New Ways(1978)

2017 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Documentary(en)

Dinner(en)

What are one week films? They're an assignment we do our first week back at CalArts, designed to dust off cobwebs by throwing us straight into the deep end. Our class theme was "square," and we had a lot of fun playing around with compositions inspired by East Asian graphic design.

All American(en)

In this modern, coming of age documentary, Naomi, Jojo and Arham grapple with economic divides, gender roles, and family dynamics while competing in the fastest growing high school sport in the country: girl’s wrestling.

Ten Pound Poms(en)

In 1947, the Assisted Passage Scheme began, devised by the Australian government to bring in white British settlers. For just 10 pounds, they could start a new life in a sun-drenched land of opportunity, and over the next 25 years, more than a million people took up the offer. The scheme's pioneers tell their story.

FAT: A Documentary(en)

Weight loss expert Vinnie Tortorich and award-winning filmmaker Peter Pardini want you to join their team to make a hard-hitting documentary film that exposes the widespread myths and lies around healthy eating, fat and weight loss and shows how, in spite of all our good intentions, we go on getting fatter and fatter.

Monaco, Italia. Storie di arrivi in Germania(it)

My Life Inside(es)

Rosa is a Mexican woman who, at the age of 17, migrated illegally to Austin, Texas. Some years later, she was jailed under suspicion of murder and then taken to trial. This film demonstrates how the judicial process, the verdict, the separation from her family, and the helplessness of being imprisoned in a foreign country make Rosa’s story an example of the hard life of Mexican migrants in the United States.

Your Call Is Important To Us(fr)

The only thing colder than a Canadian winter is Canadian bureaucracy (probably). Based on five real life stories, Romy Boutin St-Pierre and Joe Nadeau pay homage to the nation-wide stress headache of phone calls with the government in this surprising short.

The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files(en)

David Olusoga opens secret government files to show how the Windrush scandal and the ‘hostile environment’ for black British immigrants has been 70 years in the making.

Meu Professor(pt)

Narratives of Modern Genocide(en)

Narratives of Modern Genocide challenges the audience to experience first-person accounts of survivors of genocide. Sichan Siv and Gilbert Tuhabonye share how they escaped the killing fields of Cambodia, and the massacre of school children in Burundi. Mixing haunting animation, and expert context the film confronts our notion that the holocaust was the last genocide.

The Silence of the River(fr)

“Forgetting is complicit in recidivism,” says the commentary of this film dedicated to the demonstration of October 17, 1961 in Paris and the savage repression that followed. 11,538 Algerians will be arrested, which is reminiscent of the great Vel d’hiv roundup of July 16 and 17, 1942 where 12,884 Jews were arrested.
 The film brings together eyewitnesses including a priest, a peacekeeper, a couple of workers sympathetic to the Algerian cause, a lawyer, Paris municipal councilors including Claude Bourdet (then one of the leaders of the PSU and journalist to France Observateur), Gérard Monatte, the future police union leader, and the editor and writer François Maspero.

Immigrant Service: Focus on Jesus Duran(en)

After losing her father at an early age, Tina Duran explores the rich history of her father, the story of her ancestors who migrated from Mexico to the United States, and the impact the Vietnam War had on their community.

Cheap Food(fr)

Industrial food production has provided the public with an abundance of food at very low prices. But with obesity and diabetes at record levels in Europe, there is clearly a problem with the food we eat. This documentary puts the spotlight on the agri-food industry and reveals how low-cost ultra-processed foods are really made.

Ellis Island, une histoire du rêve Américain(fr)

In 1892, Ellis Island, in New York Bay, became the main gateway to the United States for immigrants arriving increasingly from Europe. The story of immigration to the United States from 1892 to 1954, an enthralling polyphonic narrative that embraces both small and great history.

Aan ons den arbeid(en)

Documentary that shows the changing attitude towards immigrant labor in The Netherlands. The documentary follows three immigrants that arrived in Holland 30 years ago to work in a bakery.

Visions of Europe(en)

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

Walk The Line(en)

More than 37,000 Chinese citizens entered the US illegally via its southern border in 2023, hoping to find a better life in America. Many more are following in their footsteps, often with young children in tow. To reach the Land of the Free, they embark on a most treacherous journey: the migrants first need to reach Ecuador, the country closest to the US that would grant Chinese passport holders visa-free entry. From there, they need to cross Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, all illegally, to reach California. In this documentary series, CNA correspondent Wei Du travels the route with the Chinese migrants, and try to understand why they've been driven to such desperation, and if the American Dream is all it's made out to be.

Brief Tender Light(en)

At America's elite MIT, a Ghanaian alum follows four African students as they strive to graduate and become agents of change for their home countries Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Over an intimate, nearly decade-long journey, all must decide how much of America to absorb, how much of Africa to hold on to, and how to reconcile teenage ideals with the truths they discover about the world and themselves.

From the Black You Make Color(en)

Eight women on the margins of Israeli society are thrown together during the course of a school year at Tel Aviv's oldest beauty school. Amidst the combs and colorings, these women present a microcosm of modern-day Tel Aviv -- native Israelis and new immigrants, Asians and Africans, among them women struggling with cancer and personal loss. As they learn to create beauty without, each woman undergoes a powerful transformation within.