KWAIDAN

Visions of Europe

Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.

Exergo

Departing from peripheral details of some paintings of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, a female narrator unravels several stories related to the economic, social and psychological conditions of past and current artists.

Oachkatzlschwoaf

Words are loaded with meaning. Certain ones conjure joyful memories and others remind us of less happy times. For Nenda Neururer, the word 'oachkatzlschwoaf' invokes a range of emotions. The German word is very hard to pronounce and is synonymous with the Austrian state of Tyrol where locals tease outsiders by asking them to pronounce it. Despite growing up in Tyrol, Nenda Neururer often felt like an outsider when confronted with this word. But when she moved to London she grew nostalgic for it and it became her little secret. Found in Translation is a series made as part of the In The Mix project, in partnership with BBC Studios TalentWorks, Black Creators Matter and the Barbican.

This is Not a Game

Angela Su’s fictional artist Rosie Leavers is the last remaining person to upload her consciousness to a video game. Contemplating during a pandemic year which also saw people’s resistance movements in many parts of the world, the work pinpoints the uncanny affinities between gaming and warfare strategies. They have mutually informed the infrastructure of both worlds since time immemorial when diplomatic conflicts played out on the battlefield of the 64 squares of a chess board to flight simulation technologies which were adapted to shape gaming experiences as we know it now. When the conflict is between the state and its people, she speculates that gaming strategies empower civilians in resistance movements to counter imperialism through its own operative logic. But once we upload our consciousness, are we able to return to the sensibilities and political motivation that inspired the revolution to begin with?

Panoramas

In 1829 the naturalist Alexander von Humboldt attempted a russian-siberian expedition. Humboldt travelled to obtain a clear view of nature, people and life in this immense country. 2019 naturalists and humanists attempted a transdisciplinary expedition on the trails of Humboldt. To capture the events various cameras were taken along. A non-chronological narration.

Unpublished Visions

Four filmmakers working in the region of Galicia (in the northwest of Spain) follow and portray on the screen Galician artists working in disciplines of different nature. The result is four pieces around the creative process of these artists. Lois Patiño film their parents working on their paintings in their studio in Vigo, Jaione Camborda films dancer Janet Novás rehearsing for one of her pieces, Xisela Franco follows film director Margarita Ledo revisiting the location of her latest film Nation and Alfonso Zarauza reflects on the relationship between actress-director by putting together the work of Melania Cruz in two of their collaborations.

Dust of America

A dream walk through the United States of America; a meditation on the thoughts and ideals of its inhabitants, as they are exposed in their silent but eloquent home movies.

The Universe of the Manas

It has been a lifelong dream of Kyrgyz director Melis Ubukeyev to create an elaborate film version of the Kyrgyz national epic 'Manas'. He spent years working with the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan to gather material for this film project, which would ultimately remain a dream. However, the director's efforts were not in vain: Not only did he make films in 1962 and 1988 about Manasçı – the revered oral storytellers who have preserved the epic for generations through melodic recitation –, but in 1995, to mark the 1,000th anniversary of 'Manas', he also created a beguiling essay film that not only recounts the epic’s sweeping narrative through a mix of breathtaking imagery and opulent costumes, but also weaves it into a semi-documentary exploration of Kyrgyz history and identity. Once almost impossible to find, the film has recently been restored by the film studio Kyrgyzfilm and uploaded to YouTube in 4K.

The So-Called Caryatids

Commissioned by French television, this is a short documentary on the neo-classical statues found throughout Paris, predominantly on the walls of buildings, holding up windows, roofs etc.

Hard Border

Belfast-born actor Stephen Rea explores the impact of Brexit and the uncertainty of the future of the Irish border in a short film written by Clare Dwyer Hogg.

Linklater: On Cinema and Time

If cinema is the art of time, Linklater is one of its most thoughtful and engaged directors. Unlike other filmmakers identified as auteurs, Linklater’s distinction is not found on the surface of his films, in a visual style or signature shot, but rather in their DNA, as ongoing conversations with cinema, which is to say, with time itself. A visual essay produced by Sight and Sound.

The Fall of Communism as Seen in Gay Pornography

Every image in The Fall of Communism as Seen in Gay Pornography comes from gay erotic videos produced in Eastern Europe since the introduction of capitalism. The video provides a glimpse of young men responding to the pressures of an unfamiliar world, one in which money, power and sex are now connected.

Hovory o lékařské etice

Off to School

In July of 2021 there was a flood of catastrophic scope in the Ahrtal Region of Germany. 135 people lost their lives and countless others lost their possessions, their homes, their most treasured mementos. Three years later the reconstruction is progressing slowly. This is an attempt at exploring, what it means to irretrievably lose a part of ones’ past.

The Weight of Sight

The Weight of Sight is a playful and very personal essay where director Truls Krane Meby, through a massive archive of his own material - anything from DV-tapes to 35mm - explores the last 20 years of digital development - how it’s influenced the images we make, and our bodies. What kind of images do we get of the world now that everyone is a photographer, and what does it do with how we unfold our identities? How has the internet both captured and freed us? And will Truls even dare to show this film?

FFG: un retrato

An experimental portrait of Fernando Fernán Gómez, one of the most renowned Spanish artists of all time.

Im Reich Des Squatters

F for Fake

Documents the lives of infamous fakers Elmyr de Hory and Clifford Irving. De Hory, who later committed suicide to avoid more prison time, made his name by selling forged works of art by painters like Picasso and Matisse. Irving was infamous for writing a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes. Welles moves between documentary and fiction as he examines the fundamental elements of fraud and the people who commit fraud at the expense of others.

Carne Mal Passada

Joel is part of the avid audience of police shows. Punitive content surrounds him and the boundaries of this relationship are becoming less and less clear: does he consume violence or does violence consume him?

The Seasteaders

Jacob Hurwitz-Goodman and Daniel Keller’s film The Seasteaders documents the first Seasteading conference in Tahiti, talking with Seasteading evangelists like controversial author Joe Quirk and Seasteading Institute executive director Randolph Hencken to get firsthand accounts of the Seasteader’s beliefs and visions for an aquatic future

Main Krishna Hoon

In answer to an orphan boy's prayers, the divine Lord Krishna comes to Earth, befriends the boy, and helps him find a loving family.

RETURN

‘RETURN’ follows Torstein Horgmo, Mikey Ciccarelli, Mons Røisland, Brandon Cocard, Brandon Davis, and Raibu Katayama as they push the boundaries of what can be accomplished snowboarding when innovative minds join forces.

Flow

Eight woman, one life. Short animation by Sumito Sakakibara. The 9th Japan Media Art Festival Animation Division Grand Prize Winner

Flow

A turbulent day in a life, painted by air.

Gunpowder

At the end of September 1941, Soviet artillery troops in besieged Leningrad realize that pretty soon they will fire their last shot, and after that the defense of the city will be doomed. The film is based on a true event: a small group of fearless soldiers transported a large supply of gunpowder through enemy lines to Leningrad.

LUMEN - Всегда 17 — всегда война

L'amore non perdona

A woman, a man, two cultures and years separating them: will Adriana and Mohamed overcome the prejudices of the world around them? A sincere love story in the heart of Southern Italy.

Re/cycle

With input from actor and writer Jan Hlobil, director and cinematographer Rene Smaal presents a film in the true surrealist tradition, in the sense that only 'found' elements were used, and that it defies interpretation based on ordinary cause-and-effect time sequence.

The Main Thing

Choulequec

Lucas Lesol just entered the city of Choulequec. And it's a really weird place.

Mai

As the months pass through her, Mai gives us a glimpse into old age that explores between being abandoned and being belonged, passing the time and living the time.

Liebestod

The Exploding Girl

Candice's life takes an explosive turn as she undergoes daily detonations for three months, peaking at seven blasts in one day, accumulating a staggering 192 explosions.

The Brave Tin Soldier

A musical rendition of the Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tale where a brave tin soldier with only one leg and a toy ballerina find happiness.

Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara

Once known for his intellectual prowess, a retired professor (Anupam Kher) begins experiencing memory gaps and periods of forgetfulness. But while he tries to laugh it off, it soon becomes clear that the symptoms are a sign of a more serious illness, prompting his grown daughter (Urmila Matondkar) to move in as his caretaker. Meanwhile, as his mind regresses, he recalls a traumatic childhood memory involving the death of Mahatma Gandhi.

King of the Ghetto

An idealistic former soldier helps unite and house ethnic minorities in a run down area of London's east end

Comando campeón

Comando Campeón talks about friendship, fantasy, the Commodore 64, passion, childhood, retro and football. How two children created a unique world that is still standing after thirty years.

Leatherwolf: Live Rock Hard Festival 2018

Live performance of Southern Californian Leatherwolf in Gelsenkirchen, Germany at the Amphitheater Gelsenkirchen Rock Hard Festival on May 19, 2018 was live-streamed by Rockpalast.

minicômios