A special subject matter accompanied by intriguing characters are sometimes all that a film needs. But when the execution is done skilfully and beautifully as well, the results are something quite exceptional. Such is the case with Mehrdad Ouskoei’s documentary Sunless Shadows. A group of cheerful young women are out in a yard playing hopscotch […]
Lea Tsemel is a Jewish-Israeli lawyer who has been defending Palestinian political prisoners for nearly 50 years. Her tireless quest for justice pushes the praxis of a human rights defender to its limits. — In Advocate, filmmakers Philippe Bellaiche and Rachel Leah Jones deconstruct this controversial figure who will defend anyone who opposes what she […]
The Molenbeek district of Brussels. A believed jihadi capital to some but familiar home to the 6 year-old boys Aatos and Amine. This is where they listen to spiders, discover black holes and quarrel over who gets to command the flying carpet that is to take them to the lands of their ancestors. They live […]
This documentary about the transgender whistleblower and former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning takes its title from her Twitter handle, @xychelsea. “Where would you start the story – your story?” director Tim Travers Hawkins asks his subject. The lens keeps refocusing on Manning’s face, as though it can’t quite get a clear visual. Though she […]
A lonely 40-year-old man sits on the balcony of a Finnish apartment building. Joonas Berghäll has learned that he will die in 14 years’ time, unless he changes his way of living or attitude towards life. Joonas wants to make a film about the state of wellbeing of Finnish men, drawing from his own experiences […]
If you were looking for evidence of Chinese designs on building a modern-day empire, you would have to look no further than Africa: a vast continent whose natural resources – and government borrowing sprees – have helped fuel the engine of China’s economic growth. So goes the conventional logic, at least; yet the reality of […]
Petter Sommer and Jo Vemund Svendsen’s documentary follows a choral group made up of modest, unpretentious middle-aged men. These guys make no claims to great artistry; they just love to sing, laugh, and bond, and their time together is precious. We see them preparing for their biggest gig ever – opening up for rock giants […]
For Sama is the first documentary by 26-year-old citizen journalist Waad al-Kateab. She dedicates the film to her newborn daughter: “I need you to understand why your father and I made the choices we did, what we were fighting for.” With a simple digital camera, she documents the Syrian uprising against Assad in the rebel stronghold […]
The Tortoise and The Hare / Kilpkonn ja Jänes Director: Ülo Pikkov Country: Eesti Year: 2020 Length: 10 min A story of a mother and son and a race against a turtle where you always lose. Ülo Pikkov is an internationally renowned filmmaker, producer and film scholar. He studied animation at the Turku Arts Academy in Finland. Has […]
The Forum centres on Klaus Schwab, the 81-year-old founder of the World Economic Forum, the non-for-profit organisation that looks to improve the state of the world through dialogue between leaders across all areas of society. It follows Schwab for a year when the world is dealing with issues including the climate crisis, Brexit, France’s ‘gilets […]