Politzek, the voices that challenge the Kremlin

In Russia, criticizing the war in Ukraine or Vladimir Putin’s regime has become a crime. Thousands of ordinary citizens are being arrested, tried, and imprisoned. They are called “Politzek”: political prisoners. Filmed clandestinely over the course of more than a year, Politzek gives a platform to those who, despite the fear, continue to speak out against Putin’s repressive Russia. Through the intersecting stories of a teenager sentenced to five years in prison for criticizing the government on social media, a young artist jailed for placing anti-war stickers, a human rights activist, and two theater directors facing Kafkaesque trials, the film unveils the machinery of state repression in Russia. With rare footage, broken yet unyielding voices, this is a story of silenced resistance.

Quando i tedeschi non sapevano nuotare

Libere

Eritrean People's Liberation Front

BBC's Simon Dring's film focuses on the EPLF, Eritrean People's Liberation Front, which is battling Ethiopian forces. The film includes interviews with Ali Sayed, EPLF head of foreign missions, and Mohammed Ramadan Nour, General Secretary.

Tell Your Tale, Little Bird

Seven militant women (fedaiyat) of the revolutionary generation tell the story of the Palestinian resistance through accounts of their own lives. Cut from 35 hours of interviews with leaders of the armed struggle, the film presents an image of confident, unapologetic and proud feminine identity. Together, the memories of these women narrate the dream of a generation, yet unrealized.

Algeria in Flames

These are the first images shot in the ALN maquis, camera in hand, at the end of 1956 and in 1957. These war images taken in the Aurès-Nementchas are intended to be the basis of a dialogue between French and Algerians for peace in Algeria, by demonstrating the existence of an armed organization close to the people. Three versions of Algeria in Flames are produced: French, German and Arabic. From the end of the editing, the film circulates without any cuts throughout the world, except in France where the first screening takes place in the occupied Sorbonne in 1968. Certain images of the film have circulated and are found in films, in particular Algerian films. Because of the excitement caused by this film, he was forced to go into hiding for 25 months. After the declaration of independence, he founded the first Algerian Audiovisual Center.

The Holy Spirit: Pyramids, Healing Energy and Virgin Mary in Bosnia

Mysterious stone spheres, a pyramid with an EM Beam, and tunnels with healing energy fascinate. Search for the Holy Spirit, strange phenomena, spiritual awakening, healing, and meeting the Virgin Mary brings spiritual people from all over the globe to Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the Apparition Hill in Medjugorje, pilgrims find new connections to God and strengthen their faith, some find healing.

Tibet: The Survival of the Spirit

Meteshu innushkueu

I Beg You to Like Me

“I Beg You To Like Me”, serves as a testimony of individuals who felt oppressed about their body image for not meeting the standard beauty criteria, and demonstrates how a reckless language based on others’ physical appearance could turn violent. It aims to achieve much more than simply stating the obvious, which is that we are not obligated to submit to the ideal beauty standards dictated by the media, consumerism and the beauty industry. The intimate stories about one’s own body image as told by women, men, disabled people and LGBT individuals make it apparent that any one of us could end up being a victim and a perpetrator at the same time. What if, this iconic body image is nothing but an unobtainable fallacy? “Is it not yet the time to openly discuss the conventional perception of beauty, and step up onto the catwalk in our actual likeness?

Myanmar: The Rebel Army

After the coup d'état on 1 February 2021, which brought the ten-year transition to democracy in Myanmar to an abrupt end, thousands of young urbanites, both men and women, gave up their lives to join the resistance against the junta.

The Gállok Rebellion

A movie about the struggle in Gállok, a struggle against british Beowulf Mining Plc. For clean water and a mine free Sápmi.

Brigadistas

Die Gabe zu heilen

The film tells the stories of five people with special abilities who treat and heal their patients in an unconventional way. These charismatic healers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland are the subjects of this documentary which sets out to show how their old-school, arcane methods can serve as an addition to conventional, academic medicine.

Thus Spake Vanga

А film about the world-famous prophetess Vanga with unique, hitherto unseen shots, in which she is the main character and in which she speaks only, sharing how the gift of seeing into the future overshadowed her, what miracles she witnessed in her long life. Vanga meets the tragic fates of different people, to whom she inspires faith and comfort. At the same time, with her own funds, she built the church "St. Petka" in Rupite, painted by the artist Svetlin Russev. The film was shot for years until the last days of the prophetess, leaving it to mature in the minds of the authors and is dramatically meaningful with the attitude towards it and with today's view of the presented events.

Violently in Love

Behind the closed doors of the Copenhagen-based women's shelter, the women and children are slowly recovering after having escaped domestic violence. Day by day the women are processing their traumas, building confidence and slowly understanding what it takes to break the cycle of violence.

La operación

Documentary on the mass sterilization of Puerto Rican women during the 1950s and '60s.

Qigong: Ancient Chinese Healing for the 21st Century

This documentary introduces viewers to qigong, a 5,000-year-old method of cultivating and circulating the life energy called qi. It relates some of the history of qigong, as well as scientific evidence of efficacy. We also see qigong used in various contexts in modern China, and hear from Chinese doctors and qigong practitioners. The film was originally produced for the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.

Variations on How to Farm a City

Sprout. In the vacant lots against the hammering of buildings always under construction, between walls of granite, cement and sheet metal with rust, moss and cats; on the hillside between the train and the river, next to the traffic on the highway, facing the subway, vegetable gardens sprout. In this city, the choreography of ancient gestures of cultivating the land is repeated day after day, without fail. Sowing, digging, harvesting, watering, eating, talking, resting and returning the next day. The longest day of the year brings S. João and nobody goes to bed, but when the sun rises, the discreet gestures of resistance will restart.

The Knowledge of Healing

A documentary film about Tibetan traditional medicine.

Baraka

A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.

In the Realms of the Unreal

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.

Cameraperson

As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.

Wick Is Pain

Witness the never-before-seen footage and true story behind the John Wick phenomenon – from independent film to billion-dollar franchise.

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing

Documentary about the art of film editing. Clips are shown from many groundbreaking films with innovative editing styles.

Sidney

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.

Maria by Callas

Told through performances, TV interviews, home movies, family photographs, private letters and unpublished memoirs, the film reveals the essence of an extraordinary woman who rose from humble beginnings in New York City to become a glamorous international superstar and one of the greatest artists of all time.

Night Will Fall

When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".

A Plastic Ocean

A documentary focused on plastic pollution in the world's oceans.

Val

For over 40 years Val Kilmer, one of Hollywood’s most mercurial and/or misunderstood actors has been documenting his own life and craft through film and video. He has amassed thousands of hours of footage, from 16mm home movies made with his brothers, to time spent in iconic roles for blockbuster movies like Top Gun, The Doors, Tombstone, and Batman Forever. This raw, wildly original and unflinching documentary reveals a life lived to extremes and a heart-filled, sometimes hilarious look at what it means to be an artist and a complex man.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return

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.

IMAX Hubble

An IMAX 3D camera chronicles the effort of 7 astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

These Amazing Shadows

Tells the history and importance of The National Film Registry, a roll call of American cinema treasures that reflects the diversity of film, and indeed the American experience itself.

Machete Maidens Unleashed!

In the final decades of the 20th century, the Philippines was a country where low-budget exploitation-film producers were free to make nearly any kind of movie they wanted, any way they pleased. It was a country with extremely lax labor regulations and a very permissive attitude towards cultural expression. As a result, it became a hotbed for the production of cheapie movies. Their history and the genre itself are detailed in this breezy, nostalgic documentary.

Tupac: Resurrection

Home movies, photographs, and recited poetry illustrate the life of Tupac Shakur, one of the most beloved, revolutionary, and volatile hip-hop MCs of all time.

Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story

The authorized documentary celebrating the film that redefined Hollywood, 50 years after its premiere. Featuring rare archival footage and interviews with acclaimed Hollywood directors alongside Steven Spielberg, top shark scientists, and conservationists, the film uncovers the behind-the-scenes chaos and how the film launched the summer blockbuster, inspired a new wave of filmmakers, and paved the way for shark conservation that continues today.

Heal

A documentary film that takes us on a scientific and spiritual journey where we discover that by changing one's perceptions, the human body can heal itself from any disease.

Seduced and Abandoned

SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.

Tricked: The Documentary

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.

McQueen

Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.