Films with English subtitles

    • set 121 items

    All films that play at IDFA are English-spoken or English-subtitled. On this page, you can see the overview of all films with English subtitles.

    Films with English subtitles

    The 3 Rooms of Melancholia

    • pirjo Honkasalo
    • 2004

      Shot in St. Petersburg, Grozny and Ingushetia, this multilayered, poetic film in three chapters reflects a range of fundamental human feelings and mental states that war invokes.

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      Aftersun

      • Lluís Galter
      • 2022

        A couple at a campground in Spain are behaving very strangely, and the imaginations of three teenage girls are running wild. This playful film-about-film moves effortlessly between documentary, thriller, detective story and fairytale.

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        Alis

        • Clare Weiskopf, Nicolas van Hemelryck
        • 2022

          The teenage girls who live in a shelter in Bogotá have already been through a lot in their young lives. They talk about it through the perspective of a fictional friend: Alis. Their soulful narrative reveals an amazing strength to embrace a brighter future.

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          All That Breathes

          • Shaunak Sen
          • 2022

            Two Muslim brothers living in Delhi, one of the world’s most polluted cities, try their best to run a sanctuary for birds of prey. In a film that swings between hope and despair, the two central figures remain determined to never give up.

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            Anhell69

            • Theo Montoya
            • 2022

              When the young queer actor he cast to star in a vampire film dies of an overdose, filmmaker Theo Montoya dives deeper into the no-future generation of Medellín, in this “trans film” about all the people who don’t belong to anything or anyone.

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              Art Talent Show

              • Adéla Komrzý, Tomas Bojar
              • 2022

                An award-winning documentary taking a humorous look at the entrance exams at the Prague art academy, held under the watchful eye of the receptionist. How do you apply a selection procedure to something as subjective as art?

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                Balls

                • Gorana Jovanović
                • 2022

                  Riots at the 1990 soccer match between Hajduk Split and Partizan Belgrade presaged the Yugoslavian Civil War. Thirty years on, army teams from the six now-independent nations are competing in a soccer tournament. Are the tensions a thing of the past?

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                  Between Father and Son

                  • Ronin Hsu
                  • 2022

                    A patient family portrait in black-and-white, featuring an elderly father, who lives with his wife in the Chinese countryside, and their alcoholic son, who lives in the city. At his parents’ home, his isolation becomes tangible.

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                    Between Nothingness and Infinity, I Began to Weep

                    • Maxime Jean-Baptiste
                    • 2022

                      A multimedia performance about the murder of 18-year-old Lucas, the nephew of filmmaker Maxime Jean-Baptiste, reflecting on the tragedy through a combination of video footage, interviews, readings, music, dance and lighting effects.

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                      Bitch Academy

                      • Alina Rudnitskaya
                      • 2007

                        How should a young woman with big ambitions survive in the new Russia? The answer is Bitch Academy, a course for the most determined gold diggers. With merciless candor, this short film provides a jarring portrait of a society adrift.

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                        Blue Files

                        • Ander Iriarte
                        • 2022

                          More than 4,000 citizens were tortured in the context of the Basque Conflict in Spain between 1960 and 2014. One of them was the filmmaker’s father. He and experts discuss the past, what torture is and how it affects the victims.

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                          Blue ID

                          • Burcu Melekoglu, Vuslat Karan
                          • 2022

                            An intimate report on the transition of the former actress Rüzgar Erkoçlar, who has to go through his journey of self-realization under media scrutiny in the traditional society of Turkey.

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                            Budapest Silo

                            • Zsófia Paczolay
                            • 2022

                              A powerfully visual film, with stunning cinematography, about a worker at an old grain silo in Budapest. His work is like that of a scuba diver: each day he is lowered into the 25-meters-deep silos, where he performs a dazzling dance.

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                              Der Busenfreund

                              • Ulrich Seidl
                              • 1997

                                A portrait of a former math teacher with a passion for women with large breasts. His explanation of the mathematical laws of sine and cosine merges into a paean to female curves.

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                                Caesar Must Die

                                • Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani
                                • 2011

                                  Fiction and reality intertwine over the course of this award-winning film in which inmates at Rebibbia prison in Rome throw themselves into a production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, a classic play packed with lies and treachery.

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                                  Camouflage

                                  • Jonathan Perel
                                  • 2022

                                    Do those who live near the Argentinian army base Campo de Mayo still remember its dark past? Writer Félix Bruzzone’s mother was murdered there during the dictatorship. Now he travels this emotionally charged landscape and meets the local people.

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                                    Colette and Justin

                                    • Alain Kassanda
                                    • 2022

                                      Debut filmmaker Alain Kassanda and his grandparents explore their family history in this richly layered portrait, drawing together politics and personal memories. The upheavals of post-colonial Congo feel palpably close.

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                                      Cosmic Chant. Niño de Elche

                                      • Marc Sempere-Moya, Leire Apellaniz
                                      • 2021

                                        Singer, performer and artist Niño de Elche is renowned for his groundbreaking vision of flamenco. Playfully provoking his audience, he invites them to consider a question: What can flamenco be?

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                                        A Country in a Corner

                                        • Neema Ngelime
                                        • 2021

                                          A visit to Matonge, the African quarter in Brussels, evokes mixed feelings for filmmaker Neema Ngelime. She would like to be part of the community, but at the same time struggles with its stifling morality.

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                                          Crazy

                                          • Heddy Honigmann
                                          • 1999

                                            Dutch U.N. soldiers speak about their experiences in various conflict areas around the world. The vehicle for their recollections is the music they played at the time, which has become forever tied to their memories of war.

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                                            Cross Words

                                            • Mario Valero
                                            • 2022

                                              A stimulating and vivid portrait of a generation, about a group of young people in their thirties and their relationships in Paris between 2019 and 2021. With a macabre news item as a common thread, we gradually get to know who they are.

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                                              Danse Macabre

                                              • Thunska Pansittivorakul, Phassarawin Kulsomboon
                                              • 2021

                                                A wild collage of scenes of state oppression and suspicious deaths that have taken place in Thailand over the last 90 years. Archive footage of violence and pornography is interspersed with dance scenes and video clips, creating an audacious blend.

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                                                Dear Mother, I Meant to Write About Death

                                                • Siyi Chen
                                                • 2022

                                                  Why did her mother not reveal that she had cancer? This is just the first of many questions the filmmaker has in this tender feature-length debut where mother and child explore their relationships—with illness, death and each other.

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                                                  De Humani Corporis Fabrica

                                                  • Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor
                                                  • 2022

                                                    Following in the footsteps of Andreas Vesalius, who five centuries ago was the first to map human anatomy, this sensorial film explores the bodies of men and women during operations on various parts of the body. Intimate, at a microscopic level.

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                                                    Dry Ground Burning

                                                    • Adirley Queirós, Joana Pimenta
                                                    • 2022

                                                      Oil is rebellion in a sprawling favela on the outskirts of Brasilia. A group of self-assured women illegally tap it and sell gasoline through a motorcycle gang. This is the heart of a broad panorama of a Brazil we rarely see.

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                                                      Dust Away

                                                      • Tanita Rahmani, Dea Gjinovci
                                                      • 2022

                                                        The dirtiest jobs in the clean-up after the 9/11 attacks were given to undocumented immigrants, at the cost of their health. Creatively edited images and animations accompany their testimonials.

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                                                        The Eclipse

                                                        • Nataša Urban
                                                        • 2022

                                                          Framed by the solar eclipses of 1961 and 1999, this essayistic documentary examines how a Serbian family—and taking a wider perspective, an entire country—relates to a turbulent history.

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                                                          The Etilaat Roz

                                                          • Abbas Rezaie
                                                          • 2022

                                                            As Kabul is recaptured by the Taliban, the passionate journalists of the Etilaat Roz daily newspaper grow increasingly concerned. Hopelessness and fear gradually take over in this penetrating film.

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                                                            Europe

                                                            • Philip Scheffner
                                                            • 2022

                                                              From one day to the next, an Algerian woman is driven into illegality. The life Zohra planned in France becomes an imaginary existence. Her isolation is made palpable as she literally vanishes from view.

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                                                              Every Little Thing

                                                              • Nicolas Philibert
                                                              • 1996

                                                                A delightful feel-good predecessor to the classic Être et avoir. The camera follows staff and patients at a remarkable French psychiatric facility during rehearsals for the annual stage show—this year it’s an operetta.

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                                                                Everything Will Be OK

                                                                • Rithy Panh
                                                                • 2022

                                                                  A dystopian vision by Rithy Panh à la Animal Farm and Planet of the Apes. Inspired by 20th-century dictators and the horrors of factory farming, animals—represented by clay figures—maintain totalitarian rule over humans.

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                                                                  The Fabulous Ones

                                                                  • Roberta Torre
                                                                  • 2022

                                                                    A group of fabulous trans women gather to honor their deceased friend Antonia in a way denied to her by her family, who buried Antonia in men’s clothes. Politics, pain and joie de vivre combine in this rousing and heartwarming tribute.

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                                                                    Fatima

                                                                    • Lucia Chicos, Alexandra Diaconu
                                                                    • 2022

                                                                      The video diary of 18-year-old Fatima, who fled Afghanistan with her family and now lives in Bucharest. With increasing frankness, the young Muslim woman records her life in the Romanian capital.

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                                                                      Finding Willard

                                                                      • Tom Struyf
                                                                      • 2022

                                                                        In this intimate live performance, Belgian theater director Tom Struyf tells the story of the footage he shot over several years in Willard, a tiny American hamlet, where the ruin of a psychiatric institution led him unexpectedly back to Belgium.

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                                                                        Foragers

                                                                        • Jumana Manna
                                                                        • 2022

                                                                          Israel has banned harvesting za’atar and akoub, two plants essential to Palestinian cuisine. Officially, it’s to preserve nature, but Palestinian wild pickers see it differently. A subtle but powerful film on how politics can reach into the kitchen.

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                                                                          Fragile Memory

                                                                          • Igor Ivanko
                                                                          • 2022

                                                                            Igor Ivanko discovers piles of old negatives belonging to his grandfather Leonid Burlaka, and delves into the life of this retired Soviet cameraman. Ivanko gets the pictures developed, only to discover they are damaged—just like Burlaka's memory.

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                                                                            From the Other Shore

                                                                            • Maher Abi Samra
                                                                            • 2022

                                                                              Sylvana and Mohammed, both from Lebanon, like to go for walks together. She is in a wheelchair, he is blind; as he pushes her, she guides the way. They discuss the obstacles they face on a daily basis, which are physical, but above all societal.

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                                                                              Gigi la Legge

                                                                              • Alessandro Comodin
                                                                              • 2022

                                                                                A sun-soaked portrait of Gigi, a police officer investigating a worrying series of suicides in a charming small Italian town. Fortunately, there’s enough time left for flirting, chatting with colleagues or daydreaming in his overgrown jungle garden.

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                                                                                Girl Who Dreams About Time

                                                                                • Hyuck-jee Park
                                                                                • 2022

                                                                                  A coming-of-age film about the young shaman Sujin, who oversees a temple together with her grandmother in the mountains of South Korea. Will she be able to combine her calling as a seer with her studies at the University of Seoul?

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                                                                                  Gnosis Iluminada

                                                                                  • Agustín Ortiz Herrera
                                                                                  • 2022

                                                                                    Incorporating several artistic collaborations, this multifaceted audiovisual project plays with time to channel queer and non-normative countercultural responses questioning the Western Gnostic tradition.

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                                                                                    The Golden Thread

                                                                                    • Nishtha Jain
                                                                                    • 2022

                                                                                      Beautifully composed images and an immersive sound design capture the last vestiges of Bengal’s jute industry, which has been virtually unchanged since the industrial revolution. Workers carry out their routine work along endless rows of antique looms.

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                                                                                      Goodbye, Captain

                                                                                      • Vincent Carelli
                                                                                      • 2022

                                                                                        For decades, Vincent Carelli filmed the struggles of his friend Krohokrenhum, leader of the Gavião in the Brazilian Amazon, a man who tirelessly defends the traditions of his people against political, economic and cultural assimilation.

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                                                                                        Granma. Trombones from Havana

                                                                                        • Stefan Kaegi
                                                                                        • 2019

                                                                                          Documentary theater in which four young Cubans reconstruct the lives of their grandparents and rewrite the history of their country. These stories are interwoven with the contemporary socio-political issues of a fast-changing Cuba.

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                                                                                          Guapo’y

                                                                                          • Sofia Paoli Thorne
                                                                                          • 2022

                                                                                            Celsa looks back on her time as a political prisoner during the brutal regime of Alfredo Stroessner in Paraguay (1954-1989). Traumatic memories are reawakened when what may be the remains of her murdered husband are found.

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                                                                                            The Hamlet Syndrome

                                                                                            • Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosolowski
                                                                                            • 2022

                                                                                              Theater maker Roza Sarkisian is united with five young Ukrainians to create a performance in which Shakespeare’s Hamlet and their reality come together. The depiction of this intense process is complemented by impressive portraits of the protagonists.

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                                                                                              Heroic Bodies

                                                                                              • Sara Suliman
                                                                                              • 2022

                                                                                                The story of the development of women’s rights in Sudan is told through unique archive material and interviews with activists. We see and hear how women have been oppressed, ignored and abused for centuries, and what has changed.

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                                                                                                How Dare You Have Such a Rubbish Wish

                                                                                                • Mania Akbari
                                                                                                • 2022

                                                                                                  Excerpts spanning Iranian film history show that women have always been oppressed, also in the years before the Islamic Revolution. Undaunted, Mania Akbari takes on the male gaze in this confrontational essay.

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                                                                                                  The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived

                                                                                                  • Heiny Srour
                                                                                                  • 1974

                                                                                                    Lebanese director Heiny Srour put her life at risk in the early 1970s, filming the struggle for independence in Dhofar, Oman. In this powerful feminist statement, her primary focus is on the women fighters.

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                                                                                                    A House Made of Splinters

                                                                                                    • Simon Lereng Wilmont
                                                                                                    • 2022

                                                                                                      Winter and war mean this Ukrainian children’s home near the front is fuller than ever. A group of resolute, no-nonsense women have created an almost magical place where they watch over children who are waiting for the government to decide their fate.

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                                                                                                      How to Save a Dead Friend

                                                                                                      • Marusya Syroechkovskaya
                                                                                                      • 2022

                                                                                                        The love between like-minded millennials Marusya and Kimi turns to agony as Kimi gradually disappears into serious drug addiction. A portrait of a generation gripped by despair and hopelessness.

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                                                                                                        Innocence

                                                                                                        • Guy Davidi
                                                                                                        • 2022

                                                                                                          When young Israelis turn 18, they have to join the army. Narrated diary excerpts of young people who died while in service illustrate their shattered dreams and desires in an increasingly militaristic society.

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                                                                                                          Inside My Heart

                                                                                                          • Saskia Boddeke
                                                                                                          • 2022

                                                                                                            The boundaries between the rehearsal process and the performance of a piece are blurred in this colorful and elaborate film about the Kamak theater group, a professional ensemble for actors with intellectual disabilities.

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                                                                                                            Invoked

                                                                                                            • Luka Papić, Srđa Vučo
                                                                                                            • 2022

                                                                                                              A hyperdynamically edited film about the first free elections in Serbia in 1990, which were won by Slobodan Milošević. Five presidential candidates of the time look back, and TV clips show the almost-surreal, circus-like election atmosphere.

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                                                                                                              Is There a Pine on the Mountain

                                                                                                              • Chongyan Liu
                                                                                                              • 2022

                                                                                                                An intimate account of a highly toxic relationship: during a lengthy visit from her boyfriend’s mother, the filmmaker documents the arguments between mother and son. An oppressive and candid study of the transmission of violence through generations.

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                                                                                                                Jaime

                                                                                                                • Francisco Javier Rodriguez
                                                                                                                • 2022

                                                                                                                  With originality and subtlety, director Francisco Javier Rodriguez portrays the inner life of a 33-year-old psychiatric patient. The boundaries between reality and imagination fall away.

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                                                                                                                  Journey Through Our World

                                                                                                                  • Petra Lataster-Czisch, Peter Lataster
                                                                                                                  • 2022

                                                                                                                    The first year of Covid lockdowns is seen through the eyes of documentary veterans Petra and Peter Lataster, in this affectionate look at their shrunken world. Their calm account captures the uniqueness of this strange period in history.

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                                                                                                                    Just an Alien

                                                                                                                    • Weicheng Hua
                                                                                                                    • 2022

                                                                                                                      The spiritually minded vagabond Zhighou Sun guides the viewer through the extraordinary world of the “Foreigners Street” Chinese amusement park in Chongqing, a surreal sanctuary full of strange structures, from UFOs to an Egyptian pyramid.

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                                                                                                                      Katanga Nation

                                                                                                                      • Beza Hailu Lemma, Hiwot Admasu Getaneh
                                                                                                                      • 2022

                                                                                                                        A better life seems so close here, among the skyscrapers of Addis Ababa. But the people living in the Katanga district know how difficult it is to get ahead—and that only strengthens their resilience, and their love-thy-neighbor take on life.

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                                                                                                                        Kenya

                                                                                                                        • Gisela Delgadillo
                                                                                                                        • 2022

                                                                                                                          Raw and frank portrait of Kenya, a trans woman who lives in Mexico City. She witnessed her friend, a fellow transgender sex worker, being murdered by a client. In her long battle for justice, she can’t avoid having to face her own fears.

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                                                                                                                          The Kiev Trial

                                                                                                                          • Sergei Loznitsa
                                                                                                                          • 2022

                                                                                                                            In January 1946, 15 Nazis were put on trial in Kiev for their role in the murder of 10,000 civilians in Ukraine. Sergei Loznitsa draws on recovered archive footage of the trial to assemble a shocking and urgent documentary.

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                                                                                                                            The Land

                                                                                                                            • Ivars Seleckis
                                                                                                                            • 2022

                                                                                                                              Measured observations of the annual cycles in a rural Latvian community. Seleckis presents the full variety of modern farming life and opens up a highly topical discussion about the future of agriculture.

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                                                                                                                              Liturgy of Anti-Tank Obstacles

                                                                                                                              • Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
                                                                                                                              • 2022

                                                                                                                                What are artists to do in wartime? Instead of producing religious statues, the Ukrainian sculptors in this short film make anti-tank obstacles. The need for these is more urgent at the moment.

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                                                                                                                                Loving Martha

                                                                                                                                • Daniela López
                                                                                                                                • 2022

                                                                                                                                  Daniela López aims her camera at members of her own family—at her grandmother Martha, who escaped a violent marriage after 39 years, and at the rest of the family, who is struggling not only with that trauma but also with the film project itself.

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                                                                                                                                  Malavoune Tango

                                                                                                                                  • Jean-Marc Lacaze
                                                                                                                                  • 2022

                                                                                                                                    On Mayotte, the only French island in the Comoros, a group of outlawed young men lead their lives in the shadows, with nothing to rely on but their dogs. An empathetic portrait of a lost existence, both rough and tender.

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                                                                                                                                    Manifesto

                                                                                                                                    • Angie Vinchito
                                                                                                                                    • 2022

                                                                                                                                      A dark mosaic of often-shocking videos that Russian teenagers have posted on social media. Clip after clip shows how aggression and oppression in schools is unwittingly passed on to the next generation.

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                                                                                                                                      Mariupolis

                                                                                                                                      • Mantas Kvedaravičius
                                                                                                                                      • 2016

                                                                                                                                        Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius (1976-2022) filmed this visually powerful tribute to Mariupol in the spring of 2015, just after the Russian occupation of Crimea. Despite the threat, life goes on, with all its joy, love and worry.

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                                                                                                                                        Mariupolis 2

                                                                                                                                        • Mantas Kvedaravičius
                                                                                                                                        • 2022

                                                                                                                                          Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius returned to the ruined Ukrainian city of Mariupol, a hell on earth where life goes on amid the bombardments. He was killed by Russian troops, but his crew went on to finish the film.

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                                                                                                                                          Midwives

                                                                                                                                          • Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing
                                                                                                                                          • 2022

                                                                                                                                            Two women, a Buddhist and a Muslim, work together at a maternity clinic in Myanmar. The oppression of Rohingya Muslims in the country means it’s dangerous to treat Muslim women—but neither of these obstetricians take any notice of that.

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                                                                                                                                            Miúcha, the Voice of Bossa Nova

                                                                                                                                            • Daniel Zarvos, Liliane Mutti
                                                                                                                                            • 2022

                                                                                                                                              Brazilian singer Miúcha worked with bossa nova legends including her brother Chico Buarque and husband João Gilberto. Her life’s story, told through a rich resource of unreleased archive material, offers a female perspective on this musical movement.

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                                                                                                                                              Mom

                                                                                                                                              • Xun Sero
                                                                                                                                              • 2022

                                                                                                                                                Mexican filmmaker Xun Sero questions his mother about her life as a Tzotzil woman. The answers reveal a strong woman who has managed to create a place for herself within a patriarchal society.

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                                                                                                                                                Money, Freedom, a Story of CFA Franc

                                                                                                                                                • Lena Ndiaye
                                                                                                                                                • 2022

                                                                                                                                                  The former French colonies in Central and West Africa have been independent since 1960, but many of these countries still use the currency of the former oppressor: the CFA franc. A new generation wants to complete the process of decolonization.

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                                                                                                                                                  Moscow

                                                                                                                                                  • Eduardo Coutinho
                                                                                                                                                  • 2009

                                                                                                                                                    The Brazilian theater group Galpão is in Moscow, working on their production of the Chekhov play Three Sisters. During rehearsals, filmmaker Coutinho captures the increasingly blurred boundaries between fiction and reality.

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                                                                                                                                                    Mothers

                                                                                                                                                    • Nirit Peled
                                                                                                                                                    • 2022

                                                                                                                                                      Four Amsterdam mothers explain how their sons got in trouble with the law and were subjected to a stigmatizing crime prevention program. Despite their powerlessness and frustration, they keep fighting for their children.

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                                                                                                                                                      Mutzenbacher

                                                                                                                                                      • Ruth Beckermann
                                                                                                                                                      • 2022

                                                                                                                                                        A hundred men audition for the film version of a controversial pornographic novel. The filmmaker seats them on a casting couch and reverses the roles. Now the men are objectified, in this film packed with discomfort, disgust and lust.

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                                                                                                                                                        My Imaginary Country

                                                                                                                                                        • Patricio Guzmán
                                                                                                                                                        • 2022

                                                                                                                                                          In October 2019, 1.5 million Chileans took to the streets to fight for a more just society. Legendary filmmaker Patricio Guzmán was there to see a completion of the Chilean freedom struggle of his youth.

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                                                                                                                                                          My Lost Country

                                                                                                                                                          • Ishtar Yasin Gutiérrez
                                                                                                                                                          • 2022

                                                                                                                                                            Filmmaker Ishtar Yasin Gutiérrez uses family photographs, extracts from letters and audio recordings to construct a loving portrait of her exiled theater director father Mohsen Sadoon Yasin, and an elegy to their lost homeland of Iraq.

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                                                                                                                                                            My Name Is Happy

                                                                                                                                                            • Nick Read, Ayse Toprak
                                                                                                                                                            • 2022

                                                                                                                                                              An urgent portrait of Mutlu Kaya, a rising star in Turkey who survived an attack in 2015. After her sister is subsequently murdered, Kaya decides to fight against femicide and the normalization of violence against women.

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                                                                                                                                                              My Paper Life

                                                                                                                                                              • Vida Dena
                                                                                                                                                              • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                Iranian filmmaker Vida Dena follows an immigrant Syrian family in Brussels in this, her debut film. She brings their memories and experiences to life by animating the cutout drawings they make together.

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                                                                                                                                                                The New Greatness Case

                                                                                                                                                                • Anna Shishova- Bogoliubova
                                                                                                                                                                • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                  An unembellished analysis of the political trial of Anya, a Russian teenager arrested with nine others in 2018, for allegedly forming an extremist group planning to overthrow the government.

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                                                                                                                                                                  The Northeast Winds

                                                                                                                                                                  • Nikoloz Bezhanishvili
                                                                                                                                                                  • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                    Local Stalinists resist when the statue of Stalin in Gori, the dictator’s birthplace, is torn down. But immersed in nostalgia and ideology, they fail to see that the world has irrevocably changed.

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                                                                                                                                                                    Notes for a Film

                                                                                                                                                                    • Ignacio Agüero
                                                                                                                                                                    • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                      A playfully styled portrait loosely based on memoirs published in 1889, evoking recollections of an unspoiled Chile that reflect on the here and now. But the portrayal also sheds light on what has been lost through colonization and modernization.

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                                                                                                                                                                      On Boys, Girls and the Veil

                                                                                                                                                                      • Yousry Nasrallah
                                                                                                                                                                      • 1995

                                                                                                                                                                        What did young Egyptians think of wearing the hijab around 1995? And of love? Lively conversations cover topics ranging from family pressure to get married to the complexities of dating in Arab society.

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                                                                                                                                                                        Paradise

                                                                                                                                                                        • Alexander Abaturov
                                                                                                                                                                        • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                          A heatwave leads to huge forest fires in Siberia. Villagers join forces to subdue the inferno they call the Dragon. A visually powerful film about the havoc that climate change can wreak.

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                                                                                                                                                                          Parallel World

                                                                                                                                                                          • Mei-Ling Hsiao
                                                                                                                                                                          • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                            An account, filmed over 12 years, of the close bond between a mother—the filmmaker—and her daughter, who has Asperger syndrome. They face a challenge when, as a young adult, the daughter moves from Taiwan to live with her father in France.

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                                                                                                                                                                            Petit Taxi

                                                                                                                                                                            • Samy Sidali
                                                                                                                                                                            • 2021

                                                                                                                                                                              A documentary view of taxi driver Oussama as he crisscrosses Casablanca in his compact cab taking passengers to their destinations. His lively conversations with his customers reveal a potpourri of the city.

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                                                                                                                                                                              Polish Prayers

                                                                                                                                                                              • Hana Nobis
                                                                                                                                                                              • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                As a traditional Catholic, the young Antek holds deeply conservative views: homosexuality can be cured, Poland is for the Poles, abortion is evil, and sex before marriage is forbidden. Until he falls in love, and doubt begins to set in.

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                                                                                                                                                                                Pornomelancolía

                                                                                                                                                                                • Manuel Abramovich
                                                                                                                                                                                • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                  Mexican nude model and gay porn actor Lalo Santos is his own boss, successful online, and the star of a porn film about Zapata. The work is hard, the future uncertain, and melancholy lurks in the moments between cruising and cumshots.

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                                                                                                                                                                                  Port Desire

                                                                                                                                                                                  • Juan Manuel Bugarín
                                                                                                                                                                                  • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                    You can take a soldier out of the war, but you can’t take the war out of the soldier. That certainly applies to Marcelo Wytrykusz, an Argentinian veteran of the Malvinas War. Forty years later, he’s still seeking revenge.

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                                                                                                                                                                                    Portrait of My Father

                                                                                                                                                                                    • Juan Ignacio Fernández Hoppe
                                                                                                                                                                                    • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                      When the filmmaker was eight, his father’s body was found on a beach near Montevideo. In this stylized cinematic quest, he seizes on every possible lead to find out what happened, and who his father was.

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                                                                                                                                                                                      A Provincial Hospital

                                                                                                                                                                                      • Ilian Metev, Ivan Chertov, Zlatina Teneva
                                                                                                                                                                                      • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                        An observational documentary filmed in a Bulgarian provincial hospital, where a close-knit community has been hit by Covid-19. The hard-working medical team tackles the unpredictable disease in both a practical and empathetic way.

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                                                                                                                                                                                        Raw Session

                                                                                                                                                                                        • As Talavistas, ela.ltda
                                                                                                                                                                                        • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                          A playful, personal, political and uncompromising self-portrait of a group of non-binary and trans friends in Brazil. Their colorful raw material shows them shaping their lives off the beaten track.

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                                                                                                                                                                                          Return to Homs

                                                                                                                                                                                          • Talal Derki
                                                                                                                                                                                          • 2013

                                                                                                                                                                                            A remarkably intimate portrait of a group of young friends in Homs, Syria, dreaming of a peaceful revolution that will free the country of Assad’s dictatorial regime. When the national army starts destroying their city, the boys turn into armed rebels.

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                                                                                                                                                                                            The River Is Not a Border

                                                                                                                                                                                            • Alassane Diago
                                                                                                                                                                                            • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                              Atrocities were carried out on both sides of the Senegal–Mauritania border in 1989. Senegalese filmmaker Alassane Diago gives victims and witnesses the opportunity to speak movingly about their experiences, as a first step towards reconciliation.

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                                                                                                                                                                                              A Robust Heart

                                                                                                                                                                                              • Martín Benchimol
                                                                                                                                                                                              • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                A simple, effective film about butchers working at an Argentine abattoir. They talk about their work and their personal lives, motivations and fears. The director also reveals something about himself.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                Salaam Cinema

                                                                                                                                                                                                • Mohsen Makhmalbaf
                                                                                                                                                                                                • 1995

                                                                                                                                                                                                  A casting call in Iranian newspapers to find actors for a film on the centenary of cinema yields thousands of candidates. Makhmalbaf used the filmed auditions to create a comical look at a hidden part of Iranian culture.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                  Scala

                                                                                                                                                                                                  • Ananta Thitanat
                                                                                                                                                                                                  • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ananta Thitanat documents the dismantling of Scala, Thailand’s last standalone movie theater. From there, a bigger story emerges about working conditions, political upheaval and the filmmaker’s personal history.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                    Shireen Abu Akleh: The Extrajudicial Killing of a Journalist

                                                                                                                                                                                                    • Al-Haq, Al-Haq's Forensic Architecture Investigation Unit
                                                                                                                                                                                                    • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                      Based on publicly accessible data, testimonials and video footage, in this short film, the research group Forensic Architecture reconstructs the death of the Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                      Silent House

                                                                                                                                                                                                      • Farnaz Jurabchian, Mohammadreza Jurabchian
                                                                                                                                                                                                      • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                        We follow the fortunes of three generations of an upper-middle-class family against the backdrop of four decades of Iranian history. With the century-old family house in Tehran as a silent witness, the family’s story becomes a mirror of society.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                        Silent Love

                                                                                                                                                                                                        • Marek Kozakiewicz
                                                                                                                                                                                                        • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                          A subtle coming-of-age film about changing roles in a Polish family. When 35-year-old Aga starts caring for her teenage brother following their mother’s death, can she tell him—and the deeply conservative world outside—that she is a lesbian?

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                                                                                                                                                                                                          Sisterhood

                                                                                                                                                                                                          • Mohamed James Sessy Kamara
                                                                                                                                                                                                          • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                            A vibrant and richly emotional portrait of spirited twin sisters Husai and Hassi. They have decided to leave Sierra Leone to seek work in the Middle East. But how can they persuade their mother that’s a good idea?

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                                                                                                                                                                                                            The Soiled Doves of Tijuana

                                                                                                                                                                                                            • Jean-Charles Hue
                                                                                                                                                                                                            • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                              Whether they’re all dressed up and in full make-up, or looking like the Virgin Mary, the inhabitants of the red light district of Tijuana, Mexico, live in a world of their own. Zona Norte is their home, but their minds are always elsewhere.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                              Solmatalua

                                                                                                                                                                                                              • Rodrigo Ribeiro-Andrade
                                                                                                                                                                                                              • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                                If collective memory exists, this may be what it looks like. An intuitive collage of people, landscapes, performances and impressionistic scenes emanate directly from the African diaspora in Brazil. Poetic and experimental, between ritual and activism.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                A Sound of My Own

                                                                                                                                                                                                                • Rebecca Zehr
                                                                                                                                                                                                                • 2021

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  After the death of krautrock legend Christian Burchard, his band Embryo continues, led by his daughter Marja. Is it possible to build musical autonomy on top of such a rich heritage?

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Steel Life

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  • Manuel Bauer
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Breathtaking landscapes alternate with scenes of somber small-town life on a train trip across Peru. This contemplative journey takes us along a railroad route of almost 300 kilometers.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Striking Land

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    • Raul Domingues
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                                      A beautiful observation of the Portuguese countryside, where the land and forests are worked with attention and respect. The film shows the intimate and reciprocal relationship between people and nature as a harmonious balance of give and take.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Suddenly TV

                                                                                                                                                                                                                      • Roopa Gogineni
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Using a cardboard replica of a camera and a plastic bottle “microphone,” young revolutionaries interview demonstrators at the 2019 mass protests against Sudan's military regime. A creative and hopeful take on a bleak situation.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                        The Super 8 Years

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        • Annie Ernaux, David Ernaux-Briot
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Writer Annie Ernaux looks back at her and her family’s home movies, shot with a Super 8 camera in the 1970s and 1980s. What do the films have to say about who they were then, and about the times in which they were living?

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Things I Could Never Tell My Mother

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          • Humaira Bilkis
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            The mother of filmmaker Humaira Bilkis became a devout Muslim after a pilgrimage to Mecca. Free-spirited Humaira is her polar opposite, but in this film she goes in search of what binds them.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                            This Is Not a Film

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            • Jafar Panahi, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            • 2011

                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Jafar Panahi, who was put under house arrest and banned from making films in 2011, is currently imprisoned by the Iranian government. In spite of these restrictions, he's made a defiant ode to both the art and the freedom that were taken from him.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                              This Was Your Nicest Auntie Ria

                                                                                                                                                                                                                              • Anneke de Lind van Wijngaarden
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                An intimate personal portrait of “Auntie Ria,” a feisty, independent woman who must face the reality that her dementia is gradually getting worse. Her niece Anneke tenderly captures the last seven years of her life.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Till the End

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                • Beatrice Perego
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Martina is fascinated by death. In this poetic film she even stages her own dream funeral. This parting ritual helps director Beatrice Perego, a dear friend, to process her own major loss.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Torture in Saydnaya Prison

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  • Forensic Architecture
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  • 2018

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Based on witness statements, the Forensic Architecture research group reconstructs the interior of the infamous Saydnaya prison in Syria, where countless men have been tortured and executed since the start of the civil war.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Walls That Scream

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    • Evi Cats
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Two years after the death of a resident of the disadvantaged Cureghem quarter in Brussels, the graffiti still cries out for justice. The district is changing, but the improvements aren’t intended for the current residents.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Waters of Pastaza

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      • Inês Alves
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        A group of children from the Achuar community, the original inhabitants of the region along the Pastaza River bordering Ecuador and Peru, move through the jungle independently—playing and working, in harmony with nature.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        A Way to B

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        • Jos de Putter, Clara van Gool
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Through a group of dancers with a variety of disabilities, Jos de Putter and Clara van Gool explore the adaptability of human beings and the flexibility of the human body, resulting in an experience that’s as confrontational as it is moving.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          We, Students!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          • Rafiki Fariala
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          • 2021

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            A nimble portrait following the lives of students Aaron, Benjamin, Nestor, and Rafiki in the Central African Republic. In this poverty-stricken country, the friends focus their hopes on the future. An award winner at IndieLisboa and Cinéma du Réel.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            We’re Here to Try

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            • Jacopo Quadri, Greta De Lazzaris
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              A theater documentary following a company through the turbulent creative process of a show in search of its script. Engulfed by the uncertainty of the present, the actors wind up disoriented and confused between their lives and the play taking shape.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              When Spring Came to Bucha

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              • Mila Teshaieva, Marcus Lenz
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                A touching documentary on the personal impact of the Russian occupation of the Bucha region in March 2022. Traumatized locals and volunteers try to restore life from the ruins, while the war is still present in cities that have suffered heavy attacks.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Will You Look at Me

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                • Shuli Huang
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  As filmmaker Shuli Huang returns to his Chinese hometown in search for himself, a long due conversation with his mother plunges the two of them into a quest for acceptance and love in this Cannes award-winning film.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  The Yellow Ceiling

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  • Isabel Coixet
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  • 2022

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    A powerful account of abuse at a Spanish youth theater school. Testimonies from victims offer insight into the cunning manipulations of the perpetrator, who placed all his actions within the context of “theater.”

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    You Have No Idea How Much I Love You

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    • Pawel Lozinski
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    • 2016

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      During a mother and daughter’s intimately filmed sessions with a psychotherapist, blame, grief and anger gradually make way for reconciliation. Their uniquely personal relationship ultimately reveals itself to be deeply universal.

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