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ethnic minority

20 movies and shows

Doi Boy

Doi Boy

Sat, 07 Oct 2023

Sorn, an ethnic Shan sex worker, tries to build a future in Chiang Mai, Thailand, as a refugee far from home, but he is drawn into a complex relationship with one client, an investigator probing a political activist.

Big Brother: A World Under Surveillance

Big Brother: A World Under Surveillance

Wed, 11 Mar 2020

Under the pretext of fighting terrorism or crime, the major powers have embarked on a dangerous race for surveillance technologies. Facial recognition cameras, emotion detectors, citizen rating systems, autonomous drones… A security obsession that in some countries is giving rise to a new form of political regime: numerical totalitarianism. Orwell's nightmare.

China: The Uighur Tragedy

China: The Uighur Tragedy

Tue, 01 Feb 2022

A relentless chronicle of the tragedy of the Uighurs, an ethnic minority of some eleven million people who live in the Xinjiang region of northwest China, speak a Turkic language and practice the Muslim religion. The Uighurs suffer brutal cultural and political oppression by Xin Jinping's tyrannical government: torture, disappearances, forced labor, re-education of children and adults, mass sterilizations, extensive surveillance and destruction of historical heritage.

Guard of the Tree Spirit

Guard of the Tree Spirit

Thu, 14 Oct 2021

In the south of Yunnan, there are mountains, rivers, ancient trees, and tea gardens. The simple beliefs of the local Bulang people are the basis for maintaining their homeland and the manifestation of their strength. A film based on the spiritual connotation of the Bulang people's reverence and protection of nature in the Bulang mountain village of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan.

Sami Blood

Sami Blood

Mon, 12 Sep 2016

Elle Marja, 14, is a reindeer-breeding Sami girl. Exposed to the racism of the 1930s and phrenological examinations at her boarding school, she starts dreaming of another life. To achieve this other life she has to become someone else and break all ties with her family and culture.

The Garbage Helicopter

The Garbage Helicopter

Mon, 23 Nov 2015

Somewhere in Sweden, a gigantic dumpster breaks free from a heavy chain suspended underneath a big helicopter. The dumpster hits the ground with a formidable crash and the garbage spouts out into the surroundings. Meanwhile, an aging Roma woman wakes up in her house with an extremely strong desire to get her old wall clock back.

Toronto Croatia – One Big Croatian Story...

Toronto Croatia – One Big Croatian Story...

Fri, 17 Jan 2014

A documentary about Croatian immigrants' soccer clubs, especially the Croatia Toronto soccer club, and their significance to the Croatian diaspora as well as Croatia itself.

Ta'ang

Ta'ang

Wed, 02 Mar 2016

The Ta'ang or Palaung people, an ethnic minority living in the mountainous area between Myanmar's Kokang region and China's Yunnan province, have historically suffered many forced migrations due to war. When their survival is threatened again in 2015, thousands of them flee across the border. Filmmaker Wang Bing accompanies them and becomes a privileged witness to a human story that is both a modern reportage and a mythical epic.

The Children of Leningradsky

The Children of Leningradsky

Fri, 05 Aug 2005

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain an estimated four million children have found themselves living on the streets in the former countries of the Soviet Union. In the streets of Moscow alone there are over 30,000 surviving in this manner at the present time. The makers of the documentary film concentrated on a community of homeless children living hand to mouth in the Moscow train station Leningradsky. Eight-year-old Sasha, eleven-year-old Kristina, thirteen-year-old Misha and ten-year-old Andrej all dream of living in a communal home. They spend winter nights trying to stay warm by huddling together on hot water pipes and most of their days are spent begging. Andrej has found himself here because of disagreements with his family. Kristina was driven into this way of life by the hatred of her stepmother and twelve-year-old Roma by the regular beatings he received from his constantly drunk father. "When it is worst, we try to make money for food by prostitution," admits ...

Say My Name

Say My Name

Invalid Date

People from different ethnic backgrounds with "difficult" names by Western standards share their experience with moving through the world with an identity that challenges others to simply just say their name. A short social docu-film by Mariam Meliksetyan, “Say My Name” is a meditation on identity, otherness, assimilation, community, and ancestral roots.

The Color of Fear 2: Walking Each Other Home

The Color of Fear 2: Walking Each Other Home

Wed, 01 Jan 1997

In THE COLOR OF FEAR, eight American men participated in emotionally charged discussions of racism. In this sequel, we hear and see more from those discussions, in which the men talk about about how racism has affected their lives in the United States. We also learn more about the relationships between them, and about their reactions during some of the most intense moments of that discussion.

Stolen Ground

Stolen Ground

Fri, 01 Jan 1993

In US society, people of East Asian heritage are often perceived through an obscuring lens of ethnic and cultural stereotypes. In STOLEN GROUND, six Asian-American men talk about their experience of the highly racialized United States, and consider how racism has affected their lives and those of their family members.

Living Art

Living Art

Tue, 21 May 2024

The thousand-year-old tradition of pottery in the Indian subcontinent is now under threat. With the market being flooded with plastic in the evolution of civilization, today this Pal community is becoming displaced.

The Way of the Shaman Drum

The Way of the Shaman Drum

Sun, 01 Jan 2017

During the Cultural Revolution in China in the late 20th century, ethnic Manchu people were persecuted and forced to give up such cultural traditions as the shaman dance (tiao tchin, meaning "spirit-jumping" or "god's dance"). However, on Changbai Mountain in Northeast China, a farmer named Guan Yunde decided to start designing and building traditional Manchu shaman drums. At age 70, he is one of a minority of ethnic Manchu people in China's Jilin province, and one of the few people keeping the Manchu shamanic tradition alive.

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Invalid Date

Nohemí and Mary are two women resisting structural violence in Ciudad Juárez. United by pain and hope, both mothers find inspiration to move their families forward. The dragonfly, a symbol they share, embodies their resilience and capacity for change.

In the Steps of Forgotten Peoples

In the Steps of Forgotten Peoples

Sat, 07 Aug 2021

Unustatud rahvad (1970 - 1989) by Estonian composer Veljo Tormas is based upon six Balto-Finnic peoples traditions. Collegium Musicale choir brought the songs to different sides of Baltic coasts to liven current citizens connections for fleeting past and strengthen their identity.

Traces: People of the Peacock

Traces: People of the Peacock

Fri, 01 Jan 2016

Filmmaker Binevsa Bêrîvan travels to Armenia to capture the daily life, customs, and history of the country's Yazidi Kurdish community.

The Rubber Tappers

The Rubber Tappers

Mon, 02 Dec 2024

In Ratanakiri, a province in the northeast of Cambodia, Khlek, an 11-year-old boy, lives on the rubber plantation where his parents work. Coming from the Kreung ethnic minority, they are tappers.

Young Masters: Shibi

Young Masters: Shibi

Thu, 21 Jan 2021

Young Masters is an original series commissioned by NOWNESS China focusing on traditional Chinese cultures, and how they continue to be defined by a new generation of the country's youth. High above the clouds in a village in Mao County in Sichuan Prefecture, a post-90’s generation of young cultural guardians work to uphold the values and traditions of ancient Qiang culture. These cultural guardians, known as a ‘Shibi’, remain especially vital for a culture whose knowledge and language exist merely through practice and in sound, and without script. The role of a Shibi involves that of a priest, alongside folk rap, singing, and dance performances, amongst others. As a result, Qiang people have endowed them with a sacred status, believing that they possess a psychic power.