"Can you love the desert after living in the Caribbean?"
...the desert is your own face, and if you don't love your own face, who could you love someday?...
Social & External
At DIFAJE, the Family and Youth Affairs Division of the Bobigny Court, the duties of young prosecutors are the same, with one exception: they deal with minors who are either victims or perpetrators of crimes. For the latter, the prosecutor is the first person they deal with in the legal system, their first point of contact. He or she is the one who gives society's initial response to a young person whose future is already uncertain. Between prevention and punishment, the magistrate's role is a delicate one. He or she must combine authority with education. He or she must deal with the reality of a complex environment and with the differences and vulnerabilities of each individual.
A documentary about a night café called Walkers, its workers and the youth – largely immigrants – populating the café during the night.
Today in France, one in five young people suffers from severe depressive symptoms, and the number of minors visiting psychiatric emergency rooms has tripled in the last five years. Despite the political will that has been demonstrated, child psychiatry is nevertheless faced with a severe lack of resources. The interminable waiting times for treatment are causing a surge in prescriptions for psychotropic drugs.
Rapper and breakdancer Teekay from Eindhoven is known for his somersaults and vlogs that are causing a stir. During the corona riots in 2021, he not only gained national fame as a vlog reporter, but also ended up briefly in jail. After his junior year, Teekay wants to change course and, above all, be an example for other young people. In the film he takes us into his life and talks about his childhood in foster homes, the mistakes he made and about his dreams. What is Teekay looking for?
Jasmin is joy, living in the moment. A 15-year-old boy described as "non-verbal autistic." He communicates through his eyes. He makes sounds, says a word. He constantly sings the rhythm of a song whose lyrics only he knows. A bubble of sweetness and love.
The Wonder Commission is a new music commission of The Well, composed by Dr. Brian Raphael Nabors and performed by the Antigone Music Collective. Inspiration for the new music emerges from Nabors' conversation with writer, physicist, and professor at MIT, Alan Lightman. The music also integrates the voices of youth from UpSpring's Summer 360 camp for unhoused youth and their questions about science, wonder, and hope.
Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, in rural Alsace. A vocational high school. A class of year 12 ASSP (Assistance, Care and Service to Person) pupils experience contemporary dancing based on improvised contacts for the first time.
Eleni is 16 and has just moved from California to Virginia, where she must adapt to a new school. This comes easily to her thanks to her intense passion, which she instills in her peers. She becomes president of the school's rocket club and aims to build the perfect model for a competition attended by hundreds of teams from across the United States.
Over many years, the director’s father filmed his family life almost obsessively. His daughter’s birth, his son’s first steps, and always Valérie, the young mother. An impressive fund of material which their now grown-up daughter Faustine appropriates to tell quite a different story: that of a woman who sees her role as a mother and its demands take away her freedom step by step.
Smara is the city of dust, kingdom of sirocco, a surviving ruin of a suffocating region… Thousands of Sahrawis who fled Western Sahara after the war against Morocco (36 years ago) live in this refugee camp, located in the Sahara’s inhospitable north, in the middle of the Algerian hamada. They live here, under poor human conditions, thanks to international help. A small film cooperative fights, with barely any means, to elevate the voices of young Saharawis. It is one of the many Nollywoods (Hollywood of emptiness) found in Africa.
Over a dozen students at this school in Quebec were radicalised. To tackle the issue, a pilot project was launched to heal divides within the student body. It's a hybrid cultural model, made up of the many cultures of its students.
A group of young architects, confined to a forest in Barcelona during the COVID crisis, explore the problems generated by the ambition of wanting to be completely self-sufficient.
Those who do not know the Sahara think there is only sand in the desert. But in the desert there are children who play and draw and make movies, and who would like to not have to think about the war. In the desert there's a European colony, an occupied country called Western Sahara, where there are thousands of Sahrawi refugees living a hard life in exile. "Little Sahara" tells their story, the story of a supportive, resilient people who try to thrive and grow in the Hamada, where everything has a hard time growing.
Marta Cardoso, a young dancer from northern Portugal, moves through Lisbon with restless energy, between precarious routines, affections, and a daily life in constant imbalance. Dance becomes her refuge and her cry: a space where the body finds freedom and instinct, and where gesture replaces words. When dancing, she feels close to her inner animal.
This film takes a candid, inside look at the world of juvenile delinquency. We are shown the tough existence on the streets of Montreal, but it could be any city in North America. Some boys as young as ten years of age talk about their lives of crime, the things that are important to them, and the hopes they hold for the future.
Has the time of women finally come? Have their everyday lives truly changed over the past sixty years? Guided by Agnès Jaoui, women—famous and unknown—share their stories across generations. From childhood to retirement, the documentary traces shared experiences shaped by prejudice, but also by hope, strength, and humor. Blending personal archives, historic moments, and social media footage, the film places women at the center of their own story. Welcome to the Time of Women.
This documentary follows two long-lost Ukrainian friends, Arsalan and Nastya, as they reconnect in Germany after russia's full-scale invasion against Ukraine. Arsalan, an actor now in Frankfurt after time in a refugee camp, and Nastya, journalist and producer who stayed in Kyiv, reflect on the divergent paths their lives have taken due to the war. Through their conversations and therapy sessions, the film explores themes of displacement, identity, and the emotional impact of war on youth.
This film, with an autobiographical flavor, was shot in part on the very premises where Father Proulx grew up and highlights the importance of agriculture and the very special attention given to rural youth in the from the Government of Quebec. The farm and its little world are presented during the four seasons: the introduction of children to agricultural work, the holidays, the return to school. From November to the end of April, the older ones take courses in the various agricultural schools scattered across Quebec. In addition to studying the methods of cultivation and breeding, they receive notions of carpentry, blacksmithing and other lessons likely to be useful in their future work as farmers. In the spring, the young girls go to secondary schools of agriculture to learn domestic art, beekeeping, weaving, sewing, etc.
Three teenage women struggle to balance school and passion on their path to success.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.
Ross McElwee sets out to make a documentary about the lingering effects of General Sherman's march of destruction through the South during the Civil War, but is continually sidetracked by women who come and go in his life, his recurring dreams of nuclear holocaust, and Burt Reynolds.
A dreamlike conversation with the past and the present, reimagining Latasha Harlins' story by excavating intimate memories shared by those who loved her.
This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
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."
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
Acclaimed for his unfiltered reporting and deadpan humor, Andrew Callaghan brings his gonzo style reporting to the undercurrents that led to the January 6 Capitol Riot. As one of the best-known and hardest working journalists of his generation, the 25-year-old ventures on a wild RV journey through America to take the pulse of a divided nation.
A documentary that explores the downloading revolution; the kids that created it, the bands and the businesses that were affected by it, and its impact on the world at large.
Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
Martin Scorsese’s portrait of writer and social commentator Fran Lebowitz, celebrated for her sharp wit and observations on modern life. Filmed at New York’s Waverly Inn and intercut with archival footage and interviews, the documentary captures Lebowitz’s distinctive worldview through her spontaneous monologues and public appearances.
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.
This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil.
Nine filmmakers each profile a young girl from a different part of the world to weave a global tapestry of youth in the 21st century.
A real-life undercover thriller about two ordinary men who embark on an outrageously dangerous ten-year mission to penetrate the world's most secretive and brutal dictatorship: North Korea.
This investigation examines the mysterious shooting of soul icon Sam Cooke, whose death silenced one of the most vital voices in the civil rights movement.
A documentary focused on plastic pollution in the world's oceans.