Ni Hao Holland(2015)

Fall 2(en)

Bas Jan Ader rides his bike into a canal in Amsterdam.

Over Mountains, Over Valleys(sk)

The Matica slovenská (a mostly government-sponsored cultural, academic, and archival institution) employed Karol Plicka (1894-1987) as its ethnographer, who was able to make documentary shorts from about 1926. He obtained funding from the President’s Office in 1928 to produce an hour-long documentary about village life, Through Mountains and Valleys (Po horách, po dolách). It was awarded a Gold Medal at the International Exposition of Photographic Art in Florence and received an Honorable Mention at the International Venice Film Festival in 1932.

La Grande Aventure du France(fr)

Son of Torum(et)

In the same vein as Meri's other documentations, this one takes advantage of the glasnost policy to discuss the social and ecologic impact of the Russian oil industry on the natives and the lands they inhabit.

Chez Schwartz(en)

Chez Schwartz takes us inside a year in the life of Schwartz's Deli - the unique 75-year-old landmark on Montreal's historic Main. Filmed through changing seasons, from the quiet of early morning preparation to the frenetic bustle of packed lunch times and never ending line-ups, to the more relaxed ambiance late at night - Chez Schwartz is an evocative, cinematic portrait of a small spunky deli known worldwide equally for its atmosphere and smoked meat.

Danger Zone(en)

In the competitive world of tourism, there are very few experiences that are out of bounds. “Danger Zone” explores the world of war tourism, catering to a growing market for ever more rare and extreme experiences.

Gringo Trails(en)

Are tourists destroying the planet-or saving it? How do travelers change the remote places they visit, and how are they changed? From the Bolivian jungle to the party beaches of Thailand, and from the deserts of Timbuktu, Mali to the breathtaking beauty of Bhutan, GRINGO TRAILS traces stories over 30 years to show the dramatic long-term impact of tourism on cultures, economies, and the environment.

Shaping Bamboo(en)

For the 'Are'are people of the Solomon Islands, the most valued music is that of the four types of panpipe ensembles. With the exception of slit drums, all musical instruments are made of bamboo; therefore the general word for instruments and the music performed with them is "bamboo" ('au). This film shows the making of panpipes, from the cutting the bamboo in the forest to the making of the final bindings. The most important part of the work consists in shaping each tube to its necessary length. Most 'Are'are panpipe makers measure the length of old instruments before they shape new tubes. Master musician 'Irisipau, surprisingly, takes the measure using his body, and adjusts the final tuning by ear. For the first time we can see here how the instruments and their artificial equiheptatonic scale-seven equidistant degrees in an octave-are practically tuned.

Ho! Kanada(en)

What do the Japanese see in Canada? What's the magnetic pull from the Far East? And what's our take on this land of ours? Bolstering our feeling of national pride comes naturally after watching the Japanese embrace the country. The film follows Masaaki Kagami, a Japanese transplanted in Alberta. He specializes in making souvenir videos for Japanese tourists. HO! KANADA is an investigation of national stereotypes. The film records the way the Japanese see us, and how we see them and ourselves.

Alger Et Ses Environs(fr)

The film, shot in 1938, is part of a series entitled “The true face of Algeria”. The film highlights the proximity of Algiers to Paris and promotes air travel. The commentary supporting the images highlights the urban dynamism (“Every day, a new skyscraper replaces a wasteland”) and the comparison with Paris (“Algiers is often nicknamed the Paris of North Africa because of its elegance become proverbial). Contemporary architectural achievements are described as the sign of “grandiose modernism”: “we love the new, the bold”. But the point does not forget the buildings illustrating “the Moorish, classic and attractive style”. The description of the Casbah also attempts to understand the architectural organization but also the diversity and even the atmosphere.

A bissele Glik(de)

Deep Water(en)

DEEP WATER is the stunning true story of the fateful voyage of Donald Crowhurst, an amateur yachtsman who enters the most daring nautical challenge ever – the very first solo, non-stop, round-the-world boat race.

Dream Boat(de)

A cruise ship and 3,000 men – it is a universe without heteros and women that usually remains a mystery to the outside world. Once a year the Dream Boat sets sail for a cruise exclusively for gay men where most passengers are united by the wish to live life authentically as themselves in a protected place.

Catalina and Magaluf(ca)

Catalina Feliu is eighty-nine years old and lives in the first house built in Magaluf. She adapts to the changes in her environment: she sleeps when Magaluf wakes up.

The Drunkmen’s Marseillaise(es)

In the summer of 1961, a group of young Italian anthropologists made a clandestine journey through Spain, in order to record popular songs that supported anti-Franco resistance. As a result of their work, they were prosecuted and their recordings were censored. Sixty years later, and guided by Emilio Jona, aged 92, the last living member of that group of travellers, we recover the unpublished recordings and reconstruct the journey, today, across an emotional and political landscape, regaining historical memories through these songs, as relevant today as they were then.

Folia no Morro(en)

An ethnographic documentary following the Folia de Reis party that is celebrated every year at Morro de Santa Marta on Rio de Janeiro.

Up the Yangtze(zh)

At the edge of the Yangtze River, not far from the Three Gorges Dam, young men and women take up employment on a cruise ship, where they confront rising waters and a radically changing China.

Spookers(en)

Documentary from Kiwi filmmaker Florian Habicht on the most successful haunted attraction in the Southern Hemisphere, Auckland’s Spookers.

Von Schlagrahmdampfern und anderen verlorenen Dingen(de)

Not everyone who nowadays drives on the A73 between Nuremberg and Bamberg knows that they are travelling on a former waterway. Still half a century ago, the old Ludwig-Main-Danube-Canal (in short: Ludwig-Canal) was located here, which represented the last puzzle piece to a navigable connection between the oceans. Build within a remarkable ten years’ time of construction, the canal, which was opened in 1846, was the realization of a small dream of humanity as it finally connected the North Sea with the Black Sea. Unfortunately, the idea could not support itself financially: Too powerful were the railroads, which saw its rise simultaneously, and which soon undermined the ambitious canal project’s future as they were in every regard the faster, more comfortable, and better means of transportation of the hour.

Staré Valašsko(cs)

A short film about traditional crafts and culture that can still be found in the Wallachian mountains today.