Social & External
Afghan documentary maker Najiba Noori offers not only a loving and intimate portrait of her mother Hawa, but also shows in detail how the arduous improvement of the position of women is undone by geopolitical violence. The film follows the fortunes of Noori’s family, who belong to the Hazaras, an ethnic group that has suffered greatly from discrimination and persecution.
Edeltraut Hertel - a midwife caught between two worlds. She has been working as a midwife in a small village near Chemnitz for almost 20 years, supporting expectant mothers before, during and after the birth of their offspring. However, working as a midwife brings with it social problems such as a decline in birth rates and migration from the provinces. Competition for babies between birthing centers has become fierce, particularly in financial terms. Obstetrics in Tanzania, Africa, Edeltraud's second place of work, is completely different. Here, the midwife not only delivers babies, she also trains successors, carries out educational and development work and struggles with the country's cultural and social problems.
After twelve years in exile, Syrian journalist and filmmaker Daham Alasaad returns to Homs, devastated by the war in Syria. Once the city of his childhood, it is now a relic of an authoritarian regime, where different communities (Sunnis, Christians, Alawites) are trying to rebuild their lives together after terrible years of division and destruction. Thanks to Daham Alasaad's close relationship with the city's inhabitants, the director highlights some very moving characters, torn between grief, fear, the need for justice, and the desire for peace and reconciliation. By opening up naturally to the camera, they allow viewers to experience what Syrians of all backgrounds are going through today. "Homs-Syria, Life After" is a personal and political investigation into the ability of this symbolic city to rebuild hope on the ruins of a Syria ravaged by more than fifteen years of war and facing an uncertain future.
Svitlana, a Russian-speaking Ukrainian, examines the colonised part of her consciousness and tries to find answers to the question of how Soviet totalitarianism and Russification influenced the relationships within her family.
Composed of intimate and unencumbered moments of people in a community, this film is constructed in a form that allows the viewer an emotive impression of the Historic South - trumpeting the beauty of life and consequences of the social construction of race, while simultaneously a testament to dreaming.
Milana, Sephora, and Mario are between seventeen and twenty-six years old. They grew up in modest, stigmatized rural Manouche families. Unlike their parents, they have degrees and work as employees. They have dreams to fulfill.
In the CHUV training center in Lausanne, ‘fake’ patients and ‘real’ carers simulate medical consultations, to learn how to perform kindness. But in an increasingly liberal hospital system, which itself exerts violence on medical staff, is this relational ideal really possible?
A documentary shot by filmmakers all over the world that serves as a time capsule to show future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010.
A close-up portrait of the daily lives of a pair of cows: told by way of some narrative-free, intimate POV photography, with plenty of close shot images, we follow the daily routine of these animals as they live what can only be described as mundane, boring lives - all with an ultimate purpose within the human food chain.
Hospital staff are reporting more violence and anti-social behaviour than ever before. In 2015, 8 staff were assaulted every hour – a new record high. At The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham – one of the UK’s biggest hospitals – they think they have the answer. Here a private security force of 46 uniformed guards, and a sophisticated CCTV system, keep staff and patients safe. A colourful mixture of characters ranging from ex-soldiers, to bouncers, to former elite sportsmen, it’s the security team’s job to keep the hospital running smoothly. With more than 2 million visitors they have to deal with all aspects of crime and anti-social behaviour. All against a back drop of life changing and life saving procedures.
By drawing a parallel between the Indian Durga Puja festival and other forms of celebrating the divine feminine, Santa Shakti reveals the Sacred Power beyond languages and religions.
Burning Out is literally a drama about life and death. For two years, the Belgian director Jérôme le Maire followed the members of a surgical unit in one of the biggest hospitals in Paris. Constantly under severe stress, understaffed and subject to severe budget cuts, employees fight each other for resources. Meanwhile the management imposes ever more stringent efficiency and profitability targets. All over Europe burnout has reached epidemic proportions among employees in the public and private sectors. Will we end up killing ourselves? Or will we be able to find meaning and joy at work?
A short doco following the mundane flow of Melburnians as they go about their day, recounting their most recent dream.
Pacha works as a midwife in a war zone in Colombia. The intimate portrait of her life and profession, is the jump off point for a larger portrayal of life lived despite insurmountable obstacles in a world ravaged by war.
A journey through Ukraine that reveals the banality of evil behind the Russian invasion with the shocking juxtaposition of two realities: the Ukrainians who have been suffering and resisting the war violence, and the Russian military, and civilians, who have been perpetrating it.
A non-narrated documentary following the lovesome lives of four infants from birth to their first birthday. The babies featured are two from rural areas: Ponijao from Opuwo, Namibia, and Bayar from Bayanchandmani, Mongolia, as well as two from urban areas: Mari from Tokyo, Japan, and Hattie from San Francisco, USA.
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.
The film is based on interviews with 2,000 women from 50 countries, and covers the status of women all over the world. The topics covered include forced marriages, sexual assault, female genital mutilation, acid attacks, motherhood, sexuality, menstruation, education and the professional success of women.
Imagine a world of incredible color and beauty. Of crabs wearing jellyfish for hats. Of fish disguised as frogs, stones and shag carpets. Of a kaleidoscope of life dancing and weaving, floating and darting in an underwater wonderland. Now, go explore it! Howard Hall and his filmmaking team, who brought you Deep Sea and Into the Deep, take you into tropical waters alive with adventure: the Great Barrier Reef and other South Pacific realms. Narrated by Jim Carrey and featuring astonishing camerawork, this amazing film brings you face to fin with Nature's marvels, from the terrible grandeur (and terrible teeth) of a Great White to the comic antics of a lovestruck cuttlefish. Excitement and fun run deep Under the Sea!
Police pull over a woman who claims she just gave birth. But the baby — and the blood — aren't hers. Twisted lies unravel in this true-crime documentary.
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.
A look at the origins, history and conspiracies behind the "Majestic 12", a clandestine group of military and corporate figureheads charged with reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology.
A documentary focused on plastic pollution in the world's oceans.
What does being a woman really mean? How do women live the status society reserves for them? A group of women, beautiful or not, young or not, gifted with motherly instinct or not, answer before Agnès Varda's camera.
Alternately hilarious and horrifying, Overnight chronicles one man's misadventures of making a Hollywood movie. It starts out as a rags to riches story as Troy Duffy, a Boston-bred bartender, sells his first screenplay for The Boondock Saints.
A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.
Al Pacino's deeply-felt rumination on Shakespeare's significance and relevance to the modern world through interviews and an in-depth analysis of "Richard III."
Interviews with leading authors, philosophers and scientists, with an in-depth discussion of the Law of Attraction. The audience is shown how they can learn and use 'The Secret' in their everyday lives.
This character-driven film considers the evolving sex trafficking landscape as seen by the main players: the exploited, the pimps, the johns that fuel the business, and the cops who fight to stop it.
A purely observational non-fiction film that takes viewers into the ethically murky world of end-of-life decision making in a public hospital.
An intimate journey through the formative years of David Lynch's life. From his idyllic upbringing in small town America to the dark streets of Philadelphia, we follow Lynch as he traces the events that have helped to shape one of cinema's most enigmatic directors.
This special explores the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to the screen, as well as Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen to their classic roles. Director Deborah Chow leads the cast and crew as they create new heroes and villains that live alongside new incarnations of beloved Star Wars characters, and an epic story that dramatically bridges the saga films.
Each year in the United States, unparalleled innovations in medical diagnostics, treatment, and technology hit the market. But when the same devices designed to save patients end up harming them, who is accountable?
Amber Heard and Nicole Kidman discuss their characters Mera and Atlanna.
