Herat Films

Synopsis

Three programmes edited from seven hours of Super-8 film shot by John Baily during two years of ethnomusicological fieldwork carried out in the Herat region of western Afghanistan between 1973 and 1977. All have a substantial amount of voice-over commentary and are of special interest because of the damage suffered by this region during many years of civil war.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Video; Videocassette. VHS. col. 107 min.

Year of production

1983

Availability

Hire (RAI Film & Video Library)
Sale (RAI); 1999 hire: £15.00 (+VAT +p&p) 1999 sale: £50.00 (+VAT +p&p)

Documentation

1) The City of Herat (21 min): sets out to describe systematically the organisation of urban space, contrasting the old city and its traditional businesses with the new city and its modern shops and workshops, with surrounding villages absorbed into the expanding town; 2) The Annual Cycle of Music in Herat (56 min): includes performances of a variety of traditional genres of music and dance, including sha’er-s (poets) exchanging extemporised quatrains; sorna and dohol (shawn and drum); dutar (long-necked lute) band; nai chaponi (shepherd’s flute); chahartar (long-necked lute); male singer with daireh (frame drum) and Chelu musicians singing and playing sarang (fiddle), tal (small cymbals) and daireh. Dances include atan, aushari and chub bazi; 3) The Shrines of Herat (30 min): shows four of the many Sufi mazars (shrines) for which it is famous. Notable for its controversial visual representation of zikr.

Subjects

Anthropology

Keywords

Afghanistan; ethnomusicology

Credits

Director

John Baily

Contributor

John Baily

Distributor

Name

Royal Anthropological Institute

Contact

Susanne Hammacher (Film Officer)

Email

film@therai.org.uk

Web

https://www.therai.org.uk/film/film-sales External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7387 0455

Fax

020 7388 8817

Address

50 Fitzroy Street
London
W1T 5BT

Notes

The Institute sells more than 250 anthropology and ethnology titles on video and DVD, including some produced by students and staff of the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology. There is also a large library of internationally produced film and video productions from which items may be borrowed within the UK.

Name

Royal Anthropological Institute Film & Video Library, c/o Concord Media

Email

sales@concordvideo.co.uk

Web

http://www.concordmedia.org.uk/ External site opens in new window

Phone

01473 726012

Fax

01473 274531

Address

Rosehill Centre
22 Hines Road
Ipswich
IP3 9BG