The Illumination

When Gordon Gund went blind in 1970 at age 30 due to retinitis pigmentosa, he resolved to find a cure for the disease and created the Foundation Fighting Blindness. After decades of scientific research, a major breakthrough emerged, and this short film showcases the inspirational story of a 17-year-old Belgian boy who is a beneficiary of this work.

Shot in the Dark

Shot in the Dark is a documentary on three blind photographers: Pete Eckert, Sonia Soberats and Bruce Hall. A documentary on three blind people who devote their lives to creating images. What do they see in their mind's eyes? Do they sense that which we sighted miss, overlook, or don't take into consideration? Their images, as we sighted can see, are extraordinary. "Even with no input the brain keeps creating images," says Pete Eckert. Sonia Soberats states, "I only understood how powerful light is after I went blind." Shot in the Dark is a journey into an unfamiliar yet fascinating realm. "My camera is like a bridge," claims Bruce Hall. All these photographers embrace fantasy, chance, and contingency at a fundamental level. Shot in the Dark enriches our understanding of perception and creation. We all close our eyes in sleep, the sighted and blind alike, and in our dreams - we see.

My Name is Hungry Buffalo

Jan calls himself Buffalo. He loves cowboys, he’s blind, and may lose his hearing. The documentary follows his journey to America to visit the chief of the Navajo tribe, who wants to perform a ritual to help his hearing. The film is full of unpretentious humor thanks to Jan’s charisma. In the USA, he’s like the Don Quixote of the Wild West - a naive adventurer in a world that is much more ordinary than his imagination. This observational, but not standoffish, film is also an example of how the medium of film can relate to blind people by constantly showing the difference between what Jan perceives and what we actually see.

Resurrecting Hassan

Traces the lives of the Hartings, a blind Montreal family of three who make their living singing in the city's subway stations. The Hartings lost their only sighted child Hassan in a tragic drowning accident, and have since turned to the teachings of Russian mystic Grigori Grabovoi, hoping to resurrect their son. Resurrecting Hassan is an exploration of this family's legacy of grief, tragedy and abuse; the film will follow them on their path to redemption.

Between the Holy and the Profane

Documentary film that takes a visual and anthropological journey through man's spirit across the thin line dividing excessive faith in religious believes and the passion with which he devotes himself to worldly pleasures in a city that coexists in harmony with its double standards. Religion, faith, politics, violence and death are intimately bound in this social portrait.

Earth of the Blind

The film springs from at least three ideas connected to each other in an irrational way: the story of a cow being taken to the butcher, the description of simple pleasures, how to ascend to the top of a hill and descend in a wheelbarrow, and the portraiture of a several blind people. The great, big eyes of the cows are seen in contrast to the unseeing eyes of the blind people.

Au-delà du regard

Spirit/Will/Loss

Sculptor/painter Katie Dallam entered the boxing ring for her first professional fight and, 140 blows to the head later, suffered major brain damage. (Her life became the basis for the movie Million Dollar Baby). Irish musician Graham Sharpe’s career was on the rise when advancing tinnitus caused a ringing in his ears so bad that it put an end to his rock-and-roll dreams. Sculptor Alice Wingwall experienced complete loss of sight from a degenerative eye disease. Game over for these three, right? Not so fast. Each managed to struggle, innovate, and, ultimately, through their art, transform themselves into someone new.

The World at Arm's Length

Sven has a dream. Once in his life he wants to walk the Camino de Santiago - the Way of St. James. But that seems impossible, Sven has Usher syndrome, a disease which slowly, inexorably robs him of hearing and vision. Profoundly deaf and completely blind since 2010, he can only communicate using a special hearing aid in the spoken language.

Algorithms

Four blind Indian boys compete to become chess masters.

Cinema in Sudan: Conversations with Gadalla Gubara

The film builds up a portrait of a great Sudanese film-maker, Gadalla Gubara. At eighty-seven, he is one of the pioneers of cinema in Africa. He has recently lost his sight but still continues to film life in Sudan as no one before him. Through his oeuvre, Gadalla reveals to us a Sudan both mysterious and misunderstood. Despite censorship and lack of financial support over sixty years, he has produced cinema that is independent and unique in a country where freedom of expression is a rare luxury.

The Way Bobby Sees It

The Way Bobby Sees It is a gripping documentary about Bobby McMullen, a competitive mountain biker on a mission to race the most demanding downhill course in the country. Adding to the difficulty: Bobby is legally blind. With the help of a guide and a rigorous training schedule, Bobby is determined to race his bike down a course riddled with obstacles and flanked by steep, life-threatening cliffs. But, the racecourse isn't the only challenge in Bobby's life. Between thrills, spills and jaw dropping helmet camera footage, we see how Bobby uses humor, determination, and unshakeable optimism to battle adversity - both on and off the bike.

Notes on Blindness

In the summer of 1983, just days before the birth of his first son, writer and theologian John Hull went blind. In order to make sense of the upheaval in his life, he began keeping a diary on audio cassette.

My Eyes, in Pieces.

Having undergone a laser eye surgery, Søren struggles with complications that causes his eyesight to worsen. In an attempt to better understand his new reality, Søren starts to film the world around him.

ULLA

A slice-of-life documentary following Ulla, a blind woman adjusting to life after eye removal surgery. With the help of her guide dog, Laina, she navigates Helsinki while pursuing a prosthetic eye and a deeper understanding of photography.

Plating Blind

Nathan Quinell is a fully trained chef… he also happens to be legally deaf and blind. That’s never stopped him from chasing his dreams to become a full-time cook, but now Nathan must prove himself to his peers, his students and potential employers.

I See in the Dark

Confessions of people who have lost their sight during their lives. What are their feelings and how do they view their apparent handicap?

Poem of the Young Hearts

An independently produced documentary about growing up as a blind youth in 1960's Japan. It focuses on a group of elementary level students being taught by Mr. Kawai at the Zoshigaya Branch of Tokyo Educational University. Filmed over 12 years, the documentary tracks these student's lives up through their young adulthood. It follows the journey of one student in particular, Kiyoshi Hasegawa, a young boy who eventually learns a passion for music and wants to become a recording artist. Expanded from director Hideo Hamada's documentary short "But We Can Gaze!"

Rudy & Des

Rudy & Des is a short documentary that tells the story of true friendship between two friends who find a common bond in their love of pro wrestling.

Back to the light

Naqoyqatsi

A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.

My Mom Jayne

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.

Girl Rising

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.

National Gallery

A portrait of the day-to-day operations of the National Gallery of London, that reveals the role of the employees and the experiences of the Gallery's visitors. The film portrays the role of the curators and conservators; the education, scientific, and conservation departments; and the audience of all kinds of people who come to experience it.

Life in a Day

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.

Notes on Blindness

After losing sight in 1983, John Hull began keeping an audio diary, a unique testimony of loss, rebirth and renewal, excavating the interior world of blindness. Following on from the Emmy Award-winning short film of the same name, Notes on Blindness is an ambitious and groundbreaking work, both affecting and innovative.

The Class of ‘92

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.

Heart of a Dog

Lyrical and powerfully personal essay film that reflects on the deaths of her husband Lou Reed, her mother, her beloved dog, and such diverse subjects as family memories, surveillance, and Buddhist teachings.

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.

Beyond Infinity: Buzz and the Journey to Lightyear

Explore the evolution of Buzz Lightyear from toy to human in the making of Pixar’s Lightyear. Dive into the origin and cultural impact of everyone’s favorite Space Ranger, the art of designing a new “human Buzz,” and the challenges faced by the Lightyear crew along the way.

John Candy: I Like Me

Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.

Chronos

Carefully picked scenes of nature and civilization are viewed at high speed using time-lapse cinematography in an effort to demonstrate the history of various regions.

Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction

An impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor Harry Dean Stanton comprised of intimate moments, film clips from some of his 250 films and his renditions of American folk songs.

Seven Up!

A group of British children aged 7 from widely ranging backgrounds are interviewed about a range of subjects. The filmmakers plan to re-interview them at 7 year intervals to track how their lives and attitudes change as they age.

21 Up

After another 7 year wait, director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born children from Seven Up! and 7 Plus Seven. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.

Fuck

A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.

Powaqqatsi

An exploration of technologically developing nations and the effect the transition to Western-style modernization has had on them.

High School

Documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman takes us inside Northeast High School as a fly on the wall to observe the teachers and how they interact with the students.

Love, Gilda

Diaries, audiotapes, videotapes and testimonials from friends and colleagues offer insight into the life and career of Gilda Radner -- the beloved comic and actress who became an icon on Saturday Night Live.

Elstree 1976

A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.