Coinciding with its relocation to East London, UCL’s Public Anthropology section has added to its long-running documentary master’s degrees with two exciting audio-based programmes, further expanding the department’s scope of practice-based research and learning. It is exciting to present some of the most recent work produced by our students. The work here demonstrates an eclectic approach to non-fiction storytelling, revealing new perspectives and new insights into the social world. 

Jiukuang

Lin Lin / 2023 / UK / 5′ / Digital / sound 

A traditional Chinese string melody acts as the focal point of this immersive journey through history and landscape. 

Glass Doesn’t Glimmer Underwater

Simon Emilio Gutierrez / 2023 / UK / 20′ / Digital / Spanish and English spoken, English subtitles 

A speculative docufiction examining the effects of gentrification on the Latin American community in South London. We are reminded that cities are ephemeral in nature – an ever-changing landscape subject to all manner of social, political and environmental impacts. 

Cancer Kitchen

Weili Xi / 2023 / UK / 24′ / Digital / Mandarin Chinese spoken, English subtitles 

Set in a community kitchen, the devastating cost of cancer for the underprivileged classes in China is revealed through conversations, as patients and relatives grapple with seemingly impossible choices. 

The Language of Wind

Rosa Prosser / 2023 / UK / 8′ / Digital / Mehri and English spoken, English subtitles 

In collaboration with Professor Janet Watson, The Language of Wind explores the relationship between the Mehri language and the environment in which the Mehri people live. 

Emme | A Wolf’s Odyssey

Veronica Ciceri / 2023 / UK / 20′ / Digital / Italian spoken, English subtitles 

Journeying in the footsteps of a wolf through central Europe, the filmmaker explores the spectral nature of this animal in the collective imagination. 

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Kate Colenbrander / 2023 / UK / 4′ / Digital / English spoken 

A deeply personal reflection on loss, memory, and the role images play in maintaining connections with the past. 

Glossary of an Empty Orchestra (鏡花水月)

Mika Ogai / 2023 / UK / 21′ / Digital / Japanese spoken, English subtitles 

The filmmaker returns to her paternal homeland and, through the prism of a second language, discovers a place where personal memory, history and folklore coalesce. 

Followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers