A Filmless Festival(2015)

Stonewalling(zh)

20 year-old Lynn is told she needs English classes, flight attendant school, and a go getter-attitude. She perseveres along this path of upward mobility until she finds out she's pregnant. Indecisive and running out of time, she tells her boyfriend she's had an abortion and instead returns to her feuding parents and their failing clinic to try and figure out what's next.

Inside the Red Brick Wall(cn)

In 2019, Hong Kong was swept by demonstrations against the controversial extradition bill. At the Polytechnic University, a group of students also takes a stand for freedom and democracy. Negotiations with the police are chaotic and aggressive, conducted via megaphones and politically charged music played over loudspeakers. The colorful umbrellas which the young people use to protect themselves against the brutal police actions emphasize the group’s bravado, which borders on recklessness. What begins as an energetic battle against the establishment turns into a lopsided game of cat and mouse when the police decide to surround the building. Within its red brick walls, the university building becomes a prison. Over the nearly two weeks that follow, as fear and exhaustion grow among the hundreds of students, so does the uncertainty. Should they hang on inside, or leave the building to face the armed police?

Man(en)

A worn-out, aging shearer who once rained king of the high country, gets on the gear to keep up his numbers. But when the drugs take over he must learn what it really means to be a man, before he loses so much more than his country pride -- MAN.

Avatar: Creating the World of Pandora(en)

The Making-of James Cameron's Avatar. It shows interesting parts of the work on the set.

The Family Plan(en)

Dan Morgan is many things: a devoted husband, a loving father, a celebrated car salesman. He's also a former assassin. And when his past catches up to his present, he's forced to take his unsuspecting family on a road trip unlike any other.

The Grudge(en)

After a young mother murders her family in her own house, a detective attempts to investigate the mysterious case, only to discover that the house is cursed by a vengeful ghost. Now targeted by the demonic spirits, the detective must do anything to protect herself and her family from harm.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Swordsmith Village-(ja)

A recap of Kimetsu no Yaiba episodes 43–45, with new footage and special end credits. Together with his comrades, Zenitsu and Inosuke, along with one of the top-ranking members of the Demon Slayer Corps, Tengen Uzui, Tanjiro embarks on a mission within the Entertainment District, where they encounter the formidable, high-ranking demons, Daki and Gyutaro.

Magnum Opus(en)

Groot sets out to paint a family portrait of himself and the Guardians, only to discover just how messy the artistic process can be.

It's a Wonderful Binge(en)

Like the original film, the sequel is set in a near future where all drinking and drugs are banned except for on one glorious day known as The Binge. This year, that day happens to miraculously land on Christmas.

Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl(en)

Step into Casa Madrigal for a special concert spectacular as the original voice cast of Disney Animation's Oscar®-winning "Encanto," Stephanie Beatriz, Adassa, Carolina Gaitán, Jessica Darrow, Diane Guerrero, Mauro Castillo, Angie Cepeda and Olga Merediz, along with special guests including Colombian superstar Carlos Vives, reunites for "Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl." This unprecedented concert experience gives you a front-row seat to the musical extravaganza celebrating the global phenomenon.

Just Retired 2(fr)

Marilou and Philippe decide to show their grandchildren their new holiday home in Portugal. But once there, they discover to their horror that the house is still under construction. This is just the beginning of the problems for the grandparents, because soon they will lose their children. They have only two days left to find them, before their parents join them.

Cop Secret(is)

When Bússi, Iceland's toughest cop, is forced to work with a new partner to solve a series of bank robberies, the pressure to close the case as soon as possible proves too much for him.

Man(en)

Exploring the relationship between man and technology, this day-in-the-life story concentrates on a computer programmer, inundated by technology, living a secluded lifestyle in Laurel Canyon with his two dogs. He struggles to maintain any real connection with friends, colleague or family, outside of communicating with them over the phone or computer.

Spider(en)

Desperate to win a man's affections, Roshanda James uses murder and witchcraft to make herself appear as a beautiful seductress. No man can resist the Black Widow Spider.

Savage Salvation(en)

Newly engaged Shelby John and Ruby Red want a fresh start after their struggles with addiction, but when Shelby discovers his beloved Ruby dead on their porch, he embarks on a vengeful killing spree of the dealers who supplied her. Armed with nothing but adrenaline and a nail gun, Shelby begins to unleash chaos on the town’s criminal underbelly, as he hunt’s down crime lord Coyote. Sheriff Church must race against the clock to put an end to Shelby's vigilante justice before the entire town descends into a bloodbath.

Diabolik - Ginko Attacks(it)

Diabolik narrowly escapes Inspector Ginko's latest trap, leaving his partner in crime Eva Kant behind. Furious, Eva offers Ginko her help in capturing him, but the former has to face first the return of an old flame of his, noblewoman Altea.

Lesson Plan(pl)

After a teacher dies, his best friend — a former cop — takes a job at the school where he worked to confront the gang he thinks was responsible.

Support the Girls(en)

Lisa Conroy is general manager at a highway-side 'sports bar with curves', Double Whammies. She nurtures and protects her employees fiercely - but over the course of one trying day, her optimism is battered from every direction. Double Whammies sells a big, weird American fantasy, but what happens when reality pokes a bunch of holes in it?

Peter Pan(en)

This musical version of the tale of the boy who wouldn't grow up aired live on television on March 7, 1955. It was so popular that it was restaged the following year, and again four years later.

Who Framed Santa Claus?(it)

The Rocking Sky(zh)

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory of WWII, this documentary film describes the eight years of dauntless air-force fighting of the republic of China during the Anti-Japanese War, with only 300 combat-capable aircraft from China while Japan had over 2000.

A Yangtze Landscape(zh)

A Yangtze Landscape utilizes a non-narrative style, setting off from the Yangtze's marine port Shanghai, filming all the way to the Yangtze River's source, Qinghai/Tibet - filming a total distance of thousands of kilometers. Experimental music and noise recorded live on scene are used in post-production, painstakingly paired with relatively independent visuals, creating a magically realistic atmosphere contrasted with people seeming to be 'decorative figures' right out of traditional Chinese landscape scrolls.

Doctor Ma's Country Clinic(zh)

"Huangyangchuan, Gansu province, China. It's an arid mountain area with poor roads. Ma Bingcheng is well-respected local doctor, so many patients (most of them farmers) come to see him every day. In his small clinic, people chat with each other about their lives, local conditions, or the people they know. The clinic seems to open up like a microcosm, the information and experiences of different people intertwine, revealing the conditions of typical Chinese farmers, and the typical fates of both young and old--"

Shattered(zh)

A microcosm of China past and present flows through Xu Tong’s intimate docu “Shattered,” in which the maverick indie filmmaker continues to refine his techniques and concerns shown in his previous “Wheat Harvest” and “Fortune Teller.”

The Iron Ministry(zh)

Filmed over three years on China’s railways, The Iron Ministry traces the vast interiors of a country on the move: flesh and metal, clangs and squeals, light and dark, and language and gesture. Scores of rail journeys come together into one, capturing the thrills and anxieties of social and technological transformation. The Iron Ministry immerses audiences in fleeting relationships and uneasy encounters between humans and machines on what will soon be the world’s largest railway network.

Twenty Two(zh)

Follow the lives of the elderly survivors who were forced into sex slavery as “Comfort Women” by the Japanese during World War II. At the time of filming, only 22 of these women were still alive to tell their story. Through their own personal histories and perspectives, they tell a tale that should never be forgotten to generations unaware of the brutalization that occurred.

Wheat Harvest(zh)

A documentary film showing the life of Niu Hongmiao, a 20-year-old country girl who is now a prostitute in Beijing. Around the time of wheat harvesting, she goes back home to Dingxing County, Hebei Province to visit her parents.

The Last Moose Of Ao Lu Gu Ya(zh)

Documentary about a tribe of indigenous people in northern China.

A Young Patriot(zh)

A documentary chronicling the coming of age of a young chinese man.

The Yellow Bank(zh)

A short documentary that captures the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, The Yellow Bank takes you on a contemplative boat ride across the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China. Filmmaker J.P. Sniadecki, who lived and worked in Shanghai nine years earlier, uses the eclipse as a catalyst to explore the way weather, light, and sound affect the urban architectural environment during this extremely rare phenomenon.

Guranay(zh)

This film is a realistic record of a sixty-year-old couple living in a remote village (Gurenay) in the Badain Jaran Desert of Alashan, Inner Mongolia plant thousands of mu of ammodendron and euphratica to fight against expanding deserts.

1428(zh)

The "Great Sichuan Earthquake" took place at 14:28 on May 12, 2008. In the days after, ordinary people salvage destroyed pig farms in the mountains, collect cheap scrapped metals, or pillaging other victims' homes. Behind the media circus of official visits is an inconsolable grief of families searching for loved ones. As the Lunar New Year approaches, vagabonds and family tell of the ill-handling of rebuilding schemes and misuse relief funds. As they prepare for another visit from a high official, the refugees are swept out of the town and into tent cities. The promise to put a roof over their heads before winter seems impossible to keep.

Trash Village(zh)

This is the fourth film in my Zoujiacun series within the Folk Memory Project. In 2013, I came back to my village and faced the trash all over the village. The children and I tried to improve the environment of our village. This was a tough fight against the trash and ideas of villagers. I felt like that the trash was in my heart. The 95-year-old grandma Sha and her 49-year-old son Xizhu, their lonely solitary life is also in this film. This film is about the progress that I fight with myself.

Chinese Backbone Doctors(zh)

Liu Haiying, who is praised by patients as the "sword of the world", is a doctor of medicine who grew up during the 80 years of agency thinking. He spent the most important stage of his career in Germany in the mid-1990s, and he developed a rigorous career. Careful and professional character. In many years of medical practice, Liu Haiying often paid out of his pocket to help poor families with severe spinal deformity patients. He knew that if these people did not undergo surgery, they would have organ failure or death waiting for them. However, long-term funding is unsustainable for the economy.Day and night heavy work has made this good doctor with superb medical skills a patient who needs to be taken care of. Colleagues advised him to take more care of his family and body, but he couldn't stop the pace of "saving the wounded." He was still staggering, guarding his life that was hard to give up and saved the wounded.

OLD VETERANS NEVER DIE(zh)

Different veterans, different memories of the Anti-Japanese War, and different lives. The oral narratives of 7 veterans show you the pictures of the Anti-Japanese War in that year, and take you to understand the current situation of the veterans of the Anti-Japanese War in Guangdong.

The Dialogue(cn)

Interviews with Dalai Lama and some Chinese intellectuals about Tibet/China relations and related issues.

The Blind Storytellers(zh)

Li Shouwang is the leader of a blind storytellers team, learned storytelling at the age of 19. His childernare living hard in other cities. Li's money amost goes to his children's pocket every year. But with urbanisation, the storytellers have lost almost all their audience. As the conflict between the storytelling team and the village team intensified, his son, who was far away from home, became the only spiritual sustains... When he was excited that his son would be taking his family home for Chinese New Year, what's await is a sigh.

Mama Rainbow(zh)

For Chinese parents, finding out that their kid is gay usually presents a major tragedy, with the big majority utterly unable to accept the homosexuality of their son or daughter. However, during recent years a fresh rainbow wind has been blowing over the Chinese mainland: a pioneer generation of Chinese parents has been stepping up and speaking out on their love for their gay kids. This documentary features 6 mothers from all over China, who talk openly and freely about their experiences with their homosexual children. With their love, they are giving a whole new definition to Chinese-style family bonds.

Be a Woman(cn)

Over the course of 3 years, Fan Popo visited a bar called “Only-Love” in Nanning, China, getting to know the dancers and drag queens there and discovering who they really were behind their exuberant costumes and personas.

First Vote(en)

A soon-to-be first-time voter, the filmmaker’s thought-provoking journey into the Rust Belt and South captures four Asian American voters’ ardent first time grassroots political participation ignited by the 2016 rise of “Chinese Americans for Trump.” FIRST VOTE is a character driven cinema verité style film chronicling the democratic participation of four Asian American voters from 2016 through the 2018 midterm elections.