Palm to Palm: Love. Home. Family(2019)

HOME(en)

Century of Smoke(en)

Laosan, a young family man, spends all his time smoking opium. For his community, lost in the heart of the Laotian jungle, opium farming is the only way to survive. But opium is also the poison that puts men to sleep and kills their desires.

2 or 3 Things I Know About Him(de)

What would your family reminiscences about dad sound like if he had been an early supporter of Hitler’s, a leader of the notorious SA and the Third Reich’s minister in charge of Slovakia, including its Final Solution? Executed as a war criminal in 1947, Hanns Ludin left behind a grieving widow and six young children, the youngest of whom became a filmmaker. It's a fascinating, maddening, sometimes even humorous look at what the director calls "a typical German story." (Film Forum)

My Human Self(el)

The inspiring story of the unemployed man who stood up against the Greek crisis and created a social kitchen for the homeless and refugees.

El Patinador Patinado(es)

Les Yeux de ma Mer(fr)

Two Sisters(fr)

Violeta and Vyollca Dukay live in the south of Kosovo, close to the border with Albania. Faced with a very high unemployment in their country since the end of the war, they became deminers. They’ve been going to the minefields every day for six years now. The unique and very strong relationship that exists between the two sisters helps them to overcome their fear and to keep hoping in spite of the precariousness of their situation and the risks they run each day to earn their living.

A Letter Without Words(en)

Lisa Lewenz retraces the steps of her Jewish grandmother who dared to film life in Berlin during the rise of Nazi Germany.

Like Stone Lions in the Gateway into Night(fr)

Between 1947 and 1951, more than 80 000 Greek men, women and children were deported to the isle of Makronissos (Greece) in reeducation camps created to ‘fight the spread of Communism’. Among those exiles were a number of writers and poets, including Yannis Ritsos and Tassos Livaditis. Despite the deprivation and torture, they managed to write poems which describe the struggle for survival in this world of internment. These texts, some of them buried in the camps, were later found. «Like Lions of stone at the gateway of night» blends these poetic writings with the reeducation propaganda speeches constantly piped through the camps’ loudspeakers. Long tracking shots take us on a trance-like journey through the camp ruins, interrupted along the way by segments from photographic archives. A cinematic essay, which revives the memory of forgotten ruins and a battle lost.

In, out and about(en)

An exploration of the interconnected experiences of queerness and illness, this film navigates personal and collective journeys through medical spaces, sexual violence, and survival, displays the profound impact on body and identity.

Memory Books(en)

In Uganda, AIDS-infected mothers have begun writing what they call Memory Books for their children. Aware of the illness, it is a way for the family to come to terms with the inevitable death that it faces. Hopelessness and desperation are confronted through the collaborative effort of remembering and recording, a process that inspires unexpected strength and even solace in the face of death.

Sieben Mulden und eine Leiche(de)

Thomas Haemmerli is about to celebrate his fortieth birthday when he learns of his mother's death. A further shock follows when he and his brother Erik discover her apartment, which is filthy and full to bursting with junk. It takes the brothers an entire month to clean out the place. Among the chaos, they find films going back to the 1930s, photos and other memorabilia.

Meráki(pt)

Saucedo(en)

Saucedo explores the emotional journey of boxing champion Alex Saucedo who suffers a career ending brain injury, forcing him to redefine his identity, find new purpose and take care of his family. This cinema verité feature documentary is a raw and intimate portrait of resilience and redemption.

Elogio a la Sonrisa(es)

Lost in the Bewilderness(en)

Lost in the Bewilderness is a feature-length documentary about the filmmaker’s cousin Lucas, kidnapped at age five from his native Greece, and found on the eve of his 16th birthday in the US. This story of international parental abduction, filmed for over twenty years, chronicles Lucas’s journey of growth and self-discovery, and culminates with Lucas becoming a father himself. Lost in the Bewilderness is not only a detective story but also a lyrical meditation on childhood, lost and found, and an exploration of how the themes of ancient Greek myth and tragedy, with the family at their center, are still very much alive in the modern world.

In the Shadow of Light(es)

Life in the isolated town of Charrúa is dominated by the presence of a large power plant that distributes energy to most of Chile. A little boy hunts rabbits, residents demand better electrical coverage at a town meeting, a woman waters the plants outside her house and a local radio station relays the day's happenings. At night, wildlife is captured on camera, along with strange bursts of light that momentarily illuminate a countryside criss-crossed with pylons and cables. And ever present is the insidious hum of electricity.

Back To Africa(en)

Contaminated Home(en)

Ten years after Fukushima nuclear accident, a familiy returns every month at their home to measure the radiation with a Geiger counter.

memories/fortress(en)

An Indonesian student in London attempts to deal with the absurdity of confinement and immobility due to then-ongoing coronavirus lockdown by talking to his parents – who also face similar movement restrictions in Jakarta – over the phone.