We now have trial access to a new database :  Ethnographic Video Online

From the publisher’s description:

The collection covers every region of the world and features the work of many of the most influential documentary filmmakers of the 20th century, including interviews, previously unreleased raw footage, field notes, study guides, and more.  Still in development, the collection will also include a wide range of indigenous media, from early experiments, to works from modern-day indigenous film production companies.

This first release of Ethnographic Video Online includes over 200 titles totaling roughly 150 hours, indexed at the title-level. The second release, scheduled for Summer 2010, will more than double the size of the database.    The rich and unique content is enhanced by a suite of tools with Semantic Indexing and searchable transcripts synchronized to video,  offering the ability to drill down and find the footage of interest from hundreds of hours of video.

Video can be shared via embeddable links; user-created playlists and clips, with annotation features and the ability to incorporate other content from outside the collection; and more. These features and capabilities render video as useful for research and classroom use as any scholarly text.

The trial is available from now to April 11, 2010.

Please be sure to provide feedback via the form on the info page or directly to me.

This Thursday October 2, from11:30-13:00 in ANSO 205, you’re invited to a screening of Face á la tempête – Weather the Storm, the newest production of the Ethnographic Film Unit at UBC.

Drawing from more than a decade of research, UBC anthropologist Charles Menzies tells the story of small scale fishermen in Brittany France. The film is a collaboration between anthropologist and community members and filmmaker Jennifer Rashliegh.

The Ethnographic FIlm Unit at UBC sponsors screenings of new films produced by unit members and associated filmmakers.

The 2nd Annual UBC anthropology film festival starts this Friday, March 7 and goes until Saturday. The theme of this year’s festival is youth and collaborative film production. Entries were sent in from 21 countries!

The Festival Programme is now published online – check it out here, or get additional details on the Ethnographic Film Unit events page or the Festival Facebook page.

The Ethnographic Film Unit at UBC is looking for submissions for the 2nd Annual Anthropology Film Festival at UBC.

The theme of this year’s festival is youth and collaborative film production. Two categories of entries are being solicited:

1) new trends in ethnographic film with a focus on collaborative production;
2) films produced by youth (filmakers must be 18 or younger to qualify for this category).

The submission deadline is February 8th, 2008. See the Ethnographic Film Unit events page for more information and a link to the submission form.