2024 Sheffield Doc/Fest

A Move

Elahe Esmaili

<p>Against the backdrop of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran, filmmaker Elahe Esmaili returns to her hometown in Mashhad to help her parents move house. Despite living abroad and not wearing a hijab regularly for many years, whenever she returns to Iran and is in the company of her religious extended family, she wears it. However, on this occasion she wants to force a change. With intimacy and honesty, the filmmaker embarks on a delicate journey towards lasting change.</p>

Agent of Happiness

Arun Bhattarai Dorottya Zurbó

<p>Amber is one of the many agents working for the Bhutanese government to measure people&rsquo;s happiness levels among the remote Himalayan mountains. But will he find his own along the way?</p> <p><em>Agent of Happiness,</em> directed by Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurb&oacute;, offers a unique take on the notoriously exoticized Bhutan and its unusual happiness policy. We follow Amber as he investigates various expressions of contentment across different households and lifestyles while navigating his own struggle as a Nepali minority. The holistic philosophy at the heart of the survey he conducts challenges the conventional metrics of fulfillment and success, often provoking some deeper soul-searching. The filmmakers elegantly capture many tender moments between Amber and his interlocutors, as well as some very revealing conversations filled with unflinching honesty and quiet wisdom.</p> <p>Through its carefully crafted narrative, the film resonates as a heartfelt exploration of happiness in the face of adversity. As Amber grapples with societal disparities and personal roadblocks while searching for love, this story becomes a beautifully realized reminder to count our blessings.&mdash;AT</p>

An Army of Women

Julie Lunde Lillesæter

<p>When Amy, Marina and Hanna&rsquo;s rape cases are dismissed by the Austin police, all three women try to find a way to rebuild their lives. They join forces with twelve other women in a groundbreaking federal class-action lawsuit, the first to argue that sexual assault isn&rsquo;t prosecuted because it&rsquo;s a crime that predominantly affects women. The group is determined to hold police and prosecutors accountable for their inaction, but their resilience is tested as they face setbacks from the system they hope to change. Ultimately, &quot;An Army of Women&quot; offers a hopeful look into a movement that aims to change the future for women everywhere.</p>

Yintah (2024)

Jennifer Wickham Brenda Michell Michael Toledano

<p>Following members of the Wet&rsquo;suwet&rsquo;en nation along with Hereditary Chiefs and their communities of land defenders, Yintah, meaning land, tells the story of the Wet&rsquo;suwet&rsquo;en people resisting the construction of multiple pipelines across their territory.</p>

Latitude Fénix (Angular Phoenix)

Welket Bungué

<p><em>Angular Phoenix</em>&nbsp;proposes a speculative meeting between the Baron of &Aacute;gua Iz&eacute;, the first nobleman in the Portuguese colonies of the 1800s who was of mixed European and African ancestry, and Maria Correia, the Black Princess of Pr&iacute;ncipe Island in the 1700s. Reanimating them through the bodies of contemporary artists, the film uses dance, poetry and music to weave profound threads between the past and the present. Transcending space, time and language, their encounter wrestles with questions of culpability, power and the exploitation of both land and Black bodies.</p>

Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story 

Michael Mabbott Lucah Rosenberg-Lee

<p>&quot;Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story&quot; reveals the extraordinary rise to fame, sudden disappearance, and resurgence of trailblazing Black trans soul singer Jackie Shane. Told in her own voice through never-before-heard phone conversations and dynamic rotoscope animation&mdash;alongside her family&rsquo;s powerful journey to discover her legacy&mdash;the film conjures the spirit of an ahead-of-her-time icon who dared to live life on her own terms, even when it came at a great personal cost.</p>

Ko će Pokucati Na Vrata Mog Doma (At the Door of the House Who Will Come Knocking)

Maja Novaković

<p>Set in the harsh yet beautiful landscape of Bosnia and Herzegovina,&nbsp;<em>At the Door of the House Who Will Come Knocking</em>&nbsp;reveals inner, intangible realms through the patient observation of the natural world. The film follows an elderly man living in isolation, weaving together a tapestry of dreamlike visuals as it records the routines of his daily life. Surrounding mountains, a burning stove and animal companions offer solace and warmth. Told through a blend of slow, observational footage and evocative reenactments, Novaković&#39;s film is a poetic meditation on solitude, loneliness and aging, and a rumination on both the impermanence and transience of life at large. Ultimately, as each exquisite detail of this world slowly unfurls, the film offers a unique portrait of the nature of human existence.</p>

Atomic People

Benedict Sanderson Megumi Inman

<p>The bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945 were unparalleled in human history. Presented as a triumphant moment for Allied forces, the devastation wreaked on the two cities and its people, has never received quite as much coverage as the bombings. Almost 80 years after the two events,&nbsp;<em>Atomic People</em>&nbsp;draws on the vivid testimonies of survivors, detailing the struggles they faced in the aftermath and the campaign against nuclear weapons that gained momentum over subsequent decades. With the Doomsday Clock closer to midnight than it has ever been, this film is a reminder of the destructive power of the world&rsquo;s arsenal and what the looming threat of nuclear war entails.</p>

Audio y El Caimán (Audio & the Alligator)

Andres I. Estrada

<p>Audio Ca&ntilde;a, a charming 60-year-old farmer in rural Venezuela, fills his days by enchanting his friends and family with marvellous tales. Yet his boldest claim&mdash;that a three-metre alligator resides in his pond&mdash;is met with skepticism by all except his six-year-old granddaughter.</p>

Bad Hostage

Mimi Wilcox

<p>In March 1973, the filmmaker&rsquo;s grandmother was in an impossible situation when two men held her and her five children at gunpoint in their house. 50 years later, director Mimi Wilcox connects this personal story to the tales of Patty Hearst and Kristin Enmark. Featuring interviews with Enmark, the person most closely associated with the origins of the term Stockholm Syndrome, we explore how human compassion comes into conflict with police aggression and institutional prejudice.&nbsp;<em>Bad Hostage</em>&nbsp;interrogates this misogynist myth and in doing so re-frames falsehoods and decades of pop culture lore.</p>

Mala Reputación (Bad Reputation)

Marta García Sol Infante Zamudio

<p>Karina was just 12 years old when she was trafficked into sex work. Now 45, she has no standard education qualifications, but what she has witnessed and experienced, in a society that has been hostile to her &lsquo;kind&rsquo;, has resulted in a new career path opening up for her. She has established O.T.R.A.S., a union for current and former sex workers, to which her friends and colleagues need little persuading to join. Marta Garc&iacute;a and Sol Infante Zamudio&rsquo;s inspiring film documents Karina and fellow campaigners as they seek to establish their rights and to prevent future workers from enduring the horrors of child sexual exploitation, trafficking, abuse, stigmatisation and spousal murder. &lsquo;If you&rsquo;re not going to get me out of sex work,&rsquo; Karin notes, &lsquo;don&rsquo;t sink me deeper&rsquo;.</p>

Beyond Words

Kim Brand

<p>How do we reach those who are beyond language? In this tender film, members of the Genetic Choir Ensemble use careful reciprocal listening and improvisation techniques to connect with nursing home residents who have lost their ability to communicate conventionally. In a series of delicate scenes, the singers share their ideas and put their methods into practice, filling these once sad and silent spaces with a gentle comforting hubbub of hums, murmurs and intermingling voices. Through this intimate approach, the smallest of gestures &ndash; a flicker of a smile, a moment of eye contact &ndash; carry profound meaning.</p>

Black Snow

Alina Simone

<p>When residents of a remote Siberian city discover an abandoned coal mine has caught fire beneath their neighborhood, pushing toxic gas into their homes, they turn to homemaker-turned-journalist Natalia Zubkova for help.</p>

Bleu (Blue)

Ana Vijdea

<p>A handwritten contract on a fridge sets the scene; payment for living in this house is obedience and both of Rodica&rsquo;s two teenage children must choose whether to sign. Rodica is a Romanian expat living in Belgium who works hard to support her family. Her love for her children is at once powerful and suffocating. Shot in stark black and white, and with the camera staying within close proximity to its protagonists, the film&rsquo;s minimalist approach offers a glimpse into the complex intimacies of this family. This is a film about love, fear, anxiety and the complicated emotions that emerge at their intersection.</p>

blur: To The End

Toby L

<p>Filmed over a decade, but also drawing in a wealth of footage from throughout their career, Toby L&rsquo;s documentary portrait explores Blur&rsquo;s trajectory, from a group of friends jamming to becoming one of the most acclaimed British bands of the last 35 years. It captures them as they come together to record what will be the critical and commercial success&nbsp;<em>The Ballad of Darren</em>, leading to their first &ndash; and sell-out &ndash; shows at Wembley stadium in the summer of 2023. The film shows how the group have continued to forge new creative paths, never resting on the laurels of former glories. With their recent performance at Coachella yet another defining moment of their recent revival, this is the perfect time to look back on their career.</p>

Breaking the Cycle

Thanakrit Duangmaneeporn Aekaphong Saransate

<p>A group of young politicians campaigning against an authoritarian constitution speak up, spark hope and ignite a once-in-a-generation movement in this energetic exploration of the recent elections in Thailand.</p>

Britain's Forgotten Prisoners

Martin Read

<p>There are over three thousand forgotten prisoners languishing in jail in England and Wales, held indefinitely with no idea when they&rsquo;ll be released, even though they completed their sentences years earlier. They&rsquo;re IPP prisoners &ndash; people who were given an additional indeterminate sentence, Imprisonment for Public Protection.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p>Martin Read&rsquo;s film looks at the punishment described by Conservative former Justice Minister Ken Clarke as &lsquo;a stain on the Justice System&rsquo;, following both the stories of individuals trapped in a Kafka-esque world of labyrinthine bureaucracy that has seen them swallowed up by a system, and those campaigning for their rights as human beings to have their lives returned to them.</p>

No Other Land

Basel Adra Hamdan Ballal Yuval Abraham Rachel Szor

<p>This film made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective shows the destruction of the West Bank&rsquo;s Masafer Yatta by Israeli authorities and the unlikely alliance which develops between the Palestinian activist Basel and Israeli journalist Yuval.</p>

Cult Massacre: One Day In Jonestown

Marian Mohamed

<p>On 18 November 1978, in the Guyanese agricultural commune of Jonestown, 918 people either committed suicide or were forcibly killed. Many, including a third that were minors, comprised the cult group Peoples Temple. There were also collateral victims, including a US Congressman investigating the cult&rsquo;s leader Rev. Jim Jones, who had formed the religious order in Indianapolis in 1955. It combined Christian revivalism with a warped form of socialism. Jones&#39; activities attracted criticism in the US and to avoid censure he relocated the group to Guyana in 1977. Marian Mohamed&rsquo;s series, the latest instalment of the acclaimed&nbsp;<em>One Day in America</em>&nbsp;franchise, traces the cult&rsquo;s origins, the activities that attracted the interest of US media and law enforcement, its move to Guyana and the subsequent massacre. It&rsquo;s an impressive example of investigative filmmaking, bringing a fresh perspective to a chilling moment in recent American history.</p>

Cyborg Generation

Miguel Morillo Vega

<p>An 18-year-old musician designs a cybernetic organ and illegally implants it into his own body, acquiring a new sense that purportedly allows him to perceive sounds coming from outer space while on the surface of the Earth.</p>

Dancing Palestine

Lamees Almakkawy

<p>To dance is to remember. To dance is to remind. As the Palestinian identity continues to be threatened with violent erasure, young Palestinians turn to their folk dance, the dabke, to assert their existence. From its humble beginnings as a worker&rsquo;s dance, the dabke has come to represent an evolving history of cultural resistance, and is needed now more than ever.&nbsp;<em>Dancing Palestine</em>&nbsp;is a document of this embodiment of collective memory &ndash; as those who piece together a dabke choreography also piece together their identities. Together with the film &ndash; a performance in itself &ndash; the dabke is a testament to Palestinians&rsquo; deep love of life and an insistent act of contribution to the archive of Palestine in the present.</p>

Daughters

Angela Patton Natalie Rae

<p>Four young girls prepare for a special Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington, D.C., jail.</p> <p>A moving lesson in empathy and forgiveness, <em>Daughters</em> is a result of an eight-year documentary journey that filmmaker Natalie Rae and Angela Patton, an activist advocating for &ldquo;at-promise&rdquo; girls, embarked upon. As Aubrey, Santana, Raziah, and Ja&rsquo;Ana get ready for the special event, they speak candidly about their hopes, dreams, and disappointments. There is an innate wisdom and honesty to what they share about their dads&rsquo; inconsistent presence; an awareness far beyond their years. <em>Daughters </em>meaningfully challenges many stereotypes around incarceration and serves as a poignant reminder that maintaining family bonds can be both healing and empowering. We get to witness a lot of joy, but in keeping with the film&rsquo;s v&eacute;rit&eacute; style, Rae and Patton don&rsquo;t shy away from more challenging moments, including heartbreak, skepticism, reluctance to engage, and anger. But then comes a classic dad joke, and the mood shifts again.&mdash;AT</p>

De Occulta Imagine

Stefano P. Testa

<p>Every image has original meaning. And every image has potentially infinite meanings when re-placed and re-used in different contexts. Taking us on a deep dive into the Audio-visual Archive of the Labour and Democratic Movement in Italy, the director transforms images related to the &lsquo;Southern Question&rsquo; &ndash; news reports and films from the 1960s that deal with the subordinate state of Southern Italy comparative to the North. Starting from these images of inequality, poverty, emigration, spirituality and superstition,&nbsp;<em>De Occulta Imagine</em>&nbsp;leans into the processes of alchemy. The images are extracted, decomposed and reassembled &ndash; guided by a syntactic structure derived from the esoteric tradition and driven by a hypnotic score from composer Luca Severino.</p>

Death Without Mercy

Waad Al-Kateab

<p>In the early hours of 6 February 2023, a Mw 7.8 earthquake hit a large area of Turkey and Syria. It&rsquo;s destructiveness was exacerbated by the instability that had torn the region apart. Waad Al-Kateab&rsquo;s film is powerful record of the disaster, drawing images from TV news reports, social media, CCTV and drone footage, alongside archive material of the region. The shock of the earthquake soon gives way to a damning record of human failure, with Al-Kateab focusing on two Syrian families over the course of ten days, sensitively recording their desperate efforts to find their loved ones. Highlighting official incompetence and a paltry level of humanitarian aid,&nbsp;<em>Death Without Mercy</em>&nbsp;is, above all else, a moving testament to human dignity.</p>

Democracy Noir

Connie Field

<p>Democracy Noir is the compelling story of three women, Timea Szabo, one of the very few women serving in the Hungarian Parliament, Nikoletta Antal, a young activist, and Babett Oroszi, a young journalist, confronting the policies and corruption of Hungary&rsquo;s autocratic Prime Minister Viktor Orban.<br /> <br /> In the past decade we have seen autocracies rise all over the world&mdash;Turkey, Belarus, Serbia, and almost in the United States. Our film reveals an urgent cautionary tale for all democracies: Orban&rsquo;s relentless work to build an autocratic white Christian state, kept in power through &lsquo;democratic&rsquo; elections. Democracy Noir serves as a warning and a ray of hope: it reveals the undemocratic nature of Orban&rsquo;s regime and the courage of three women, representing many, who will not acquiesce.</p>

Devo

Chris Smith

<p>Born in response to the Kent State massacre, new wave band Devo took their concept of &ldquo;de-evolution&rdquo; from cult following to near&ndash;rock star status with groundbreaking 1980 hit &ldquo;Whip It&rdquo; while preaching an urgent social commentary.</p> <p>Leave it to acclaimed filmmaker Chris Smith (<em>American Movie</em>) to perfectly capture the gloriously radical spirit that is Devo. This high-energy documentary embraces the spectacle of the band reveling in lofi archival footage, swift montage, and a charging rhythm that leaves you mesmerized by their wild rise. Band members are open with both their memories and archives &mdash; finally sharing their full story. They are a rare band founded by a philosophy; a Dada experiment of high art meets low, hellbent on infiltrating American popular culture, and <em>Devo </em>relishes every freakish moment of their story. Not to mention all the incredible performances.&mdash;CS</p>

Don't Forget to Remember

Ross Killeen

<p>This collaboration between filmmaker Ross Killeen and Irish street artist Asbestos documents the latter&rsquo;s creation of an installation inspired by his mother, Helena, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer&rsquo;s. The artwork is an attempt to preserve Helena&rsquo;s memories of her life &ndash; capturing her experiences and feelings &ndash; and her love for those who have played a part in it. At the same time, Killeen captures Asbestos&rsquo; own love for his mother as he attempts to preserve her recollections. The film is also a record of how life-changing a condition Alzheimer&rsquo;s is &ndash; a moving and poignant portrait that conveys the lived experience of a neurodegenerative condition. But it is also a joyous celebration of a life lived and a testament to the vivid, if fragile, nature of our memory.</p>

Dreams About Putin

Nastia Korkia Vlad Fishez

<p>Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many Russians have started having dreams about their president and sharing them on social media. More than a thousand dreams about Putin have now been recorded and posted on public platforms.</p> <p>In Dreams About Putin, a selection of these dreams have been brought to life using Unreal Engine, a 3D graphics program for creating scenes for computer games. In this exciting experiment with form, the animations are complemented by rare archival footage of the Russian president.</p> <p>The dreams are related by a narrator, and their &ldquo;translation&rdquo; into 3D scenes is not literal; likewise, the archival footage has been lightly edited. The result is sometimes dryly comic, sometimes absurdist, sometimes disturbing, and sometimes even hopeful. A series of bizarre but therefore oddly familiar nightmares as a vision of Putin&rsquo;s Russia.</p>

Los Sueños Viajan Con El Viento (Dreams Travel With the Wind)

Inti Jacanamijoy

<p>Inti Jacanamijoy&rsquo;s film embodies the ancestral resonances of his Wayuu lineage. It presents a narrative that brings together the threads of his grandfather&#39;s long journey &ndash; a tapestry of longing and memory, tracing Jos&eacute; Agust&iacute;n&#39;s forced separation from his immediate family in La Guajira and being plunged into the strict confines of a Catholic education. The barren landscapes of La Guajira, presented here in striking 4:3 aspect ratio, emerge as a poignant reverie &ndash; a final resting place for the grandfather&#39;s mortal remains. Within the film&#39;s dream-like tone, familial dialogue echoes with a haunting reverberation, capturing the essence of an endangered community on the brink of oblivion. The result is a record of collective remembrance and a powerful testament to resilience in the face of cultural erasure.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

Eno

Gary Hustwit

<p>Visionary musician and artist Brian Eno &mdash; known for producing David Bowie, U2, Talking Heads, among many others; pioneering the genre of ambient music; and releasing over 40 solo and collaboration albums &mdash; reveals his creative processes in this groundbreaking generative documentary: a film that&rsquo;s different every time it&rsquo;s shown.</p> <p>Filmmaker Gary Hustwit brings to the Sundance Film Festival the first career-spanning documentary about visionary musician and artist Brian Eno. This innovative bio-doc also elevates the documentary form to become an evergreen, algorithmic performance.</p> <p>Hustwit and creative technologist Brendan Dawes have developed a bespoke generative software designed to sequence scenes and create transitions out of Hustwit&rsquo;s original interviews with Eno, and Eno&rsquo;s rich archive of hundreds of hours of never-before-seen footage, and unreleased music. Each screening of <em>Eno</em> is unique, presenting different scenes, order, music, and meant to be experienced live.</p> <p>The generative and infinitely iterative quality of <em>Eno</em> poetically resonates with the artist&#39;s own creative practice, his methods of using technology to compose music, and his endless deep dive into the mercurial essence of creativity.&mdash;SF</p>

Eternal Father

Ömer Sami

<p>Nasar still feels young. But the truth is that the time he has ahead of him is becoming much shorter than the time behind him. His body is starting to show wear and tear, and there&rsquo;s a chance he won&rsquo;t live to see his young children grow up. In an attempt to cheat death, the amiable Brit wants to be cryonically frozen at the moment when his heart stops beating&mdash;the idea is that in a distant future, all being well, he can then return to life again.</p> <p>The film unfolds in the warm embrace of the family, observing the effects of Nasar&rsquo;s decision on his loved ones from within. His desire to evade death, partly inspired by the traumatic loss of his mother, means that the family members are constantly preoccupied with his mortality&mdash;as well as their own. After all, what sense does it make if Nasar has himself frozen but his wife and children don&rsquo;t? What if he wakes up in a world full of strangers?</p>

Eternal You

Hans Block Moritz Riesewieck

<p>Startups are using AI to create avatars that allow relatives to talk with their loved ones after they have died. An exploration of a profound human desire and the consequences of turning the dream of immortality into a product.</p> <p>&ldquo;I wanted to see if he was okay,&rdquo; explains Christi, one of the users of Project December. With this innovative software, users can communicate with a virtual version of the deceased through a chatbot that simulates the dead person&rsquo;s conversation patterns. Hers was an attempt to check on her first love. Others may simply miss someone, seek permission to move on, or want to rid themselves of guilt.</p> <p>Little is known about the effects that this kind of generative AI might have on our brains, hearts, and wallets. The filmmakers, Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck (<em>The Cleaners</em>, 2018 Sundance Film Festival), do not claim to have the answers, but instead bring up various emotional and moral complexities we should be aware of. <em>Eternal You</em> poses important questions about algorithmic immortality, and the need to take a closer look at our future &ldquo;digital remains.&rdquo;&mdash;AT</p>

Exhumator

Christof Schuerpf

<p>There are many reasons why a dead body might need an exhumation: police investigations, transfer to another country, cemetery renovations or an administrative expiration of the grave. In all these cases Heinz is there to assist. He treats bodily remains with care and respect, whispering to the dead as if they were still alive. Carrying out this traditionally hidden work for 40 years, Heinz has become sensitive to not only the care of the bones, but the spirit and energy that lingers around them.</p>

Inquilab Di Kheti (Farming the Revolution)

Nishtha Jain

<p>Amidst COVID lockdowns, India&rsquo;s farmers rise up on an unprecedented scale against unjust new laws. Over half a million protesters&mdash;men and women from all generations, religions, classes and castes&mdash;gather and reinvent co-existence while winning a rare victory over the state.</p>

Fawns of the City

Jamal Sterrett Otis Mensah

<p>Combining poetry and dance in one brief, intense moment, local artist Otis Mensah and performer Jamal Sterrett have created a unique and evocative visual poem that speaks of racial fragmentation, diasporic-bonding, and friendship amidst the noise of disconnected identities. Reclaiming notions of Blackness in a pursuit of personal liberation, this is both a challenging and joyful piece that creates its own Black mythology.</p>

Flores (Flowers)

José Cardoso

<p>Filmmaker Jos&eacute; Cardoso&rsquo;s deeply personal&nbsp;<em>Flowers</em>&nbsp;is an exercise in sense-making, led by both his conscious and unconscious mind. Navigating the barrage of online news images produced each day, he transforms these into an unexpected web of connections that link an Amazonian community threatened with the destruction of their land to an extreme right-wing Brazilian President who justifies the exploitation of the Amazon by the rising price of resources precipitated by the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Buddhist monk Th&iacute;ch Nhất Hạnh teaches us to make our enemy the object of our compassion, and the filmmaker&rsquo;s three-year-old son marvels at the frogs and flowers growing in the garden.</p>

Four Kings

Stewart Kyasimire Hassan Ghazi Beya Kabelu

<p>Frank Bruno, Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank and Lennox Lewis. Four sporting heroes, driven by ambition in the ring and often forced to face even greater challenges outside it. This series focuses on the rise of each boxer from the late 1980s through to the early 2000s, charting their journeys and the prejudices they encountered; it highlights how the success they achieved was all the more remarkable because of the obstacles they overcame. Executive produced by Kevin Macdonald and the production company behind&nbsp;<em>Bruno v Tyson</em>, this series shines a light on the intense rivalry between heavyweights Lennox Lewis and Frank Bruno, and middleweights Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn. A combination of archive footage and present-day interviews details the stakes at play for each in this ruthlessly competitive world.</p>

Estado de Silencio (State of Silence)

Santiago Maza

<p>A compelling look at the dangerous, continuing risks committed journalists face in Mexico, where reporting on their country&rsquo;s corruption and &ldquo;narco politics&rdquo; has led to the silencing and killing of some of their peers.</p>

Goodnight, Mister Stalin

Benjamin Kodboel

<p>Two women, one a Stalin devotee and the other a vehement anti-Stalinist, are separated by generations but united by the shared loss of their fathers to war.</p>

Googoosh – Made of Fire

Niloufar Taghizadeh

<p>On stage since she was a toddler, Googoosh has been an icon of Iranian pop culture since the 1970s. Her progressive style and raw singing talent attracted worldwide acclaim and saw her performing alongside the likes of Tina Turner and Ray Charles. But the star&acute;s career came to an abrupt halt after the Islamic Revolution, which banned women from singing in public. Googoosh was placed under house arrest, where she remained for the next two decades. Niloufar Taghizadeh&acute;s documentary, which includes interviews with the charismatic singer (now in her seventies, but still performing and advocating for women and girls) and arresting archival footage, offers both a loving portrait of a national icon and a fascinating historical and cultural record of Iran.</p>

Habibullah

Adnan Zandi

<p>Kurdish folk singer Habibullah Zandi has been performing all his life. Whether at weddings or around the campfire, he shares his voice to bring others happiness. When a video of him goes viral on TikTok the young village mullah confronts him about the sins of singing. Tensions rise, but so does his defiance. For Habibullah, the Islamic faith and his singing are not at odds. This film mirrors its protagonist &ndash; it is quietly self-assured, joyful and with a deep love for the beauty of this world.</p>

Haiyu - Rebel Singer Mariem Hassan and the Struggle for a Free Western Sahara

Alex Veitch Brahim B. Ali Mohamedsalem Uered Anna Klara Åhrén

<p>The title of this film is also the name of iconic singer Mariem Hassan&rsquo;s song, an exuberant rally cry for revolution and freedom in Western Sahara. The result of a collaboration between filmmaker collectives R&aring;FILM from Sweden and Saharawi Voice from the Western Sahara refugee camps in Algeria,&nbsp;<em>HAIYU</em>&nbsp;interweaves Mariem Hassan&rsquo;s music and her personal quest for her country&rsquo;s independence with larger historical events dating back to the region&rsquo;s Spanish colonisation, and subsequent occupation by Morocco. Archive footage and interviews with family, artists, friends and revolutionaries detail Hassan&rsquo;s commitment and compassion, while her evocative music and poetry not only represent her spirit, but that of the Saharawi women, and a people who continue their struggle for self-determination and the battle for their land and resources.</p>

Hakeem

James Topley Ivo Beckett

<p>This unconventional music documentary follows an unconventional musician. Filmed over five years, this accomplished feature debut by DEADHORSES (James Topley and Ivo Beckett) walks an entertainingly thrilling line between profundity and profanity as Hakeem confronts the trauma of class and masculinity in the shadow of his unexpected and sudden stardom. An anarchic yet sincere portrait of British lad culture,&nbsp;<em>Hakeem</em>&nbsp;is more than a chronicle of a musician&#39;s life &ndash; it&rsquo;s a fascinating and intimate portrait of existential angst, brotherhood and hope in the face of the taboos that surround male mental health in the UK. A music doc of the rarest kind, it&#39;s one that melds arresting aesthetics with depth and a savage honesty.</p>

Harder Than The Rock

Mark Warmington

<p>Reggae exploded in the 1970s, with Cimarons at its heart. Thousands of miles from Jamaica, they brought excitement, experimentation and sheer anticipation booming from speaker boxes, putting the new generation of Black British youth in touch with their roots &ndash; in contact with who they really were.&nbsp;Industry legends, Cimarons worked with reggae-royalty Bob Marley, Toots &amp; the Maytals, Jimmy Cliff, Lee &#39;Scratch&#39; Perry and even Paul McCartney, but have been hugely under-recognised when it comes to their own music, impact and legacy.&nbsp;Having lost drummer Maurice Ellis to cancer, the band persists, despite decades of exploitation.&nbsp;<em>Harder Than The Rock</em>&nbsp;tells the story of their amazing history and follows the band&rsquo;s final chapter as they dream of performing in front of live audiences again, one last time&hellip;</p>

Her Name Was Moviola

Howard Berry

<p>Invented in 1922, the Moviola remained for a long time the dominant machine for editing film in English-language cinema. Mastering it allowed an editor, in tandem with the director and producer, to create a language and rhythm within a film.&nbsp;<em>Her Name Was Moviola</em>&nbsp;sees Academy Award&reg; -winning sound and film editor Walter Murch working with a team to rebuild a Moviola editing suite to take us through the process of how a film was pieced together. Using two scenes from Mike Leigh&rsquo;s 2014 drama&nbsp;<em>Mr. Turner</em>&nbsp;&ndash; reverse-engineered from digital to 35mm prints &ndash; Murch and his collaborators take us through the way the Moviola was employed to bring a multitude on individual shots together into one cohesive narrative. It&rsquo;s a riveting deep-dive into a process that is key to every form of filmmaking.</p>

Hollywoodgate

Ibrahim Nash'at

<p>Egyptian documentary maker Ibrahim Nash&rsquo;at traveled with a camera and an interpreter to Afghanistan in 2021, just days after the U.S. Army withdrew. He came to see, as he puts it, in whose hands the country had been left. He gets permission to follow a Taliban commander who has taken over Hollywoodgate, claimed to be a deserted CIA base. The Taliban is in the process of transforming itself from a guerilla movement into a military regime.</p> <p>What&rsquo;s the best way of working under the control of an organization like this, one that sees you as a pawn for their propaganda? This film&rsquo;s answer is to capture those seemingly trivial moments that serve to puncture that image&mdash;of an absurd inspection of abandoned gym equipment, and of a night-time military operation during which Nash&rsquo;at is told to wait at the side of the road. Rather than stopping filming, he points his camera at the moon and records the sounds of gunfire in the distance, undermining the Taliban narrative without downplaying its dangers. A complex tightrope walk performed with great verve.</p>

How To Survive A Dictator: North Korea

Tomasz Frymorgen

<p>In the second instalment of Munya Chawawa&rsquo;s series looking at authoritarian regimes, he surveys life under Kim Jong Un. The son of former ruler Kim Jong Il and the grandson Kim Il Sung, the founder and first supreme leader of the country, Kim came to power following his father&rsquo;s death in 2011. Though his actual age isn&rsquo;t known, Kim became one of the youngest world leaders and certainly one of its most powerful. Combining Chawawa&rsquo;s trademark satire with archive footage and interviews, the film presents a unique perspective on what it means to be North Korean and to experience the limits to freedom that we so easily take for granted.</p>

In My Own Words: Hanif Kureishi

Nigel Williams

<p>For over four decades, the author of&nbsp;<em>My Beautiful Laundrette</em>,&nbsp;<em>The Buddha of Suburbia</em>,&nbsp;<em>My Son the Fanatic</em>,&nbsp;<em>Venus</em>,&nbsp;<em>Intimacy&nbsp;</em>and<em>&nbsp;The Black Album</em>&nbsp;has been an astute chronicler of British life. Using a trove of archive photographs and film, Kureishi reflects on his father&rsquo;s experiences as an immigrant in the post-war years, his own youth and entry into the world of theatre, the tumult around the publication of&nbsp;<em>The Satanic Verses</em>&nbsp;and its continued reverberations, and how he has transformed the life around him into a work of art. Made by Kureishi&rsquo;s long-time friend Nigel Williams as part of&nbsp;<em>In My Own Words</em>, a new BBC Arts strand for BBC One, this intimate portrait probes the writer&rsquo;s examination of race in the UK and offers a moving account of his family life, which was turned upside down following an accident he experienced in 2022.</p>

A L'ombre Des Collines (In the Shade of the Hills)

Anne Jochum Laëtitia Gaudin Le Puil

<p>Amani is 31. When he was an infant, he survived the genocide against Rwanda&rsquo;s Tutsi population. Three decades later, Amani has set up an organisation in Nyamirambo, one of the more economically impoverished districts of the country&rsquo;s capital, Kigali. It employs creativity, artistic practice and performance to grapple with poverty and generational trauma &ndash;&nbsp;acknowledging that deep-seated ideologies can easily foment prejudice and create an environment that proved so catastrophic in the past. While acknowledging the historical context, Anne Jochum and Laetitia Gaudin Le Puil&rsquo;s film is mainly focused on Amani&rsquo;s work, the lives and experiences of the people he offers help to, and how his worldview aims at ensuring the history he lived through is never repeated.</p>

Inside, The Valley Sings

Nathan Fagan Natasza Cetner

<p>Secluded in 6x9 cells year after year with little or no human contact, three individuals in prisons across the United States experience the tedium, loneliness, and psychological despair of long-term solitary confinement. Over time, they begin to construct elaborate fantasy worlds to escape their daily reality. Through vivid, hand-drawn animation,&nbsp;<em>Inside, The Valley Sings</em>&nbsp;tells their remarkable stories and paints an unforgettable portrait of the power of the human imagination.</p>

Payanam (Journey)

Visakesa Chandrasekaram

<p>In the aftermath of the Sri Lankan civil war, which began in 1983 and ended in 2009, five women collaborate with a team of theatre practitioners and academic researchers, sharing the horrific violence they endured during the conflict as part of a process of recovery. Journey is a deeply moving retelling of these experiences through performance art &mdash; monologues, dance, movement, folklore and music &ndash; which becomes an exercise in mapping and archiving memories. As we are transported through the survivors&rsquo; personal experiences, filmmaker Visakesa Chandrasekaram (who previously touched on the conflict as writer-director of the narrative features&nbsp;<em>Paangshu</em>&nbsp;(2018) and&nbsp;<em>Munnel</em>&nbsp;(2023),&nbsp;not only explores what justice and resistance look like, but also what hope, dreams, love, longing and safety represent in their world.</p>

Кілометр (Kilometre)

Hanna Tykha

<p>Roma was working in London when the Ukrainian conflict rapidly escalated with Russia&rsquo;s massive army rolling across the border of his home. He decides to return to his family, whose town soon becomes a battlefield. While they take shelter in basements, cut off from the rest of their country by encircling Russian forces, Roma joins an air intelligence unit, operating drones to locate the whereabouts of the invading force, but also to find those surviving in the most desperate conditions. As the crow flies, Roma is so close to his family, but in reality, the gulf between them is enormous. Hanna Tykha&rsquo;s riveting and profoundly humane film captures Roma&rsquo;s predicament, from his journey home to his attempts to ensure the safety of his family.</p>

Klitschko: More than a Fight

Kevin Macdonald Edgar Dubrovskiy

<p>With unprecedented access to Vitali Klitschko and his brother Wladimir, who together dominated the heavyweight boxing world for more than a decade,&nbsp;<em>Klitschko: More than a Fight</em>&nbsp;captures the longest serving Mayor of Kyiv as he holds his city together in the face of constant Russian aggression.<br /> <br /> The film traces Vitali&rsquo;s journey from the ring to the highest office in Kyiv. It witnesses his rise through the city&rsquo;s political ranks during the 2014 Maidan revolution and how he won massive support with his campaign against corruption. But his true metal was tested and proven as he helped bolster the city&rsquo;s morale during the first days of the Russian invasion in February 2022, and subsequent aerial bombardment by its army. At the same time, Wladimir used his celebrity status to raise funds and military support, helping to ensure the conflict remains in the minds of the world&rsquo;s leaders and populace.</p>

Brieven Aan Vincent (Letters to Vincent)

Hannah van Tassel

<p>Near the end of his life, the painter Vincent van Gogh spent a year in a psychiatric hospital in Saint-Remy-de Provence, during which time he painted many of his most famous works, and wrote many letters to his brother Theo and his sister Wil. The psychiatric hospital is still active today. The women who live there often spend their days painting. By inviting these women and van Gogh into dialogue, the film brings together a common experience that transcends time and gender. The letters of van Gogh inspire the women to find their own solace in Saint-Remy-de Provence &ndash; in painting, nature, letter-writing and each other.</p>

Al haya helwa (Life is Beautiful)

Mohamed Jabaly

<p>in 2014, the young Palestinian filmmaker Mohamed Jabaly was on an exchange in Norway when the borders of his home Gaza were closed for an unspecified period. This posed several problems, one being that the Norwegian government would not accept his Palestinian passport, meaning that Jabaly was now stateless. Then his application for a work permit was rejected, because being a self-taught filmmaker meant he didn&rsquo;t have the necessary qualifications. It meant he was trapped with his host family in the arctic city of Troms&oslash;, and couldn&rsquo;t travel. One of the upshots of this situation was that he was unable to attend the screening of his 2016 debut film <a href="https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/64dfa79a-96aa-4802-b66b-e32e3a25ff20/ambulance/" target="_blank">Ambulance </a>at IDFA.</p> <p>While awaiting a decision from the court, and following the dismal paths of political and bureaucratic logic, Jabaly films himself and his Norwegian friends and colleagues in the snow-covered serenity of the spectacular Norwegian landscape. These scenes contrast starkly with the agonizing images and messages he receives from family and friends in Gaza. The close-knit artistic and film community in Troms&oslash;, meanwhile, is making every effort to support Jabaly.</p>

Life on the Edge

Johnny Langenheim Sebastian Feehan

<p>Once greatly troubled himself &ndash; haunted by a friend&rsquo;s death and his own brushes with violence &ndash; Nuka has turned his life around. He journeys through the remote indigenous settlements of Greenland, speaking about mental health and suicide prevention. Surrounded by vast glaciers and ice sheets, a land at the very edge of the world, Nuka works with a troubled teen, a phlegmatic hunter and a single mother; each has demons they are trying to come to terms with, and a desire to break with cycles of intergenertational trauma. Beautifully shot, capturing the primordial nature of this solitary environment, Life on the Edge, balances breathtaking images of towering icebergs with compassionate portraits of Nuka and those he seeks to help. These indigenous stories are, by turns, moving, generous and life-affirming.</p>

Light Darkness Light

Landon Van Soest

<p>Father Ian Nichols has just had cutting-edge surgery. The darkness of the world he once lived in has now been transformed to one of abstract artificial vision. Acutely sensitive to the environment around him and articulate in conveying the sensations he experiences &ndash; physically, emotionally and spiritually &ndash; his presence transforms&nbsp;<em>Light Darkness Light</em>&nbsp;into a profound meditation on lived experiences. The film tackles themes of perception, memory and imagination, inviting viewers to contemplate their own connections to these ideas. At times strikingly beautiful, Van Soest&rsquo;s empathetic portrait becomes a moving rumination of the way we live in the world and the role our senses play in being connected to it.</p>

Madaniya

Mohamed Subahi

<p>Sudanese youths, under siege from their own government, mobilise virtually and embark on the non-violent protests that eventually oust the sitting president.&nbsp;<em>Madaniya</em>&nbsp;draws you into this world, witnessed from the perspective of community organisers and the images they record. Wishing to rebuild their lives and communities, the people at the heart of the uprising clamour for &lsquo;freedom, peace and justice&rsquo; and, most importantly, &lsquo;Madaniyaaaaaaaa!&rsquo;: a civilian state.&nbsp;The film&nbsp;shows how violence and grief prompted calls and action for hope and peace. A tepid agreement to transition to civilian rule signifies little as violence continues; the protestors&rsquo; hopes and their resilience is further tested by different armed groups violently jostling for power. But Madaniya remains their goal.</p>

Made in Ethiopia

Xinyan Yu Max Duncan

<p>Made in Ethiopia examines China&rsquo;s increasing impact on Africa through the story of charismatic businesswoman Motto, who is tasked with expanding the biggest Chinese industrial zone in Ethiopia.</p>

Mogwai: If The Stars Had A Sound

Antony Crook

<p>Over 25 years and 10 studio albums&mdash;using brute sonic force mixed with subtlety and grace&mdash;Mogwai have defined their own musical genre. Described as &ldquo;The blueprint for what an independent group should be&rdquo; (John Doran, The British Masters), Mogwai built a cult following by staying true to their sound and true to their roots. The film takes us on a journey from their very beginnings, in the mid 1990s, to the band writing and rehearsing their tenth studio album in their hometown of Glasgow, Scotland in 2020 - a record made during lockdown. While at first seemingly impossible to make, they ultimately made history with it.</p>

Mother City

Miki Redelinghuys Pearlie Joubert

<p>Filmed over six years, Mother City&nbsp;follows the David versus Goliath battle as activists and domestic workers take on property power and politics in Cape Town &ndash; a city still disfigured by spatial apartheid 30 years into democracy. The story begins when the government sells a school, meant for affordable housing, to a private developer. Set against the backdrop of one of the most beautiful cities in the world, this intimate and at times funny narrative documentary charts Nkosikhona (Face) Swartbooi leading a defiant war against government and property developers &ndash; on the streets, in the supreme court and in parliament.</p>

Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa

Lucy Walker

<p>A 2015 dinner with Noriyuki Yamagauchi evolves into a years-long nightmare for Shiori Ito after the veteran journalist drugged and sexually assaulted the Reuters intern. In her quest for justice, Ito faces long odds: Yamagauchi, is not only a high-profile newsman but also Prime Minister Shinzo Abe&rsquo;s personal biographer. But she will not be deterred in this powerful, intensely personal documentary that depicts her campaign to hold her assailant accountable. The case makes Ito the face of Japan&rsquo;s #MeToo movement while launching a national discussion about the country&rsquo;s outdated sexual assault and consent laws. As she faces threats and the possibility of a coverup, she turns investigator, chasing leads, determined to expose the truth. Splashed across the media as both a hero and villain, Ito becomes a voice for the modern Japanese woman, speaking for those whose own experiences have been too often silenced.</p>

Diario de Mi Sextorsión (My Sextortion Diary)

Patricia Franquesa

<p>Pati, a young film producer, is fighting to carve out a professional career in the film industry. It is May 2019 when her laptop is stolen during a business trip in Madrid. Two months after, an anonymous Hacker accesses all the stored data in the stolen device and finds three very private photos of Pati. He threatens that if he doesn&rsquo;t receive $2,400 he will mass-mail the pictures to all her work contacts in order to ruin her professional reputation. The shame, anger and distress caused by the ineffectiveness of the legal forces lead Pati to set out on her own investigation to stop the Hacker and regain control and power over her privacy.</p>

My Sweet Land

Sareen Hairabedian

<p>Vrej, the subject of Sareen Hairabedian&rsquo;s impressive feature debut &ndash; a striking coming-of-age tale &ndash; has grown up in Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan. Since the end of the Soviet era it has witnessed much conflict. The 11-year-old watches birds, plays with friends and dreams of being a dentist. But echoes of the three wars his family have lived through since 1992 are ever-present. His grandmother laments the cycle of ethnic violence: &lsquo;Living in Artsakh means that one day there will be a war and my grandson will participate in that war&rsquo;. As his school lessons become increasingly militarised and Vrej struggles to hold on to his childhood dreams, his grandmother watches her prophecy unfold.</p>

Nocturno para uma floresta (Nocturne for a Forest)

Catarina Vasconcelos

<p>A still life is interrupted by Pope Gregory XV stuffing a plastic skull with carnations. Verdant landscapes are prowled by monks in ghillie suits. The raucous annual assembly of women&rsquo;s immortal souls debates the destruction of a suggestive painting, Josefa d&rsquo;Obidos&rsquo;s&nbsp;&ldquo;Holy Family,&rdquo; secreted away in a male-only Carmelite monastery in a mountaintop of Bu&ccedil;aco. With an irreverent wit, Catarina Vasconcelos stages a droll iconoclasm.</p>

Nocturnes

Anirban Dutta Anupama Srinivasan

<p>In the dense forests of the Eastern Himalayas, moths are whispering something to us. In the dark of night, two curious observers shine a light on this secret universe.</p> <p>Deep in the pitch-black forest, a few hundred moths are drawn by a single source of illumination to a piece of hung canvas. Only through this intimate examination can their existence, and the happenings of their world, be made visible. Though moth life spans are measured in hours and represent only a small amount of the immense biodiversity of their species, in these small beings lies a history of our planet. With a transportive and experiential visual style and immersive sound that brings you to a place few people can travel, co-directors Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinivasan&rsquo;s <em>Nocturnes </em>gives us a multi-millennia vision of time nearly beyond our human-scale perception.&mdash;SS</p>

Of Caravan and the Dogs

Askold Kurov Anonymous 1

<p>Putin had been preparing his country for the big war long before it started. A group of independent Russian journalists and activists face severe punishment and end up facing personal and political dilemmas in Askold Kurov&rsquo;s couragous and critical film.</p>

One Night At Babes

Angelo Madsen

<p>Two worlds collide gloriously in Angelo Madsen Minax&rsquo;s collective portrait of a small-town dive bar in rural Vermont. When the dilapidated local bar &lsquo;Babes&rsquo; is taken over by queer out-of-towners, there is nervousness among the regulars. But as cribbage tournaments overlap with afternoons of karaoke and lead into wild, sweaty nights of dancing, we are witness to a joyfully unexpected vision of community-building.</p>

Nossa Senhora Que Queima (Our Lady Who Burns)

Alice dos Reis

<p>The Serra da Gardunha mountain range in central Portugal has long been associated with the unexplained. Over the years, alleged visions of saintly apparitions have given way to alien sightings, with witnesses reporting mysterious lights in the sky and rumours circulating that a UFO hangar lies hidden beneath the craggy rocks. Meanwhile, two friends speculate over the extent of the mountain&rsquo;s power as they discuss whether its spirits might be able to offer relief to their old and heavily pregnant cat. In dreamlike 16mm, Alice dos Reis weaves together a beguiling and eerie portrait of a landscape imbued with unknowable magic.</p>

Our Land, Our Freedom

Meena Nanji Zippy Kimundu

<p>Wanjugu Kimathi is the daughter of Dedan Kimathi, legendary leader of the Kenyan Land and Freedom Army, or Mau Mau. This resistance group fought the British colonial regime from 1952 to 1960 to stop it from confiscating land, a conflict known as the Mau Mau Rebellion. In 1957, the British authorities hanged Dedan for possession of firearms, and then dumped his body at an unknown location.<br /> <br /> Dedan&rsquo;s daughter Wanjugu follows in her mother&rsquo;s footsteps and continues the search for his remains. Along the way, she meets Mau Mau veterans, families of others who lost their land, and inspiring activists. She also discovers new atrocities and mass graves that the British would rather have remained secret.<br /> <br /> While carrying on her day job as a receptionist at an airport, Wanjugu attracted huge numbers of followers and she now poses a threat to the businesses and prominent political figures who are today still profiting from the policies of the former British regime. Our Land, Our Freedom is her story, a painful but also hopeful chapter in postcolonial history.</p>

Paviljon 6 (Pavilion 6)

Goran Devic

<p>While state authorities chase down supplies of increasingly rare Covid vaccinations, the queues of those waiting for them stretch endlessly along streets. Those queuing comprise a microcosm of the populace &ndash; a tapestry of personalities that range from stern gatekeepers to elderly women deliberating over vaccine preferences. As it moves from the bustling queues to the hushed interiors of vaccination centres,&nbsp;<em>Pavilion 6&nbsp;</em>shifts from patients to the nurses and other members of staff. With its deliberate approach, Goran Dević&rsquo;s film presents a reality that exists on the cusp of animated suspension. Each character copes with myriad issues &ndash; ranging from the mundane to the existential &ndash; while the film&rsquo;s wider perspective presents, with no small amount of humour, a fascinating glimpse into the intricacies of Croatian society.</p>

Perfected Grammar

Andrea Suwito

<p>In Budapest, an elderly mother teaches her Hungarian-speaking daughter the difference between active and passive tenses in the mother&#39;s Indonesian mother tongue. What starts as a simple film about a familial language lesson encompasses the mother&rsquo;s painful past, her journey to Hungary, her unintended life there, the effects of history on the individual, and the power of language to both reveal and connect.</p>

Pirópolis

Nicolás Molina

<p>Nicol&aacute;s Molina&rsquo;s visually astounding Pir&oacute;polis drops the viewer in the fiery port city of Valpara&iacute;so, Chile and observes a pack of determined volunteer firefighters as they band together to combat turbulent wildfires ravaging the city.</p>

Plastic People

Ben Addelman Ziya Tong

<p>Are we becoming Plastic People? Our ground-breaking feature documentary investigates our addiction to plastic and the growing threat of microplastics on human health. Almost every bit of plastic ever made ends up ground down into &quot;microplastics&quot;. These microscopic particles drift in the air, float in the water and sit in the soil. And now, leading scientists are finding them in our bodies: organs, blood, brain tissue and even the placentas of new mothers. What is the impact of these invisible invaders on our health? Ziya Tong, author and science journalist, makes it personal by visiting leading scientists and undergoing experiments in her home, on her food, and on her body.</p>

Memoria Implacable (Relentless Memory)

Paula Rodríguez Sickert

<p>Committed to unearthing her ancestors&#39; silenced history, Margarita embarks on a profound journey, guided by the diary of Katrulaf, an indigenous Mapuche prisoner of war. She retraces the Mapuches&rsquo; deportation route,&nbsp;and in unearthing these pasts, gives voice to a displaced people and the genocide inflicted upon them during the military invasions that founded Argentina and Chile. Through a mix of archival material and present-day footage,&nbsp;<em>Relentless Memory</em>&nbsp;becomes a record of resistance and remembrance, poetically intertwining the Mapuche ancestral landscape with memories that were forcibly erased from the land and its people. Margarita&rsquo;s emotional journey, evocatively captured by Paula&nbsp;Rodr&iacute;guez Sickert, underpins her belief that &#39;reviewing history not only reopens wounds but also offers an opportunity to rebuild ourselves&#39;.</p>

S/He Is Still Her/e - The Official Genesis P-Orridge Documentary

David Charles Rodrigues

<p>An introduction, conversation and perhaps goodbye to Genesis P-Orridge, who left an astounding and provocative legacy on the worlds of music, art, performance, religion and the occult. A larger-than-life personality that must be experienced to be grasped, Genesis opens up portals to a way of living that transforms and transcends.</p>

Sapir

Liran Atzmor

<p>Sapir Berman has worked hard to become a well-respected referee in the Israeli professional football league. But she also wants to be a woman. With intimate access to her life on and off the pitch, Liran Atzmor&rsquo;s film follows Sapir as she juggles the challenges of hormone therapy treatment and gender reassignment surgery, with a demanding fitness regime that keeps her in the front rank of professional football referees. Her determination to continue pursuing her dreams, both on and off the field &ndash; never losing the charisma and drive that makes her such a compelling figure &ndash; make&nbsp;<em>Sapir</em>&nbsp;a captivating experience; a sensitive profile of an individual living their life on their terms.</p>

Silent Men

Duncan Cowles

<p>Part road trip, part coming-of-middle-age tale, Cowles&rsquo; laconic humour and frank approach to his subject proves effective in exploring aspects of masculinity that all too often are little discussed. Admitting that he is not always open and intimate in his conversations with loved ones, the BAFTA-winning Scottish filmmaker sets out to define masculinity in the modern age &ndash; what makes men tick and, more importantly, coming to terms with all aspects of health, both physical and mental. The questions asked in&nbsp;<em>Silent&nbsp;</em><em>Men</em>&nbsp;may seem simple, but their answers betray underlying tensions, as Cowles&rsquo; subjects make all too clear. The film grapples with being able to express oneself as a man &ndash; to become someone at peace with themselves, their life and the ones they love.</p>

Simon et Marianne (Simon and Marianne)

Pier-Luc Latulippe Martin Fournier

<p>Achingly intimate and emotionally frank, French-Canadian directors Pier-Luc Latulippe and Martin Fournier&rsquo;s film&nbsp;is a heartrending portrait of a couple who face the ultimate test: the consequences they face when Simon, a writer, discovers he has an incurable form of cancer. Lucidly approaching the processes in place to deal with the end of a life &ndash; what it means for those faced with their own mortality and for those left behind &ndash; the film captures Simon and Marianne&rsquo;s desire to live their life together to the full. With its haunting visuals, poetic vignettes and moments of profound reflection,&nbsp;<em>Simon and Marianne</em>&nbsp;is a celebration of life, love and the human spirit, in the face of adversity and the unknown.</p>

Stone Mountain

Daniel Newell Kaufman

<p>The colossal rockface carving depicting three Confederate leaders &ndash; Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson &ndash; towers over Stone Mountain Park, on the outskirts of Atlanta. It&rsquo;s Georgia state&rsquo;s most popular tourist attraction. Daniel Kaufman&rsquo;s fascinating film profiles the locals living beneath it: an activist striving to be a voice for the town&rsquo;s majority Black community; an historian confronting his own legacy; a third generation Klansman who is fuelling renewed division in the region, and a civil rights organiser campaigning for the monument&rsquo;s destruction. Unfolding over a turbulent five years in the US, including a wave of anti-racist protests that saw the toppling of statues and monuments across the country, this visually arresting documentary reveals a divided community grappling with its troubled legacy and uncertain future.</p>

Strike: An Uncivil War

Daniel Gordon

<p>On 18 June 1984, at the height of the 1984-85 Miners&rsquo; Strike, Orgreave Coking Plant in South Yorkshire became the site of the bloodiest day of the longest and most violent industrial dispute in British history. The media subsequently appeared to lay blame for the violence at the feet of the strikers. Daniel Gordon&rsquo;s comprehensive documentary doesn&rsquo;t just overturn this fabrication, it portrays what took place as planned action on the part of the Thatcher government, with the Prime Minister determined to seek redress for the National Miners&rsquo; Union&rsquo;s victory over the Conservative government in the early 1970s and to forever break the union&rsquo;s role at the heart of British working class society. Released on the 40th anniversary of the battle, and featuring first-hand accounts and archive footage, this is a searing portrait of that tragic event.</p>

Sugarcane

Julian Brave NoiseCat Emily Kassie

<p>An investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve.</p> <p>Filmmakers Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie deliver a multilayered film that invites audiences to confront profound questions about morality and justice, and to bear witness to the lasting intergenerational legacy of trauma from the residential school system &mdash; including forced family separation, physical and sexual abuse, and the destruction of Native culture and language. Drawing on their backgrounds in activism and journalism &mdash; as well as NoiseCat&#39;s own personal connection to the story and community &mdash; the filmmakers deftly weave together multiple strands to form this compelling, heartbreaking narrative. Demonstrating unparalleled humanity, compassion, and grace for the affected Indigenous communities in North America, their powerful documentary operates from a place of pure and total empathy. At the same time, NoiseCat and Kassie recognize the resilience of the survivors and their descendants, and their unflagging determination to seek answers to long-buried secrets. Ultimately, <em>Sugarcane</em> reminds us to respect the humanity in ourselves as well as in others.&mdash;BB</p>

Teaches of Peaches

Philipp Fussenegger Judy Landkammer

<p>Filmed during the &ldquo;Teaches of Peaches Anniversary Tour&rdquo; in 2022, this documentary seamlessly weaves together exclusive archival gems with dynamic tour footage to capture the transformative journey of Canadian Merrill Nisker into the internationally acclaimed cultural powerhouse that is Peaches. From the inception of the stage show to the rigorous rehearsals and riveting performances, the film provides an intimate look at the inner workings of the tour. As a feminist musician, producer, director and performance artist, Peaches has spent over two decades challenging gender expectations, solidifying her status alongside pop and music industry icons. Her fearless originality has called social norms into question, dismantled stereotypes and confronted patriarchal power structures. Through biting wit, she advocates for LGBTQIA+ rights and tackles issues of sexual and gender and identity, leaving an indelible mark on popular culture.</p>

The Accidental President

Mike Lerner Martin Herring

<p>In 2020, Tsikhanouskaya&rsquo;s life changed irrevocably. First, her husband was arrested and made a political prisoner. Then, in protest, she stood against Lukashenko in the elections. He allowed her name to remain on the ballot as a joke. But then she won. Tracing her tense and electrifying journey over the course of the year, this impassioned political portrait profits from the unfettered access directors Mike Lerner and Martin Herring were given during Tsikhanouskaya&rsquo;s campaign, her subsequent exile from Belarus and her navigation through the EU and global political landscape as her country&rsquo;s legitimately elected leader. It&rsquo;s a testament to strength, courage and stubborn resistance, and of Tsikhanouskaya&rsquo;s love for her husband. And it asks us: in the bleakest moment what would we do for our loved ones?</p>

The Backstreet

Romain Beck

<p>Sweat, moans, the haze of smoke and the rugged smell of leather. This is The Backstreet &ndash; London&#39;s secret haven for leathermen. After 37 years in existence, the club stands on the brink of permanent closure. Facing the demolition of their erotic haven, regulars and staff recount their memories &ndash; the sweaty darkroom encounters, a master-slave couple&rsquo;s first kiss, a spiritual encounter during a BDSM session, and the terror and loss of the HIV pandemic. Meanwhile, the owner, the manager and a curator from the Museum of London go through boxes, finding erotic birthday cake designs, leather jockstraps and homophobic tabloid cuttings. As the space awaits demolition, what will The Backstreet&rsquo;s legacy be?</p>

The Battle for Laikipia

Daphne Matziaraki Peter Murimi

<p>Unresolved historical injustices and climate change raise the stakes in a generations-old conflict between Indigenous pastoralists and white landowners in Laikipia, Kenya, a wildlife conservation haven.</p> <p>Co-directors Daphne Matziaraki (<em>4.1 Miles</em>, <em>The Me You Can&rsquo;t See</em>) and Pete Murimi (<em>I Am Samuel</em>) craft <em>The Battle for</em> <em>Laikipia</em> with empathy, compassion, and brutal truth. Weaving together themes of environmentalism, colonialism, and conservationism, the film delicately showcases the impact of these crucial topics on the Indigenous farming community of Kenya&rsquo;s Laikipia region. Handled with care, Matziaraki and Murimi&rsquo;s <em>The Battle for</em> <em>Laikipia</em> takes us through a journey that elicits frustration, awe, curiosity, and wonder.&mdash;BB</p>

El Niño y El Traje De Luces (The Boy and the Suit of Lights)

Inma de Reyes

<p>A bullring sits at the heart of the 16th-century Spanish town of Castell&oacute;n. Around it has risen residential tower blocks. It&rsquo;s here that Borja lives. The boy&rsquo;s grandfather, who once had dreams of being a bullfighter himself, now places the responsibility on Borjas&rsquo; shoulders, hoping he will carry on a tradition that is increasingly regarded as one of the last vestiges on a bygone era. But this dream also encapsulates a desire that the boy&rsquo;s success will lift his family out of poverty. With intimate access to the family as they go about their daily lives, Inma de Reyes&rsquo;s striking observational documentary highlights the uneasy relationship between past and present, capturing modern life across three generations with compassion and no small amount of empathy.</p>

The Contestant

Clair Titley

<p>In 1998, Tomoaki Hamatsu, an aspiring Japanese comedian who became known as Nasubi, participated in a reality TV program. His Sisyphean challenge: to live alone in an apartment and subsist entirely off what he could win in magazine sweepstakes until he reaches 1 million yen in prizes. As days turn to weeks and months, the program, which is live-streamed, unbeknownst to Nasubi, grows popular, and the conditions take their toll on our hero. At the dawn of the internet age, this striking film forewarns the ethical concerns of reality entertainment in the 21st century. &ndash;&nbsp;<em>Brandon Harrison</em>&nbsp;</p>

The Cranes Call

Laura Warner

<p>Working with their team at the Clooney Foundation for Justice, Anya Neistat, a brilliant war crimes investigator, joins forces with Solomiia Stasiv, a young Ukrainian woman just entering the field. Together they document atrocities in the fight to bring Russian generals to trial and justice to the Ukrainian people.</p>

The Flats

Alessandra Celesia

<p>New Lodge: seven 12-storey towers each stuck in the heart of Belfast. One of the areas that were the most severely affected by the Northern-Irish conflict during three decades. One of those where the number of casualties per inhabitant can make your head spin. Today, this small Catholic neighbourhood is marked by some kind of social abandonment. Yet, a touch of madness and hope, even idealism, still floats around, supported by the humanity and caustic humour of the locals.</p>

The Hexagonal Hive and a Mouse in a Maze

Bartek Dziadosz Tilda Swinton

<p>What does it mean to learn? Academy Award&reg; winning actor Tilda Swinton and Bartek Dziadosz travel between the UK, Bangladesh, West Africa and North America, probing the experiences of young people and exploring the role of education in our past, present and future. Swinton plays researcher and Dziadosz filmmaker in their second feature collaboration (the first was one of the chapters of The Seasons in Quincy: The Four Portraits of John Berger). The result, produced by the Derek Jarman Lab, is a beautiful cinematic rumination. Drawing insights from scientists, farmers, philosophers, educators and children, this warm and engaging film highlights how, in a complex world, we must never stop being curious.</p>

كذب أبيض (The Mother of All Lies)

Asmae El Moudir

<p>Filmmaker Asmae El Moudir takes an unorthodox approach for her reconstruction of a painful period in the history of her homeland Morocco, and of her own family. Her father has built a miniature replica of the house and neighborhood where she grew up. El Moudir situates family members and neighbors in this set, where they recount what happened during and after the Casablanca bread riots of 1981, which the government brutally crushed.</p> <p>We discover that El Moudir&rsquo;s fragile-looking but still-savvy grandma played an important and none too savory role during this oppressive period when liquidations, arrests, and torture were commonplace. The filmmaker&rsquo;s questions, combined with the intimate but artificial setting of the scale model neighborhood, impel the interviewees to relive these events. This leads to painful recollections, new insights, and sometimes catharsis.</p> <p>A forgotten history comes to life in the minutely detailed re-creation of the old houses and streets, complete with furniture, lighting and local characters.</p>

死的对头 (The Opposite of Dying)

Peiyuan Zhang

<p>Tang lives alone in a cave in the mountains. He spends his days trekking and meeting friends in the local town. While this self-styled hermit has lived for years with almost no money, now he dreams of becoming a successful entrepreneur. Coming down from the mountain, he meets local businessmen and old friends, pitching them a series of outlandish money-making schemes &ndash; from a campsite on the rooftop of a local hotel, to a 300-day-long hermit experience for tourists. With a deep urge to live a meaningful life, Tang is confronted by the prejudices of townsfolk who see him as nothing more than a local oddity.</p>

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

Benjamin Ree

<p>Mats Steen, a Norwegian gamer, died of a degenerative muscular disease at the age of 25. His parents mourned what they thought had been a lonely and isolated life, when they started receiving messages from online friends around the world.</p> <p>Benjamin Ree (<em>The Painter and the Thief,</em> 2020) returns to the Festival with a heartwarming and adventurous journey through the breadth of Mats Steen&rsquo;s digital life and his profound impact on a community. Thoughtfully beginning with an overview of Mats&rsquo; life from the Steens&rsquo; perspective, Ree then uncovers and revives Mats&rsquo; vibrant cyberself. Narrated entries from Mats&rsquo; published blog introduce us to Ibelin, his charismatic World of Warcraft persona. Mats&rsquo; personality is revealed in a fuller dimension through reconstructed animated moments from his gameplay and interviews with people who knew him as Ibelin. Mats&rsquo; parents&rsquo; deepest remorse was the thought of their son never experiencing love and friendships, but Ree offers an endearing and innovative portrait of Mats&rsquo; abundant life through World of Warcraft, underscoring how community and soulful relationships can transcend the boundaries of the physical world.&mdash;SO</p>

The Ride Ahead

Samuel Habib Dan Habib

<p>An expansion of his short film My Disability Roadmap, Samuel Habib is a typical 21-year-old, itching to move out, start a career and find love. But &ldquo;no one tells you how to be an adult, let alone an adult with a disability.&rdquo;</p>

La Trampa (The Trap)

Ferney Iyokina Gittoma

<p>Many years ago, grandfather No&eacute; built a fish trap. Hidden in the jungle, it is a lost legacy for the hunters of the Indigenous Okaina community. With the arrival of a mysterious jaguar, No&eacute;&rsquo;s ancestors take this signal and strive to rebuild what was lost. Meanwhile the camera is its own trap, capturing images of the rich animal life of the jungle.</p>

The Trouble With Mr Doodle

Jaimie D'Cruz Ed Perkins

<p>Sam Cox was born to draw. From the moment he could hold a pen he started scribbling and never stopped: all day every day and all night too. As his obsession grew, the unstoppable stream of doodles flowing from his fingertips and out into the world beyond threatened to take over his life, his home and his mind. From the makers of Academy Award-nominated documentaries Exit Through The Gift Shop and Black Sheep, and the Producer of Academy Award-winning documentaries Man on Wire and Searching for Sugar Man, The Trouble With Mr Doodle is the story of an extraordinary boy born into an ordinary family and a cautionary tale about how sometimes we really do need to be careful what we wish for.</p>

Salão de Baile (This is Ballroom)

Juru‎ Vitã ‎

<p>An upbeat tribute to the Brazilian ballroom scene, where LGBTQ+ and non-white people create the creative space they are not allowed in a repressive society.</p>

This is Only the Beginning

Samori Tovatt

<p>Fabian lives with his father in Sweden, but he spends most of his time alone. Like many his age, he spends his days buried in the overwhelming ocean of information the internet has to offer. But this does not give him the escape he needs. Seeking something beyond the familiar, he ends up in Osaka. Picking up a job as a bouncer in a cow suit, his life becomes fuller and stranger. This carefully crafted hybrid film follows Fabian&rsquo;s passage from loneliness to connection.</p>

Three Promises

Yousef Srouji

<p>At the turn of the millennium, as the Israeli army retaliates against the Second Intifada in the West Bank, Suha, a Palestinian mother, films her family&rsquo;s daily life. Time spent sheltering in the basement at night and her two young children&rsquo;s fear of the shelling are recurring elements. The scenes also have something commonplace about them, apparent in the family members who are not used to the ever-present camera, as well as the fact that the children still head off to school each morning.</p> <p>In 2017, Suha&rsquo;s son Yousef, the director of this documentary, discovered the videos. Together with his mother, he explores why she chose to film her family&rsquo;s life in wartime. And why she waited to flee the country&mdash;several times Suha broke a promise she made to God that she would leave.</p> <p>This clever debut film underlines the value of documenting the present: the filmmaker constructs new stories with old footage. It&rsquo;s a story of a mother with her camera, a boy and his childhood, and at the same time, the history of the Palestinian people.</p>

Totem (2024)

Macià Florit Campins

<p>Today is the closing day of the quarry owned by Toni, the last stonecutter left on the island of Menorca. Laetitia is a sculptor committed to preventing Toni&rsquo;s quarry from being turned into a landfill. Together, they guide us through a journey to the heart of sandstone &ndash; eroded and reborn as a new being: the totem. What might be for some a scar on a landscape can also be seen as a totem to the beauty of scars; an imprint of human labour can also be an inspiration for human artistry.</p>

Union

Stephen Maing Brett Story

<p>The Amazon Labor Union (ALU) &mdash; a group of current and former Amazon workers in New York City&rsquo;s Staten Island &mdash; takes on one of the world&rsquo;s largest and most powerful companies in the fight to unionize.</p> <p>Chronicling the historic efforts of the ALU, <em>Union</em> is an intimate and surprising story of dogged determination, unorthodox tactics, and speaking up despite David vs. Goliath odds. Capturing up-close, in-the-trenches moments with the upstart labor union leaders &mdash; including the charismatic Chris Smalls &mdash; as they try to build support for their movement on their own terms, filmmakers Brett Story and Stephen Maing bear witness to the realities of labor organizing in the United States &mdash; challenging at best; near-impossible when facing the unlimited resources and influence of a corporate giant. They track exhilarating victories and demoralizing setbacks along the way, but foremost spotlight the far-reaching ability of collective action to inspire hope and bring self-determination to workers who&rsquo;ve long felt disenfranchised and powerless.&mdash;BT</p>

We Are Fallen Angels

Rosa Vendelboe Vestergaard

<p>Michelle Sabine is a young woman who seeks escape through her transgressive lifestyle and her dreams of becoming a star. Living in a self-created dream world, she races away from the echoes of her troubled past of addiction and self-harm. As we journey with Michelle through music studios and international travels, we go deeper into her inner universe. The film brilliantly hovers between dreams and reality, offering a peek beyond the image she has constructed to survive. With sensitivity the filmmaker and the protagonist invite us to face the inheritance of the past to create a better future.</p>

We Can Be Heroes

Carina Mia Wong Alex Simmons

<p>Sometimes, finding your tribe requires a bit of magic. For attendees of a live action role-playing (LARP) camp in upstate New York, the deeply accepting environment has given neurodivergent, queer, and self-proclaimed &quot;nerdy&quot; teenagers the space for self-discovery that they have never found anywhere else. As the campers immerse themselves in this imaginative world, they discover inner strength, heal from traumas, and emerge as heroes, both in the fantasy realm and in real life. From directors Carina Mia Wong and Alex Simmons, WE CAN BE HEROES celebrates the fleeting, but profoundly formative moments that make up the most intense years of adolescence, with a little help from foam swords.</p>

Waar Draken Wonen (Where Dragons Live)

Suzanne Raes

<p>Suzanne Raes&rsquo; film follows the Impey family through a major transition: rifling through the contents of their childhood home in preparation to sell it, with their own children watching on. Between the clutter and the boxes, the siblings find themselves haunted by the memories of their late parents: a dragon-obsessed father and an exacting mother, and the esoteric collections of objects they left behind. Working through her award-winning documentary collective, Docmakers, veteran filmmaker Raes (<em>0.03 Seconde</em>,&nbsp;<em>Two Men</em>,&nbsp;<em>Close to Vermeer</em>) carves out a disarmingly tender rumination on parent-child relationships. Giving equal weight to each sibling, balancing the light and shade of the physical and emotional spaces of their lives,&nbsp;<em>Where Dragons Live</em>&nbsp;also features some dazzling visuals in the way it presents this personal history.</p>

Там, де закінчується Росія (Where Russia Ends)

Oleksiy Radynski

<p>In the late 1980s, a team of Ukrainian filmmakers undertook several film expeditions to remote areas of Siberia. Their forgotten film reels were rediscovered in Kyiv in 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This mesmerising archive is a starting point for a film essay that interrogates Russian imperialism, resource extraction, environmental destruction and the ongoing oppression and erasure of Indigenous peoples in Russia&rsquo;s colonies, from the time of the Tsars through the Soviet era and the present day.</p>

Vento Dourado (Wind of Gold)

André Hayato Saito

<p>Haruko and her Japanese-Brazilian daughter Sumiko are faced with the inevitable &ndash; our mortality. In a house surrounded by memories, dreams and nature, Sumiko cares for her ageing and frail mother. Walking the narrow path between the terrestrial and the transcendental,&nbsp;<em>Wind of Gold</em>&nbsp;reminds us of the beauty of living, the roles we never escape and the overwhelming power of grief. As a child&rsquo;s fingers intertwine with those of a grandmother, carrying energy from one generation to the next, the film also reminds us that life is eternal.</p>

Angst Essen Seele Auf (Ali: Fear Eats the Soul)

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

<p>The wildly prolific German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder paid homage to his cinematic hero Douglas Sirk with this update of that filmmaker&rsquo;s 1955&nbsp;<em>All That Heaven Allows.</em>&nbsp;A lonely widow (Brigitte Mira) meets a much younger Arab worker (El Hedi ben Salem) in a bar during a rainstorm. They fall in love, to their own surprise&mdash;and to the outright shock of their families, colleagues, and drinking buddies. In&nbsp;<em>Ali: Fear Eats the Soul,</em>&nbsp;Fassbinder expertly wields the emotional power of classic Hollywood melodrama to expose the racial tensions underlying contemporary German culture.</p>

Свідки. Полон вбиває (Witnesses. Captivity That Kills)

Maryna Roshchyna Tetiana Symon

<p>On the night of July 29, 2022, an explosion destroyed a building in a Russian-operated prison in Molodizhne, near Olenivka, in the Donetsk region. It housed Ukrainian prisoners, many of whom had fought in the siege of Mariupol. Somewhere between 53-62 were killed, with many more wounded. No sooner had the explosion made headlines than the Russian propaganda machine kicked in, obfuscating claims that the explosion was to cover-up the mass torture and murder being carried out there. Maryna Roshchyna and Tetiana Symon&rsquo;s film draws on available testimonies and footage to piece together what took place and to locate the incident within the wider context of the conflict. It also highlights the essential work being carried out by the Ukraine War Archive, which is racing to record evidence of war crimes before it is erased.</p>