Drama, Fiction Mexico

A quietly powerful triptych of stories that speak about the impact of migration and the plight of indigenous women in a rural Mixtec village in Oaxaca.

NN

NN sin identidad

Drama, Fiction Peru

A powerful, nuanced look at a country’s efforts to come to terms with a dark chapter in its history.

Niède

Documentary Brazil

At 85 years old, Brazilian archaeologist Niéde Guidon looks back on a career including discovering cave drawings and devising a new theory on man's arrival on the American continent.

Amazon Mirror

O Reflexo do Lago

Documentary Brazil

During the 1980s, Brazil's military dictatorship erected a massive Amazon dam, leaving residents without electricity for 40 years. A film crew explores the decision to stay.

Mataindios

Drama, Fiction Peru

Villagers organize a festival to honor a patron saint, hoping for closure to unresolved trauma of multiple disappearances and years of mourning.

Illicit Trade, Ep. 03 - Vicuña

Vicuña

Documentary, Series Chile

Vicuña wool is the most expensive animal fiber in the world. The Aymara community sits at 5,000 meters above sea level, and considers them sacred animals, trying to manage them in a sustainable way.

Water Steps

Los pasos del agua

Drama, Fiction Colombia

Two fishermen in a forgotten hamlet near the Cauca river find a dead body in their net and, opting not to inform authorities, decide to bury it.

What Remains on the Way

Lo que queda en el camino

Documentary Germany, Brazil

Lilian and her four children join a caravan of thousands trying to reach the Mexico-US border with the hope to migrate in search for a better life.

Venezuela: Country of Lost Children

Documentary Germany

In Venezuela's failed state, two single mothers struggle to survive amid violence and hunger. As one flees with her children, her son faces deadly gang threats.

Unconscious Revealed

Inconscientes revelados

Documentary Brazil

An examination of racial issues in Brazil from its historical formation, including Black representation in markets, entrepreneurial women, generational patterns, and the lingering scar of racism.

The Wind Blows the Border

Venta na fronteira

Documentary Brazil

On the violent border between Brazil and Paraguay, a battle wages between agribusiness and indigenous sovereignty.

Triana, Pure and Pure

Triana, pura y pura

Documentary, Musical Spain

This joyful film memorializes the end of an indomitable lineage in a unique flamenco soiree, transformed into a tribute to a disappeared world.

I Travel Because I Have to I Come Back Because I Love You

Viajo porque preciso, volto porque te amo

Documentary, Experimental, Romance, Fiction Brazil

In this award-winning and hauntingly melancholic film, geologist José Renato travels to Sertão, an isolated region in Northeastern Brazil, to assess possible routes for a canal. For many, the canal will be a source of hope, but for those living on its direct course it only means requisitions, departure, and loss.

Illicit Trade, Ep. 06 - Oriflama

Oriflama

Documentary, Series Chile

It is estimated that there are about two thousand shipwrecks on the coasts of Chile. This is the story of a battle for the treasures of one of them.

Illicit Trade, Ep. 05 - Alerce

Alerce

Documentary, Series Chile

A container of reddish wood was found in the port of San Francisco— Alerce, one of the most protected species on Earth. It could only come from Chile, where logging has brought it near extinction.

Illicit Trade, Ep. 04 - Meteorites

Meteoritos

Documentary, Series Chile

In Chile, the search and sale of meteorites is unregulated. When the first specimen from Mars is discovered, it is taken to France in search of the highest bidder.

Matachindé

Documentary Colombia

In the Afro-descendant village of Juntas de Yurumanguí, Holy Week is celebrated far from clerical control and with religious autonomy.

Illicit Trade, Ep. 02 - Chinchorro Mummies

Chinchorro

Documentary, Series Chile

When a city is built on top of a cemetery, children play with skulls, and their parents become tomb robbers. For decades, Arica has been the center of self-taught archaeologists and foreign buyers.

Illicit Trade, Ep. 01 - Fossils

Fósiles

Documentary, Series Chile

The most complete fossil bird in the world was found in Germany. It’s six meters wide and was trafficked from Caldera, a town in Chile that survived the fishing crisis by the sale of fossils.

The Last Fisherman of Taganga

El último pescador de Taganga

Drama Colombia

Father and son chase sea dreams in perilous, climate-changed oceans. Amid a bleak future, an end becomes a new start

The Guardians

Documentary Mexico, United States

An indigenous Mexican community and millions of monarch butterflies are under threat of extinction in the ancient forest they call home.

The Territories

Los territorios

Documentary Argentina, Brazil

An engrossing exploration into what it means to be a journalist, the film is about how we approach the conflicts and the role the press plays in times of fake news.

The Eternal Night of Twelve Moons

La eterna noche de las doce lunas

Documentary Colombia

Twelve-year-old Pili is entering womanhood, and as tradition dictates in her Wayuu indigenous community, she must be isolated from all men for 12 moon cycles.

From the Land to Your Table

¿Qué culpa tiene el tomate?

Documentary, Experimental Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Spain, Venezuela

From the Land to Your Table shows the perspectives of seven Ibero-American filmmakers as they capture the conditions and cultural diversity of popular produce markets in their individual countries.

This Stolen Country of Mine

Mein gestohlenes Land

Documentary Germany, Ecuador

Recently assassinated journalist and presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio and the indigenous resistance exposed the Ecuadorian government's corrupt agreements that allow Chinese exploitation of local mines.

The Spirit of the Ancestors

Te Kuhane o te Tupuna: El espíritu de los ancestros

Documentary Chile

Three generations of the Pakarati family travel to Europe to reclaim the Stolen Friend - one of Rapa Nui's (Easter Island) sacred spirits - which was stolen by colonizers and is one of the countless sacred objects housed in museums worldwide.

Atempa, Dreams by the River

Atempa, sueños a la orilla del rio

Documentary Mexico

Tino considers herself neither male nor female, but rather a “muxe,” a third gender that has been integrated into Zapotec culture.

Brickmakers (Chircales)

Chircales

Documentary, Classic Colombia

An essential and highly influential classic, Chircales is the product of two of the most prominent and rebellious voices of the New Latin American Cinema: Marta Rodríguez and Jorge Silva.

Black in Latin America, Ep. 04 - Mexico & Peru: The Black Grandma in the Closet

Documentary, Series United States

In Mexico and Peru, Professor Gates explores the almost unknown history of slavory and the worlds of culture that their descendants have created.

Black in Latin America, Ep. 03 Brazil: A Racial Paradise?

Documentary, Series United States

In Brazil, Professor Gates goes behind the façade of Carnival to discover how this “rainbow nation” is waking up to its legacy as the world’s largest slave economy.

Black in Latin America, Ep. 02 - Cuba: The Next Revolution

Documentary, Series United States

In Cuba, Gates finds out how the culture, religion, politics and music are linked to slave labor, and how race and racism have fared since Fidel Castro’s Communist revolution in 1959.

Black in Latin America, Ep. 01 - Haiti & Dominican Republic: An Island Divided

Documentary, Series United States

In the Dominican Republic, Professor Gates explores how race has been socially constructed, while In Haiti, hear the story of the birth of the first-ever black republic.

Between Fire and Water

Entre fuego y agua

Documentary Colombia

Camilo is a young black man adopted by an indigenous couple in rural Colombia. Supported by his adoptive father, Camilo embarks on a journey to find his true identity and understand his two races.

Bertsolari

Documentary, Musical Spain

Bertsolaritza is an ancestral, completely improvised, form of Basque poetry. Anachronistic? Not at all: the bertsolari, with their spontaneous creation and wordplay, could be an inspiration for rappers and other improv artists.

The Beach of the Enchaquirados

La playa de los Enchaquirados

Documentary Ecuador

Vicky balances her physically tough fishing work at sea with feminine elegance in her private life. Through her, we get to know a trans community that is part of a fishing village on the coast of Ecuador. Over time, do we learn to accept the other or, instead, do differences cloud our ability to see?

Baracoa. 500 Years Later

Baracoa. 500 años después

Documentary Cuba, Spain

Baracoa, the small town surrounded by mountains and rivers, is immersed in its own legend and in the work and dreams of its people. It prevails half a millennium from the day in which Christopher Columbus planted the “Parra” Cross on its shore. It was Cuba’s initial capital.

Bajarí: Gypsy Barcelona

Bajarí: gypsy Barcelona

Documentary, Musical Spain

Bajarí offers an intimate look at how flamenco’s legacy is kept alive within Barcelona’s tight-knit Gypsy community. Flamenco is passed on within the family in the Gypsy community that bore Carmen Amaya, the greatest flamenco dancer of all time.

Black and White Democracy

Democracia em preto e branco

Documentary, Musical Brazil

Follow Brazil's transition from dictatorship to democracy through three narratives: demands for free elections, Brazilian rock groups, and the Corinthian democracy football movement.

The Communion of My Cousin Andrea

A comuñón da miña prima Andrea

Documentary Spain

Andrea's first communion lacks in glamour. For Andrea, things without sparkles are not things. The only problem is: Does this God exist?

The Andean Screen

La pantalla andina

Documentary Spain

A teacher leads a mobile film crew to the most isolated school in the Jujuy Andes, Argentina. A look into a paradigm shift led by the region's women.

Amerikanuak

Documentary Spain

More than half a century ago, many Basques left Spain to look for a better life working as sheepherders in the American West. In Amerikanuak, Nacho Reig looks at the lives of some of the last remaining Basque sheepherders in the United States.

Eternal Amazon

Amazônia eterna

Documentary Brazil

A critical analysis of how the world’s largest tropical rainforest is understood and utilized. The film asks whether it is possible for humans to make sustainable use the Amazon by featuring nine successful projects that directly benefit the local population and foster good economic partnerships.

Ayahuasca: Expansion of Consciousness

Documentary Brazil

This is a comprehensive view of Ayahuasca use, blending scientific, religious, and anthropological perspectives with the director's personal healing journey.

Albertina and the Dead

Albertina y los muertos

Documentary Chile

Albertina, the spiritual leader of a village built over indigenous tombs, is in charge of communicating with the Ño, a deity whose physical form is a rag doll.

A Place Called Music

Un lugar llamado música

Documentary Mexico

The captivating musical encounter between American composer Philip Glass and Mexican Wixárika musician Daniel Medina.

One 2 One

Drama, Thriller, Fiction Spain

An acclaimed director faces a One 2 One interview because of his latest film.

100 Ways to Cross the Border

Documentary United States, Mexico

An exploration of the 40-year career of performance artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña as he enacts interventions by “queering the border” — claiming all borders as queer and liminal spaces.

At the Gates Of Hell, Ep. 05 - Threatened - Brazilian Amazon

Amenazados - Amazonia brasileña

Documentary, Series Spain

In parts of the Amazon, protecting your ancestral land can be a death sentence. We meet with the environmental heroes and those who will do anything to get their hands on these resources.

Martírio

Documentary Brazil

Filmed over the course of 40 years, indigenous expert and filmmaker Vincent Carelli seeks out the origins of the Guaraní Kaiowá genocide. A conflict of disproportionate forces: the peaceful and obstinate insurgency of the dispossessed Guaraní Kaiowá against the powerful apparatus of agribusiness.

Marina Abramovic in Brazil: The Space in Between

Documentary Brazil

Marina Abramović travels through Brazil in search of personal healing and artistic inspiration, experiencing sacred rituals and revealing her creative process.

Yvy Maraey Land Without Evil

Yvy Maraey, tierra sin mal

Drama, Fiction, Adventure Bolivia

A Bolivian filmmaker and a Guaraní Indian travel together through the forests of southeastern Bolivia to make a film about the Guaraní people.

Kevin

Documentary Brazil, Uganda

It’s the first time Brazilian Joana visits her friend Kevin in Uganda after a 20-year friendship as students. A film about friendship between two women — different, and the same.

Karen

Drama, Fiction Spain

An intimate late-African portrait of Danish colonist Karen Blixen, author of "Out of Africa".

Inner Borderlines

Visions of America Through the Eyes of Alejandro Morales

Documentary Spain

In a trip around Southern California, Alejandro Morales, a pioneer of Chicano culture, presents a unique vision of America, as he explores a variety of topics that concern the Chicano/Latino community.

Heritage

Herencia

Documentary Spain

A showcase of modern Cuban culture and the centuries of history that precede it.

Helena from Sarayaku

Helena Sarayaku Manta

Documentary Ecuador

Seventeen-year-old Helena yearns to protect her indigenous community from extractive development and the repercussions of climate change.

The Good Life

La buena vida

Documentary Germany, Switzerland

Jairo Fuentes, a charismatic young Wayúu leader, fights to protect his community from displacement caused by the El Cerrejón coal mine's rapid expansion.

Genaro

Drama, Classic, Fiction Colombia

Genaro delivers the bodies of paramilitaries killed in combat to their families. He's left cold, until he is tasked with finding a particular corpse.

Lo 100to

Animation, Fiction Canada

A breakup announcement brings out the best, worst, and weirdest in a Salvadoran family.

At the Gates of Hell, Ep. 04 - On the Right Side of the Wall - Lima, Peru

Al otro lado del muro - Lima, Perú

Documentary, Series Spain

A 10-kilometer wall in Lima separates the richest neighborhood in the city from the poorest. For some it is known as the 'wall of shame,' and for others it is essential to security.

At the Gates of Hell, Ep. 03 - Mara’s War Tax - Honduras

Renta de Mara, tarifa de muerte - Honduras

Documentary, Series Spain

Each year, dozens of taxi drivers are murdered in Honduras – the world's most dangerous country. Gangs demand taxes from drivers to work in their territory. Who'd work in this terrifying business?

At the Gates of Hell, Ep. 02 - Women Without a Name - Mexico

Mujeres sin nombre - México

Documentary, Series Spain

Between Jan 2012 and June 2016, 9,581 women were violently murdered in Mexico, but just 1,887 were categorized as femicides. An analysis of machismo and misogyny in Mexican culture.

At the Gates of Hell, Ep. 01 - Broken Children - Colombia

Niños rotos - Colombia

Documentary, Series Spain

Childhood is not a happy time in Colombia. In the forgotten barrios of Bogotá and Medellín, children are hired as killers or forced into prostitution. We give voice to this lost generation.

Fusilados

Documentary Spain

2,237 people discovered in a mass grave in a Valencian town. It's been 80 years. Will there ever be justice?

Duo

Dúo

Drama, Experimental Spain, Spain, Argentina, France, Chile

Set against the backdrop of the Argentine and Chilean Andes, Duo follows two seasoned dancers at personal and professional crossroads.

Diaspora Drums

Tambores da diáspora

Documentary, Musical Brazil

Using stories, batucadas, and songs, Diaspora Drums addresses a political and cultural vision embedded in the course of two African drums and their ramifications in Brazil.

Cerro Rico Tierra Rica

Cerro rico, tierra rica

Documentary Bolivia, Colombia, United States

The rituals of two mining communities are observed in this striking and unsparing portrait of life and work in Bolivia's altiplano. A strong denunciation of the hardships and alienation inherent in mining work while underscoring its impact on the native population.

Can Gardell

Drama, Fiction Spain

A legal change in land rights gives the Gardell family no choice but to turn their farm into a Bed & Breakfast, where they patiently await guests.