Fernanda

Fernanda Ocaña, a 60-year-old drag artist from Seville, left her hometown at 14 to build a life in Barcelona. Taken in by the iconic Spanish artist José Pérez Ocaña, she immersed herself in the world of show business. Today, she continues to shine as the host of the Bar Ocaña in Plaza Real, welcoming guests with her unmistakable charm.

The Dialogue

The journey of eight diverse youth in China confronting cultural differences. Crossing Borders - Widening Horizons - Building Bridges between Cultures

Are You Awake?

After seeking transcendence through shamanic rituals, Ana’s life is transformed overnight by an unexpected turn toward faith.

Looking Back Before You Leap

A collection of memories from a tumultuous time at University.

I Wish

Hong Kong started and flourished as a fishing port in the past, and its people have long been committed to worshipping ancient deities for their blessings. With over a hundred Tin Hau temples (Goddess of Sea) in Hong Kong, there are three on Lamma Island alone, located respectively in Sok Kwu Wan, Luk Chau and Yung Shue Wan. The film documents the states of Tin Hau temples on the island and beyond, as an attempt to contextualise the everyday practice of the fishing community, islanders and city dwellers visiting the temples.

A Life Too Short

Social media superstar Qandeel Baloch pushed boundaries in conservative Pakistan like no other. In 2016, high on her newfound celebrity, Qandeel exposes a well-known Muslim cleric – with tragic results.

Option Zero

There are countless stories of Cubans reaching their dream destination of Florida as boat refugees. A lesser known route to the United States starts with a flight in a ramshackle plane to Guyana. Then the refugees travel to Colombia where they cross the jungle to arrive in Central America, from where they hope to reach the promised land of America—a hard and dangerous journey. Cuban filmmaker Marcel Beltrán visits them in a refugee camp in Panama, where one of the residents gives him an idea. Many people here have filmed their journey, she says, and these videos tell their real story. These jerky, shocking videos are interspersed with Beltrán’s footage of the camp, tangibly illustrating the difference between the hectic pace of the journey and the insecure life at the reception center.

White Riot

Exploring how punk influenced politics in late-1970s Britain, when a group of artists united to take on the National Front, armed only with a fanzine and a love of music.

The Warp and the Weft

Set in Varanasi, an ancient city of India, Tana Bana offers a rare look at the hidden world of Moslem weavers and Hindu traders and how their lives are interwoven through the production of the silk and the beauty it creates. However, as the technology advances, the trade is threatened by computerization and globalization.

Yeshua

Split into five parts and filmed on location in Israel and elsewhere, Yeshua features interviews with scholars, reenactments of events, and recreations of ancient culture and ritual.

Town Destroyer

Controversy erupts over a New-Deal-era mural of the namesake of San Francisco’s George Washington High School. The thirteen-panel artwork "The Life of Washington" by Victor Arnautoff offers a view of the Founding Father both celebratory and critical, referencing his involvements in slavery and Native American genocide.

Les Scandales de « La Religieuse »

Released in 1796 posthumously, The Nun, a novel that Diderot did not dream of publishing during his lifetime, as he knew it to be revolutionary, caused the same explosion in the 19th century France as in that of the 1960s, when Jacques Rivette decided to adapt it, with Anna Karina in the title role. “This film is banned and it will remain so!” said the General de Gaulle. Exploration of an indictment of incredible modernity which, through the tragedy of the young Suzanne, locked up in the convent against her will, denounces the inequity of a society denying women all moral, political and sexual freedom.

Ghuza da Sher

The story of Nisar Ahmed Khan, told through his children and the people he served, a spiritual guide whose followers still visit his tomb on his birth and death anniversaries. And alongside how his family spends a few days at the village keeping his traditions alive.

The Jupiter Menace

George Kennedy narrates this documentary that examines the theory that the world is doomed due to the influence the planet Jupiter has on the Earth.

Rock Against Police

February 1980, young Abdelkader Lareiche was shot in the head by a building guard in a housing estate in Vitry. In a context marked by several racist crimes and a policy of security repression, his friends are mobilizing around the “Rock Against Police” movement. Forty years after the events, Philomène sets out to meet the activists and actors of this movement. “Memory is not commemoration, it is the living part of History” confides Mounsi about the massacre of October 17, 1961. This is the heart of Nabil Djedouani’s project, to restore a moment in a living way. of the militant history of the suburbs, registered here in the Rock Against Police movement, but which cannot be restricted to it. A thread stretched from the 1980s to today, which continues to “analyze the collective and murderous unconscious of the French State” and the ways of resisting and revolting.

Stand

Raw and unflinching examination of the courageous life of basketball star and social justice activist Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. Born Chris Jackson, he overcame tremendous adversity to reach the NBA and found his true calling when he converted to Islam. His decision not to stand for the national anthem, however, turned him from prodigy to pariah. Told candidly by Abdul-Rauf himself more than 20 years later it’s the remarkable story of one man who kept the faith and paved the way for a social justice movement.

Dia de Visita

Liubov

Liubov, a Russian lady who lives in Mexico City. During the routine of her day, Liubov will recall the experiences she had with death, from childhood to adulthood.

I Will Speak English

'An instructional film made on behalf of the Department of Social Welfare, demonstrating a new technique to teach English to illiterate adult audiences in the Gold Coast. (..) This is a film with an almost entirely African cast, depicting an African teacher instructing a group of African students, produced by a predominantly African crew. Yet, the subject of the film – encouraging the widespread teaching of English – jars with this image of a modern Gold Coast. Just as the Gold Coast Film Unit was overseen by British figures – such as Sean Graham and, in this case, George Noble – this film also endorses the retention of British influence within a new national identity'. - Tom Rice, for colonialfilm.org

Preschool to Prison

Preschool to Prison is a compelling examination of how the United States public school system is built and operated like prisons. Zero-tolerance policies are used to justify suspension and arrests that set up a pathway to send children of color and children with special needs from school to prison. Children are being suspended, restrained, dragged, physically manhandled, and subsequently arrested for minor offenses such as throwing candy on a school bus. These personal accounts from people affected by the school-to-prison pipeline give riveting tales about the generational impact on society.