European Cultures

Films

The Ballad and the Source The tradition of unaccompanied ballad singing is very old and still cherished in Great Britain, though only a few traditional singers are still alive.

The End of an Old Song Filmed in the mountains of North Carolina, this acclaimed documentary by renowned filmmaker John Cohen revisits the region where English folklorist Cecil Sharp collected British ballads in the early 1900s.

Fifty Miles from Times Square A colorful portrait of life in Putnam County, New York, with its "old-time fiddlers, farmers, commuters, and hippies," where an earlier, more traditional, relaxed style of life continues.

Gypsies Sing Long Ballads Scotland's Gypsies have lived outside mainstream society for more than 500 years. This remarkable documentary, by renowned filmmaker and musician John Cohen, celebrates their traditional music.

The High Lonesome Sound This classic documentary, by renowned filmmaker John Cohen, evocatively illustrates how music and religion help the rural poor of Appalachia maintain their dignity and traditions in the face of change and hardship.

Kypseli: Women and Men Apart -- A Divided Reality This celebrated ethnographic study of male and female roles in a small Greek village shows how the separation of the sexes and the principle of male dominance have become part of the village's most basic social structures, affecting the daily activities and thoughts of everyone there.

Monti Moments: Men's Memories in the Heart of Rome This rich and revelatory documentary provides a uniquely intimate portrait of social change in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood in Rome.

Pericles in America This musical portrait of immigrant clarinetist Pericles Halkias and the Epirot-Greek community explores the aspirations and ambivalences of Greek-Americans.

The Pornography of Everyday Life This trenchant and provocative documentary essay incorporates more than 200 powerful images from advertising, ancient myth, contemporary art, and popular culture to demonstrate how pornography (defined as the sexualized domination, degradation, and objectification of women and girls and social groups who are put in the demeaned feminine role) is in reality a prevalent mainstream worldview.

Post-Industrial Fiddle This deceptively simple but profound film explores the importance of music-making in the life of a pulp mill worker in rural Maine. His "Down East" fiddling style is homemade music, influenced largely by local traditions.

Sara and Maybelle A rare filmed performance of two members of the original Carter family, whose recordings helped found the country music industry. Here Sara and Maybelle demonstrate their famous guitar picking and harmony singing on "Sweet Fern" and "Solid Gone."

Tempus de Baristas "Time of the Barmen" is one of the most acclaimed works of renowned ethnographic filmmaker David MacDougall. It profiles three goatherders in the mountains of eastern Sardinia and, with extraordinary insight and nuance, explores a traditional way of life that is rapidly disappearing as commercial farming displaces herding and young people drift to the coast for the higher pay and glamour of the tourism industry.