Mr. Cao Goes to Washington(2012)

The Peyote Road(en)

The Peyote Road addresses the United States Supreme Court 'Smith' decision, which denied protection of 1st Amendment religious liberty to the sacramental use of Peyote for Indigenous people, one of the oldest tribal religions in the Western Hemisphere. Examining the European tradition of religious intolerance & documenting the centuries old sacramental use of the cactus Peyote, The Peyote Road explains how the Smith decision put religious freedom in jeopardy for all Americans.

Symptoms(es)

A 17-year-old girl faces a life with an adverse perspective, where her social life, her experiences, her happiness and emotional stability only depend on a thread that is too damaged.

Ghost Nursing(zh)

Jackie is a young woman determined to reverse her bad luck. She consults the God of Gold, who advises her to "nurse a ghost". She is given a small figure to worship, and the worship includes dripping three drops of her own blood every three days. At first, all goes well and she falls in love. But this new happiness causes Jackie to forget to worship the figure, and the spirit doesn't like it. With good intentions, her new boyfriend, Raymond, discovers Jackie's strange predicament and attempts an exorcism which goes horribly wrong. The spirit takes over Raymond, who starts doing nasty things.

Mercs(en)

Mercs is an action-packed comedy-drama set in the high-stakes world of underground gambling and street fighting. A diverse group gathers at an illegal fight venue, each with their own motives. Helma and Sanna pretend to know each other to catch Preach’s attention, while Lyra sneaks in for a rebellious thrill, only to be overwhelmed by the violent scene. Carl seeks a win to appease his wife, Dexter loves the adrenaline, and Donovan stumbles into the chaos, instantly hooked. Vicious D shows off his skills and his girlfriends, while Lucy and Jade thrive on the fight’s raw energy. Rupesh, a seasoned gambler, believes he has mastered the underground scene and bets big on his favorite fighter. Meanwhile, fighters like Enjo and Goliath take center stage in brutal showdowns. As bets rise and tensions explode, Mercs delivers a thrilling ride through the unpredictable world of underground gambling, deception, and intense combat.

Box(en)

8mm film by Swiss artist Roman Signer.

Man(en)

Maggie and her sister form an unusual bond during an encounter with a young man.

Battle of Marseille, le documentaire(fr)

June 11, 2016: Marseille in Chaos. As the European Football Championship kicks off, a mysterious group of Russian hooligans launches a brutal attack on thousands of British fans, all in front of the world’s cameras. France and England are humiliated, the incident sparks global outrage, and immediate action is demanded.

Virginia Water Lake(en)

Jackson, a nature lover with a passion for summer and flowers, planned a trip with his two sisters, Alina and Dina, to visit Virginia Water Lake. They had heard of its breathtaking beauty and were excited to explore the scenery together. Virginia Water Lake, located on the southern edge of Windsor Great Park, spans the borough of Runnymede in Surrey and the civil parishes of Old Windsor and Sunningdale in Berkshire, England. Although it's a man-made lake, it is named after a natural body of water of the same name. The surrounding area includes the charming village of Virginia Water, which stretches out to the lake's eastern side. As they arrived, Jackson and his sisters were captivated by the lake's serene setting, enjoying the warm summer day surrounded by lush greenery and blooming flowers.

Raid On the Reactor(en)

The true story of how Israel used politics, espionage, blackmail, targeted assassinations and finally military power to destroy Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor and deny him the bomb.

C(r)ook(de)

A killer for the Russian Mafia in Vienna wants to retire and write a book about his passion - cooking. The mafia godfather suspects treason.

BLACK(en)

When a reformed drummer cannot get his caffeine fix on the anniversary of his brother’s death, ancestral rhythms guide him to the truth buried deep below his city streets.

Psycho Hannibal(ja)

A series of bizarre murders. Psychometer Rinko cooperates with detectives in the investigation. The investigation is a difficult one, and the only clues are Rinko's visions when she is in ecstasy, and the crazy smile of a creepy man that appears vaguely.

Box(xx)

"I stuck landscape photographs on the faces of a cube and shot them frame-by-frame. It looks like the box is forever revolving, but in truth it only revolves 90 degrees. The trick to this sensation is fundamentally the same as the one used in SPACY. I was aiming at disturbing our awareness of space in the movement from the three-dimensional to a plane and back again." Takashi Ito

a fly on the wall, a deer in the headlights(en)

“...I photograph older nude models in their homes, found through online posts, inclusive of different body types. Almost only white men have replied. These posts are neither sexual nor implying a sexual exchange. This series reveals the loneliness of life in a post-pandemic situation, the invisibility of queer identity, fetishization and exoticization towards the Asian gay body, and the sexuality of the stigmatized bodies within exhibitionism.” — Eugene Tang

Men(en)

Men will be men.

1st Kiss(ja)

After losing her husband to death following a troubled marriage, a woman unexpectedly travels back to the moment before their first meeting, allowing them to reconnect and rekindle their romance.

ABC in Sound(de)

In this light-hearted experiment, Professor Moholy-Nagy demonstrates differences in sound produced by arbitrary manipulation of the soundtrack. The optical soundtrack has been re-photographed to appear on the screen as the corresponding sound is heard.

Christina(en)

Inspired by a true story about a young German woman prepares to leave her war-ravaged city to begin a new life in America with her G.I. fiance. But standing between her and a hopeful future is a relentless police inspector, determined to prevent her from escaping her past. He pushes her to face the truth about a child, whose secret the woman has kept all this time. Before she can leave for her new life, she will be forced to confront the past she has been trying to leave behind.

Tassels in the Air(en)

The stooges are janitors in an office building. They stencil the wrong names on all the offices, causing a rich lady to mistakes Moe for famous decorator Omay. She hires the boys to redecorate her house, which they proceed to ruin. More trouble ensues when the real Omay shows up.

Kekaiulu Hula Studio(en)

Kekaiulu Hula Studio follows the Proclaimed Hula Halau of the same name, showcasing their twist on what the real reason for hula is and what life as a dancer in the halau is really like. Something previously unseen in the public eye.

Time is the Thief of Memory(en)

A meditation on memory around Iceland's famous Ring Road.

Black Holes: The Edge of All We Know(en)

Black holes stand at the limit of what we can know. To explore that edge of knowledge, the Event Horizon Telescope links observatories across the world to simulate an earth-sized instrument. With this tool the team pursues the first-ever picture of a black hole, resulting in an image seen by billions of people in April 2019. Meanwhile, Hawking and his team attack the black hole paradox at the heart of theoretical physics—Do predictive laws still function, even in these massive distortions of space and time? Weaving them together is a third strand, philosophical and exploratory using expressive animation. “Edge” is about practicing science at the highest level, a film where observation, theory, and philosophy combine to grasp these most mysterious objects.

Celina y Chichi(es)

Rave On for the Avon(en)

Fall in love with our Avon and the people fighting to protect it, the Bristol way! Rave On For The Avon is a feature-length documentary film that follows campaigners and river lovers through six seasons: their highs and lows, love and loss.

Yooper Creoles: Finnish Music in Michigan's Copper Country(en)

When the immigrants came to America, their cultures entered the "great melting pot." In Michigan's Upper Peninsula Finnish immigrants mixed their musical traditions with many other cultures, creating a sound that was unique to the "Copper Country."

ABUHADBA(es)

From the slow waitings for opening of the big top to the loneliness in the dressing room backstage, Abuhadba follows the life of a small circus in Chile run entirely by a traditional circus family.

Pico Sacro [The Holy Mountain](gl)

In a leafy forest, a Galician sovereign who longs to attain wisdom meets a sorcerer, who tells him: “Go back to your country and study the Earth and the Stars in the sky; anywhere in the world reflects an image of it. You will ride on this arrow, which you must keep for a hundred years and a day. After this time, stick it in the widest valley of all those you possess, with the tip facing the sky. Then the Moon will come and, just as it exerts its action on the waters of the sea, it will act on the arrow, turning it into a holy mountain." - Legend about the Pico Sacro Inspired by Hokusai's views of Mount Fuji and Cézanne's paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire, "Pico Sacro [The Holy Mountain]" aims to reveal the mystery and the magic that underlie reality.

Reila(nl)

Takumi: A 60,000 Hour Story on the Survival of Human Craft(en)

There is a popular theory that it takes at least 10,000 hours of focused practice for a human to become expert in any field. In Japan, there are craftspeople who go far beyond this to reach a special kind of mastery. These people are called Takumi and they devote 60,000 hours to their craft. That's 8 hours a day, 240 days a year, for over 30 years. It's an almost superhuman level of dedication to a life of repetition and no shortcuts. This film asks the question: Will human craft disappear as artificial intelligence reaches beyond our limits?

The Sparks Brothers(en)

Take a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with brothers Ron & Russell Mael, celebrating the inspiring legacy of Sparks: your favorite band’s favorite band.

Where The Butterflies Went(en)

Across four summer days, Raveena took up residency and reflected through conversation with Sophia Roe at Callisto Farm in New York. She was joined by a group of artists exploring the symbiotic relationship between humanity and Earth, known as Aerthship. Together, they asked the question: Where do butterflies go in the rain?

the backroads(en)

A reflection on the beauty of the roads less traveled.

Pipe Dreams(en)

“Pipe Dreams” follows the story of my Chinese dad and grandpa’s journey in what it means to make sacrifices for your children. They are both currently working as a father-and-son duo for a plumbing business. With long and demanding days, the job has taken a toll on their bodies. However, the unexpected growing bond between them and their connection to their newfound home in New Mexico has made it worth it.

In Three Acts(pt)

When an 80 year old intellectual is confronted with issues of old age and death, she reminisces the death of her mother that happened 30 years earlier. With dialogue inspired by Simone de Beauvoir mixed with contemporary dance, the cycle of life is exposed in a poetic manner.

Ordinary Things(en)

A short documentary about everyday objects, the people who used them, and the beauty of that use. From the video description: "An encounter with the past. The introductory film for visitors to the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) - Country Life. It tells a story about Irish traditional folk life, the self-sufficiency and community spirit by which people's lives were played out against a challenging physical environment. That environment quite often dictated the materials, crafts and traditions by which lives were lived. The museum's collection of 'ordinary things', on display in Turlough Park, illustrate these stories." Written and narrated by Irish writer and broadcaster Theo Dorgan. Made in association with the NMI — Country Life. Available online on the Youtube channel of the NMI — Country Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCYrq8yWSSQ

I Will Never Apologize for Love(pt)

The documentary investigates the relationships between lesbian couples, the environments they occupy and the memories they create.

O Mundo em Duas Voltas(pt)

In 1519, the Portuguese captain Fernão de Magalhães ventured to travel and ended up proving that the Earth was round. In 1997, the Schürmann family decided to travel around the world again along this path.

Nedam i regam(ca)

The Font Bover family goes to fetch water (they swim) and then water some trees. Available on YouTube.

What Is a Cat?(en)

Presents the history of the domestic cat, tracing the animal as a house pet and as a symbol of mystery and worship from ancient Egypt to the present day. Offers hints on the care and treatment of cats in homes of today.