Čičmany

Everyday Life in a Syrian Village

The first documentary to present an unabashed critique of the impact of the Syrian government’s agricultural and land reforms, Everyday Life in a Syrian Village delivers a powerful jab at the state’s conceit of redressing social and economic inequities.

Full Metal Village

The film describes the microcosmos of the small village Wacken and shows the clash of the cultures, before and during the biggest heavy metal festival in Europe.

Women 50 Minutes

A representation of queer and feminist imagery that was mainly shot in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, remote and developing areas in southwest China, and metropolitan cities like Beijing from 2000 to 2004 to document the social changes in contemporary China. The director sympathetically and erotically represents a variety of women, including women as laborers, women as prayers, women in the ground, women in marriage, and women who lie on the funeral pyre with their dead husbands. Her camera juxtaposes the mountains and rivers in old times, the commercialized handicrafts as exposition, the capital exploitation of the elders’ living space, and the erotic freedom of the young people in a changing city.

The Punk of Natashquan

In 1981, an unusual person arrives in Natashquan, marking the beginning of an unlikely love story between this small Quebec village and the young man they call “The Punk”. Five years later, he vanishes without a trace, forever impacting the community.

A Small Town in China

Shot by Methodist missionaries, this is an incredibly charming record of small-town life in an unidentified location in China. We see a bustling wharf town with canal-side dwellings, distinctive school buildings, and a hospital where newly graduated nurses pose for a group portrait. The relaxed smiles of Chinese and Europeans are captured in intimate close-ups, suggesting a tight-knit community.

The Cornish Riviera

Sail away to a bygone Cornwall in this wistful coastal travelogue.

Dadi's Family

Dadi manages an extended family in Haryana, Northern India, where daughters-in-law face loneliness and unrealistic expectations. The film delves into family dynamics, highlighting Dadi's firm control amidst tensions. Social and economic shifts challenge traditional values, exemplified by Dadi's son marrying outside the village. Despite clinging to tradition, Dadi adapts to her children's modern aspirations. This narrative reflects the clash between generations and gender roles in 1980s rural India, offering insight into the evolving concept of family.

The Village Pet

Billy the pet seal adapts to village life in Wereham, Norfolk.

The Noise of Time

In the town of Xoco, the spirit of an old villager awakens in search of its lost home. Along its journey, the ghost discovers that the town still celebrates its most important festivities, but also learns that the construction of a new commercial complex called Mítikah will threaten the existence of both the traditions and the town itself.

Čičmianske tajomstvá

Kaab l Dayaa

Intimate discussion with the inhabitants of Kfarbaal, a village tucked in the mountains above Byblos. We hear them share their experiences, deceptions and dreams.

Overwinter

Belarus, Vileika district of Minsk region. Lonely elderly people are leaving for winter to the home of seasonal residence. Each of them carries their own experience and beliefs, but they will have to stay the winter together. The days pass in sicknesses, conversations, watching TV... In mid-winter, there appears a new resident of the house, and the life inside changes.

Alvey: Derbyshire Customs

From Well Dressing to Garland Day and even elephants in Alfreton - a celebration of the traditional customs of Derbyshire.

Milton Keynes - A Village City

"The most exciting thing going on in Europe, if not the world": welcome to Milton Keynes circa 1973.

Little Chesterford - Village Fire

There's an enchanting folkloric quality to this eclair newsreel showing a remote Essex village ravaged by fire.

The Coast of Commerce

Take a revealing tour along a coast of contrasts, from the folksy freshness of Whitby to the coaly Tyne, queen of all rivers.

A Hakka Song

A song is heard in the distance. It comes from the Hekeng village, famous for its ancient earthen buildings, also called tulou. It is where the last original Hakka families live amidst the exodus of those looking for a more modern environment. Among them there is Zhang Zhouyin, an elderly man concerned about the state of the village's temple; or her daughter-in-law, Wei Yi, who spends her entire day guiding tourists through these awe-inspiring houses. And then there’s young Zhang Weibo, her son, who manages to find joy even in the simplest of things... Hekeng: a place frozen in time whose songs have endured for centuries.

Horse Wrangler

Nando, a young horse wrangler in a rural Mexican village, has taken his own life following a disagreement with his father. Caballerango shows the boy’s family members and townspeople as they reckon with the new realities borne out of this inexplicable tragedy. Each account of Nando’s story reveals a different aspect of this rural town, which is deeply affected by modernization. The confrontation between the centuries-old ways of life and the modern-day world seems to be creating serious identity crises among the younger generation. The story is told in a patient, observational style with methodical shots of the landscape, ranches, and of the two white horses, whom Nando and his father tended to. Those horses, the last to see Nando alive, connect us to an ethereal sensation of almost otherworldly mystical beings.

The Last Austrians

In a valley in the Ukrainian Carpathian forest lies the small and forgotten town of Königsfeld. In 1775, the Habsburg Queen, Maria Theresa, sent a hundred foresters and their families here from the Austrian west of the kingdom. All that remains today of the now over two century-old timber industry are factory ruins, potholes in the valley road and an increasingly seldom heard German dialect. Only a few factories survived a flood that cut the village off from the rest of the world, and left it economically isolated. An atmosphere of farewell hangs heavy in the air.