What Work Does Music Do? Four films on music, labour, belonging and displacement
When:
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Venue:
Birkbeck 43 Gordon Square
As part of a new strand of public activities, the Royal Anthropological Institute Film Office has been inviting external collaborators to explore its catalogue and bring new perspectives to it. What Work Does Music Do? was curated by Birkbeck MA Film Programming and Curating student Mariana Lafratta during her placement at RAI FILM, where she researched the collection and selected four films that approach music as a social and cultural practice.
The films in this programme approach the work that music does from very different places and perspectives. In Singing Pictures – Women Painters of Naya, songs accompany the painted scrolls of women in West Bengal, carrying knowledge while contributing to changes within their community. Mind, Hands, Work – Fidel Sambou Builds an Ekonting follows a Senegalese musician and sculptor as he makes an ekonting, revealing the relationship between craft, sound, memory and tradition. In The Beat Goes On, samba brings generations together through the shared practice of carnival. Finally, Ghetto PSA portrays a young migrant in Turin who uses hip hop to reflect on his past, his displacement and his place in his new surroundings.
Moving between South Asia, West Africa, South America and Europe, the films reveal music as something deeply connected to everyday life. It can be a form of work, a repository of knowledge, a means of belonging, an expression of resistance, or a way of making sense of who we are and where we come from. What Work Does Music Do? invites us to listen differently – and to ask what music makes possible.
FILMS (programme total duration: 84min.)
Singing Pictures – Women Painters of Naya
Lina Fruzzetti, Ákos Östör & Aditi Nath Sarkar | United States, India | 2005 | 40min.
Synopsis: The film follows a group of Patua (also known as Chitrakar) women from the village of Naya in West Bengal, India. Through their painted scrolls and songs, they tell stories that share knowledge about important aspects of life, from maternity and hygiene to women’s roles and value within the community. Their art is driven by the need to improve their living conditions and support their families. Yet, in doing so, these women are also challenging established norms and gradually transforming the social order around them.
Mind, Hands, Work – Fidel Sambou Builds an Ekonting
Scott Valois Linford | United States, Senegal | 2024 | 22min.
Synopsis: Fidel Sambou is a sculptor and musician who plays the ekonting, a traditional three-stringed instrument from West Africa. The film follows him as he crafts a new instrument from scratch. His intimate knowledge of the materials, combined with his sensitivity to the instrument’s sound, allows him not only to preserve this musical heritage but also to reinterpret it, demonstrating how tradition can remain alive through creativity.
The Beat Goes On (Batucada de Responsa)
Matias Vellutini & Pedro Marques | Brazil | 2013 | 7min.
Synopsis: Members of the bateria – the percussion wing of a samba school in São Paulo – are interviewed in their homes and at the storage space where the instruments are kept. Through their conversations, we discover their dedication to taking part in the carnival parade and their commitment to passing this tradition on to younger generations. Here, music creates and strengthens communal bonds, fostering a sense of belonging that is renewed with every carnival.
Ghetto PSA
Rossella Schillaci | Italy | 2016 | 15min.
Synopsis: With a lively, mobile camera that closely follows its protagonist, the film traces the daily life of Jacob, a young migrant from Guinea living in Turin, Italy. Having arrived in the country alone at the age of 11, Jacob now works at the same institution that once welcomed him. Through his hip hop lyrics, he reflects on his personal history and gives voice to his experiences, making sense of his journey alongside others who share similar experiences of displacement and migration.
ABOUT RAI FILM
RAI FILM is the cinema section of the Royal Anthropological Institute, the world’s longest-established scholarly association dedicated to championing anthropology (the study of humankind). It presents a biennial film festival, organises screenings and film events across the UK, distributes ethnographic films for educational use, and maintains an extensive film archive and library. RAI FILM aims to bring anthropological insight to broader audiences while celebrating cultural diversity, encouraging dialogue, and fostering an inclusive filmmaking community.
ABOUT BIMI
Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image – BIMI is a space for discovering the history of cinema, television and screen media, as well as exploring new directions in moving image culture. Located at Birkbeck, it is a university-led cinema and cultural hub that has pioneered imaginative public engagement that brings together original programming with academic events and creative dialogue.
Contact name: Matthew Barrington
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