A Boarding School
A rare inside look at life in one of the many traditional Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia. At a time of increasing conservatism, the school has a strikingly tolerant attitude towards gender and religion.
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Young and Restless
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A Legacy of Horses
Horses are part of everyday life in the working-class neighborhood of Ballymun in Dublin. This observational film shows how the love for our four-legged friends passes from father to son.
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Anbessa
Ten-year-old Ethiopian Asalif and his mother were evicted from the plot of land where they grew food, to make way for a new housing development. Now he uses his imagination and ingenuity to find a place for himself in the changing landscape of his country.
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Asho
Asho is a young shepherd in the sun-drenched hills of Iran. When he grows up, he wants to be a movie star. His sister and the cousin he'll soon be marrying don’t think much of it. Meanwhile, the irresistible Asho is already the star of his own film.
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Barzakh
Hidden among the rocks and caves along the coastline of Melilla, a group of boys hope to make the crossing to Europe. The prospect of a better life is worth the endless waiting.
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Bellissime
Three Italian sisters pursue their dream of being models, under the leadership of their mother. All four devote their lives to beauty, and together they try to cope with the inevitable disappointments that ensue.
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Born in Evin
The German actress Maryam Zaree fled the Iranian regime as a small child with her mother. She knows she was born in prison, but nobody ever talks about it. Now she wants to know why.
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Buddha in Africa
Fifteen-year-old Enock and other African orphans get a strict Buddhist education at the Chinese boarding school in Malawi. Now he’s faced with a choice: should he go study in faraway Taiwan or return to his home village?
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Carrousel
A center in Rotterdam helps young men from problematic backgrounds to build a future. Hardened by the past, they struggle to find their way. Intense dialogues in close-up.
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Elektra
In this visual essay about networks and nodes, everything is connected with everything else. The dome-shaped screen immerses us in a reflection on childhood, and on the incorporation of the past in the present.
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Fabulous
The queer dancer Lasseindra gives a voguing masterclass in her native French Guiana. Conversations with participants give an impression of the Caribbean macho culture, but during the lessons they show their most feminine side.
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Fat Front
An optimistic portrait of four young Scandinavian women who start a body positivity movement. They carry their fat bodies with pride, and bid farewell to the self-hatred and guilt they have lived with for so long.
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Flower Punk
Japanese artist and “punk florist” Azuma Makoto has sent his eccentric floral artworks up into the sky and down into the ocean’s depths. For him, flowers represent life and transience.
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I Love You I Miss You I Hope I See You Before I Die
A harsh and dreamy story of a young girl and her longing heart, set in the American West. Through Betty we experience a tight family clan where love and dependency go hand in hand.
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In Mansourah, You Separated Us
For the first time since the Algerian War of Independence, witnesses talk about the rural resettlement camps, shedding light on an appalling and neglected episode in history. Why have people kept silent for all these years?
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King of the Cruise
During his vacation on a luxury cruise ship, the wealthy Scottish-American baron Ronald Reisinger is a striking and popular guest. Behind his sophisticated stories and decadent riches, however, hides a lonely man who is yearning for love.
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Lil’ Buck: Real Swan
A glowing example of the power of dance as a form of expression and social life buoy. Lil’ Buck combines classical ballet with jookin, the hip-hop dance style he grew up with. His version of The Dying Swan became a sensation.
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Marshawn Lynch: A History
This unconventional portrait of the popular and rebellious American football player Marshawn Lynch consists of over 700 image fragments. What’s the deeper meaning behind his refusal to talk with the media?
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Mirador
Moments in the lives of three blind friends from Uruguay, documented with warmth and humor. They go hiking, camping, swim in the sea and attend rock concerts, all with casual confidence and joie de vivre.
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Mother-Child
In the privacy of treatment rooms at an Argentine public hospital, teenage girls have to make a decision about the new life growing inside them. Conversations with the professionals caring for them reveal complex lives and fragile dreams of the future.
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Once Aurora
A dynamic portrait of the Norwegian pop idol Aurora, who was discovered at the age of 16 and has been playing to packed houses all over the world ever since. A film about creative freedom and the price of fame.
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Punks
An intimate and sincere portrait of problem teenagers who are placed under temporary supervision. The challenging conversations with a counselor are meant to lead to a better life, but their past won’t leave them alone.
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Quebramar
A group of young lesbians from São Paulo travel to a remote beach to celebrate New Year’s. From their conversations, a picture of current Brazilian society emerges.
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Scheme Birds
There are few prospects for young people in the Scottish town of Motherwell, which has never recovered from the closure of the steelworks in 1997—the year Gemma was born. In a candid coming-of-age documentary, we see the town through her eyes.
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Searching Eva
An unconventional inside view of the equally unconventional life of Eva: sex worker, writer, musician, model, blogger, anarchist and feminist. And much more, because Eva can’t be pinned down.
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Selfie
A sensory experience and fantasy which explores the uncomfortable voyeurism of the selfie and Big Brother. What are we actually looking at, and who’s looking at us?
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In this gripping family drama, 18-year-old Marcin, who’s been living in orphanages since the age of 12, returns to his alcoholic father. He feels caught between love and repulsion for a man who is incapable of being a decent dad.
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Steve Is Undocumented
An observational and original reflection on immigration. A white British ex-weightlifter and bouncer at a club in Los Angeles has strong opinions about immigrants, yet he’s also in the country illegally.
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Summerwar
A revealing look at a Ukrainian summer camp where children are transformed into proud soldiers—the doubts and tears during phone calls home expose the underlying anguish.
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The Amazing Johnathan Documentary
The Amazing Johnathan is a famous illusionist who’s both extreme and terminally ill. Not surprisingly, director Ben Berman isn’t the only person interested in filming him. He uses this fact to provide a surprising look behind the scenes of his own documentary.
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The Euphoria of Being
During the making of a dance theater piece, a special friendship develops between director Réka Szabó and her two leads: the young dancer Emese Cuhorka and the elderly writer and activist Éva Fahidi.
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The Jump
An appealingly stylized film about a young Frenchman whose death-defying leaps from a high rock have made him a local legend. His rash character is now changing, which makes for a moving coming-of-age drama.
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The Secretary of Ideology
A witty portrait of the teenage communist Ivan, whose goal in life is the revival of a glorious socialist state. “Workers of all countries, unite!” he tells his grinning classmates.
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The Stuart Hall Project
A kaleidoscopic journey through both the history of the 20th century and the personal life and ideas of the influential left-wing cultural theorist Stuart Hall. With footage from Hall’s personal archive and tracks by his hero Miles Davis.
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Tiny Souls
The camera follows three Syrian children over the course of four years in a refugee camp in Jordan. Despite traumatic memories and primitive living conditions, they remain resilient and high-spirited.
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Where We Belong
Five children from different families look back on their parents’ separation and talk in detail about how they experienced it and what it taught them.
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