2010s

Over the course of a decade, a young woman becomes increasingly dysfunctional due to undiagnosed mental illness, or perhaps to drugs, while her more stable friend sometimes tries to help, sometimes backs away to preserve herself.Read More »

Synopsis from Women Make Movies:
A tale of two sisters living in the shadow of two Chinas, this documentary by award-winning filmmaker Marlo Poras (Mai’s America; Run Granny Run) follows Juma and Latso, young women from one of the world’s last remaining matriarchal societies. Thrust into the worldwide economic downturn after losing jobs in Beijing and left with few options, they return to their remote Himalayan village. But growing exposure to modernity has irreparably altered traditions of the Mosuo, their tiny ethnic miniority, and home is not the same. Determined to keep their family out of poverty, one sister sacrifices her educational dreams and stays home to farm, while the other leaves, trying her luck in the city. The changes test them in unexpected ways. This visually stunning film highlights today’s realities of women’s lives and China’s vast cultural and economic divides while offering rare views of a surviving matriarchy.Read More »

Quote:
Like his last film, 2008’s 24 City, Jia Zhangke’s Un Certain Regard title I Wish I Knew is a documentary/fiction hybrid about modern-day China. Where 24 City took a personal focus on the citizens of a Chinese town affected by the construction of a high-rise condominium, I Wish I Knew takes a broader view, examining the history of Shanghai as viewed from the present. It combines interviews with citizens, actors, and filmmakers with architectural shots of present-day Shanghai and footage of actress Zhao Tao wandering the city. The film is never less than gorgeous, and there’s often an intuitive and pleasing internal rhythm to how he cuts within and between shots.Read More »

Quote:
An American provincial town’s public consultation about the expansion of the Wal-Mart supermarket, recreated in minute detail as a feature film shot in black-and-white 16mm. The transcript from the real life public hearing is serving as the actors’ manuscript – complete with a five minute break in the middle! – while power-point presentations from the meeting are serving as backdrop.Read More »

Story of Expedito, a retired man who walks through or passes by the streets of Río de Janeiro, Brazil. His reality is shared among millions of Brazilians that gain an invisibility status in the metropolis. Expedito turned into an anonymous, witness of the random conflicts that happens everyday at the streets.Read More »

Synopsis
A family man torn between the love for his family, the boundaries of religion and the freedom to choose whom to love.Read More »

With a screening time equivalent to a full day’s work, Everson turns the cinema into a factory floor. Workers are observed while performing specific tasks, as well as while taking breaks. His humble approach paradoxically results in a monumental film.Read More »

2018 marks the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth. He seized centre stage during a historic trial in 1963 and 1964. But there were eight others who, like him, faced the death sentence. They too were subjected to pitiless cross-examinations. To a man they stood firm and turned the tables on the state: South Africa’s apartheid regime was in the dock. Recently recovered sound archives of those hearings transport us back into the thick of the courtroom battles.Read More »

The film is about a project from Christopher Kirkleys called “Sahel Sounds”. He owns an independent label and travels through the Sahel area in Africa, to find musician with an unique sound. The music he uses for his vinyl publication is often in low audio quality but authentic. The plot shows the whole process, from negotiating a fair deal with musician to producing the vinyl. He also organizes European tours, in the movie he is on a trip with Mamman Sani and Mdou Moctar, two musician who were found by Kirkleys in Niger.Read More »