The Diary of a Sky unfolds an atmospheric symphony of violence over Beirut, revealing the haunting fusion of incessant Israeli military flights and the hum of generators during blackouts. This 45-minute video essay plunges viewers into a chilling chronicle of daily life transformed by the weaponization of the air, where the terror of repeated incursions becomes a disconcertingly banal backdrop.
What Is to Be Done? A Journey from Prague to Ceský Krumlov, or How I Formed a New Government (1996)
Quite a few years have passed since November 1989. Czechoslovakia has been divided up and, in the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus’s right-wing government is in power. Karel Vachek follows on from his film New Hyperion, thus continuing his series of comprehensive film documentaries in which he maps out Czech society and its real and imagined elites in his own unique way.
The New Greatness Case (2022)
Anya was an ordinary Moscow teenager who found a chat group of her choice online. They talked about animals, the stars and social issues. A man called Ruslan D joined the group, who set up an office space for the online group to meet. Step by step, he began to lead young people who were critical of the Putin's regime towards political activism. Ruslan D placed a camera in the meeting room, and when he had enough footage, he handed it over to the prosecutor. The police raided the teenagers' homes and they were arrested on charges of planning to overthrow the government and terrorism. Three years of legal proceedings transformed Anya's mother from a loyal follower of Putin to a hunger-striking activist. Moscow-based director Anna Shishova followed Anya and her mother's life throughout the event and eventually revealed the true identity of Ruslan D.
Crimes of Honour (1999)
Throughout the Islamic world, each year hundreds of women are shot, stabbed, strangled or burned to death by male relatives because they are thought to have “dishonoured” their families. They may have lost their virginity, refused an arranged marriage or left an abusive husband. Even if a woman is raped or merely the victim of gossip, she must pay the price. Crimes of Honour documents the terrible reality of femicide – the belief that a girl’s body is the property of the family, and any suggestion of sexual impropriety must be cleansed with her blood. We meet women in hiding from their families, a brother who describes his reasons for killing the sister he loved, and a handful of women who have committed themselves to the protection of young women in danger of losing their lives.
Locations: Looking for Rusty James (2013)
A personal meditation on Rumble Fish, the legendary film directed by Francis Ford Coppola in 1983; the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, where it was shot; and its impact on the life of several people from Chile, Argentina and Uruguay related to film industry.
Transgender Nuclear Suicide Sojourner (2023)
Lies can kill. Transgender Nuclear Suicide Sojourner is an exploration of propaganda, lies, and the overwhelming urge to end it all.
In the Intense Now (2017)
A personal essay which analyses and compares images of the political upheavals of the 1960s. From the military coup in Brazil to China's Cultural Revolution, from the student uprisings in Paris to the end of the Prague Spring.
Collective (2019)
In the aftermath of a tragic fire in a Romanian club, burn victims begin dying in hospitals from wounds that were not life threatening. A team of investigative journalists move into action uncovering the mass corruption of the health system and of the state institutions. Collective follows journalists, whistle blowers, and authorities alike. An immersive and uncompromising look into a dysfunctional system, exposing corruption, propaganda, and manipulation that nowadays affect not only Romania, but societies around the world.
Taon Noong Ako'y Anak sa Labas (2008)
Filmmaker John Torres describes his childhood and discusses his father's infidelities.
Visions of Europe (2004)
Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.
To Stay Alive: A Method (2016)
Iggy Pop reads and recites Michel Houellebecq’s manifesto. The documentary features real people from Houellebecq’s life with the text based on their life stories.
The Firm Stitch (2020)
The creative process of the first crochet fashion collection fully developed by male prisoners in Brazil and presented at the country's main fashion event, The São Paulo Fashion Week.
Lynch/Oz (2023)
Victor Fleming’s 1939 film The Wizard of Oz is one of David Lynch’s most enduring obsessions. This documentary goes over the rainbow to explore this Technicolor through-line in Lynch’s work.
Filmfarsi (2019)
A found-footage essay, Filmfarsi salvages low budget thrillers and melodramas suppressed following the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The Grass Dwellers (2022)
Juan Méndez Bernal leaves his house on the 9th of april of 1936 to fight in the imminent Spanish Civil War. 83 years later, his body is still one of the Grass Dwellers. The only thing that he leaves from those years on the front is a collection of 28 letters in his own writing.
Solidarność: How Solidarity Changed Europe (2019)
Gdańsk, Poland, September 1980. Lech Wałęsa and other Lenin shipyard workers found Solidarność (Solidarity), the first independent trade union behind the Iron Curtain. The long and hard battle to bring down communist dictatorship has begun.
Acasă, My Home (2020)
In the wilderness of the Bucharest Delta, nine children and their parents lived in perfect harmony with nature for 20 years – until they are chased out and forced to adapt to life in the big city.
Once Upon a Time in Venezuela (2020)
Once upon a time, the Venezuelan village of Congo Mirador was prosperous, alive with fisherman and poets. Now it is decaying and disintegrating—a small but prophetic reflection of Venezuela itself.
Land Rush (2012)
A partnership between the Government of Mali and an American agricultural investor may see 200-square kilometers of Malian land transformed into a large-scale sugar cane plantation. Land Rush documents the hopes, fears, wishes, and demands of small-scale subsistence farmers in the region who look to benefit, or lose out, from the deal.