
An American elementary school program from the 1970s, Man: A Course of Study (MACOS), looked to the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic to help students see their own society in a new way. At its core was The Netsilik Film Series, an acclaimed benchmark of visual anthropology from the National Film Board that captured a year in the life of an Inuit family, reconstructing an ancient culture on the cusp of contact with the outside world. But the graphic images of the Netsilik people created a clash of values that tore rifts in communities across the U.S. and revealed a fragile relationship between politics and education. A fiery national debate ensued between academic and conservative forces. hrough These Eyes looks back at the high stakes of this controversial curriculum. Decades later, as American influence continues to affect cultures worldwide, the story of MACOS resonates strongly.

0.0Andrew Graham-Dixon explores the ancient Christian practice of preserving holy relics and the largely forgotten art form that went with it, the reliquary. Fragments of bone or fabric placed inside a bejewelled shrine, a sculpted golden head or even a life-sized silver hand were, and still are, objects of religious devotion believed to have the power to work miracles. The documentary features interviews with art historian Sister Wendy Beckett and Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum.
0.0The story of five lesbian and gay seniors in the Northwest Florida region as they navigate coming out, identity, politics, and the challenges and victories inherent in the gay experience. The film weaves together interviews with fictionalized interludes of magical realism that capture their feelings and experiences.
0.0Italy, from the '50s to the present day, told through the eyes of generations of children captured in Rai's (Italian public TV) archival footage.
10.0In northern Albania, ancestral customs still exist, governing the laws of vendetta between families. Sometimes, for generations, an old feud has pitted two clans against each other, condemning them to take turns murdering a member of the opposing family. This blood code, known as the Kanoun, has painful consequences for many Albanians, who are condemned to live in seclusion to avoid being killed.
0.0An 8-year journey into divided America, The American Question examines the insidious roots of polarization and distrust through past the past and present, revealing how communities can restore trust in each other to unite our country.
9.0The challenges of the present, expectations for the future, and the dreams of those who experience the reality of public high school in Brazil. Through the voices of students, principals, teachers and experts, "Not Even In a Wildest Dream" offers a reflection on the value of education.
8.2A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.
6.4Filmmaker Karim Aïnouz decides to take a boat, cross the Mediterranean, and embark on his first journey to Algeria. Accompanied by the memory of his mother, Iracema, and his camera, Aïnouz gives a detailed account of the journey to his father’s homeland, interweaving present, past, and future.
10.0WORDS FROM HOME is a poetic documentary that explores the kinds of affection and identity in the portuguese language spoken in Brazil. Through migrants' stories and their reflections, the movie reveals how expressions, accents and memories form emotional and cultural bonds, showing how speaking connects us, differentiates us and, above all, brings us closer together.
6.8A documentary about a teacher who sends a group of pupils out of the classroom when one of them does not own up to talking behind the master's back.
0.0When Masset, a Haida village in Haida Gwaii (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands), held a potlatch, it seemed as if the past grandeur of the people had returned. This is a colourful recreation of Indigenous life that faded more than two generations ago when the great totems were toppled by the missionaries and the costly potlatch was forbidden by law. The film shows how one village lived again the old glory, with singing, dancing, feasting, and the raising of a towering totem as a lasting reminder of what once was.
8.0Master Shi Heng Yi runs the Shaolin Temple Europe in Germany. The temple falls into disrepair and Shifu attempts to save the temple to continue sharing the Shaolin teaching around the world.
0.0The city of Ordos, in the middle of China, was build for a million people yet remains completely empty. Ordos is not so much a place but a symbol of babylonic hype. But nothing will change - as long as people believe.
0.0On the Kainai (Blood) First Nations Reserve, near Cardston, Alberta, a hopeful new development in Indigenous enterprise. Once rulers of the western plains, the Bloods live on a 1 300-square-kilometer reserve. Many have lacked gainful employment and now pin their hopes on a pre-fab factory they have built. Will the production line and work and wages fit into their cultural pattern of life? The film shows how it is working and what the owners themselves say about their venture.
6.0Marking the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death, the greatest exhibition ever held of his works took place in Rome. Exhibition on Screen was granted exclusive access to this once-in-a-lifetime show. With over two hundred masterpieces, including paintings and drawings – over a hundred of which have been brought together for the first time – this major exhibition celebrates the life and work of Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino.
0.0Pata Seca (1828), a man whose back bore the whip marks of his enslavers , whose eyes held the haunted memory of being forced to breed over 200 slave children in order to sustain his master’s plantation. Men broken but unbowed, transformed from field hands into soldiers from the civil war to Vietnam. This documentary weaves together authentic narratives from the 1800s, accompanied by original images and footage, highlighting the significant influence that Black men in uniform had in Hollywood and addressing ongoing relevant issues to date.
0.0The people of Unamenshipu (La Romaine), an Innu community in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, are seen but not heard in this richly detailed documentary about the rituals surrounding an Innu caribou hunt. Released in 1960, it’s one of 13 titles in Au Pays de Neufve-France, a series of poetic documentary shorts about life along the St. Lawrence River. Off-camera narration, written by Pierre Perrault, frames the Innu participants through an ethnographic lens. Co-directed by René Bonnière and Perrault, a founding figure of Quebec’s direct cinema movement.
0.0The Jehovah’s Witnesses are a religious group with eight million followers in multiple nations, including Australia. A knock on the door and an earnest offer to share their teachings is the only interaction most people will have with this god-fearing organisation. Few would know the extreme nature of their beliefs. The conduct of the religious group came under scrutiny in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
5.5An inside look at the notorious Sing Sing Correctional Facility, where one of the U.S.’s only in-prison college programs, Hudson Link, offers long-time inmates an education – and a new lease on life.
