We both are professional filmmakers, trained at the University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway. We support our homestead by making ethnographic films through our film production company called CinéTrans. We also organise film events – the latest of such event was the 41st NAFA – Nordic Anthropological Film Association – Ethnographic Film Festival here in our village, in 2022.
Ethnographic film ventures into people´s everyday lives, with the intention of creating cross-cultural understanding between human beings.
It reflects on aspects of human daily life with cultural, artistic, anthropological and philosophical value. It is a sensorial experience, a visceral way of grasping the world. It is a way of democratising knowledge, as it allows viewers to access corners of the world and walks of life they otherwise might not be able to experience.
As visual anthropologists we immerse into the lives of others, observing by participating and documenting with respect, gratitude and compassion. Anthropological film reaches your mind and heart, and strives for opening both.
Our films reveal aspects of Transylvanian life.
Please watch below!
Man of Nature and Me (2013)
by Orsolya
Shot in the forest and hills surrounding a small Transylvanian village in Romania, the film portrays Gabi, a fisherman and forager. We enter his life closely connected with nature. We get to know what he thinks of and how he feels about nature; Romania and life in Romania, the fate of the average Romanian surfacing now and then.
The film also presents how the relationship between Gabi and the filmmaker unfolds, and how this development influences the course of the film. The narrative turns into a metanarrative on the filmmaking process; and the initially perhaps naïve, charming film turns out to be different.
Man of Nature and Me was screened at the following film festivals and television program —
- NRK Kunnskapskanalen, Norway
- Days of Ethnographic Film, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Etnofilm Rovinj, Croatia
- NAFA, Bilbao, Spain
- Beeld voor Beeld, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- International Festival of Ethnological Film Belgrade, Serbia
- Kratovo Film Festival, Kratovo, North Macedonia
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Hay Days (2013)
by Ralph
Anthony and Petra sold their house in the UK and bought a small farm in a mountain village in Transylvania, Romania. They have been living at their farm for about six years when Ralph and Orsolya visit them during the hay making season of summer 2012. They talk about why they have chosen to live on a small farm and about the challenges of family life.
Screened at the following film festivals and television program —
- NRK Kunnskapskanalen, Norway
- Days of Ethnographic Film, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- ASTRA, Sibiu, Romania
- International Festival of Ethnological Film Belgrade, Serbia
- Kratovo Film Festival, Kratovo, North Macedonia
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Beautiful Onion Peel – Easter Eggs in Transylvania (2016)
On a Transylvanian farm much is recycled. Onion peels and broken stockings serve a beautiful purpose and come together in a traditional skill at Easter time.
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Polenta Transylvanica (2017)
Transylvanian polenta is a modest and tasty food, often belittled but eaten with great appetite.
Polenta Transylvanica is an ode to this simple and good food, and goes beyond that: the social aesthetics of the film reveal how richness and frugality conquer the same table, and how the interactions around this table reveal the existing gender and intergenerational relations.
The film was presented at the Visual Anthropology of Food Symposium, organized as part of the 37th NAFA International Ethnographic Film Festival.