Losing the Light(2023)

Shot in the Dark(de)

Shot in the Dark is a documentary on three blind photographers: Pete Eckert, Sonia Soberats and Bruce Hall. A documentary on three blind people who devote their lives to creating images. What do they see in their mind's eyes? Do they sense that which we sighted miss, overlook, or don't take into consideration? Their images, as we sighted can see, are extraordinary. "Even with no input the brain keeps creating images," says Pete Eckert. Sonia Soberats states, "I only understood how powerful light is after I went blind." Shot in the Dark is a journey into an unfamiliar yet fascinating realm. "My camera is like a bridge," claims Bruce Hall. All these photographers embrace fantasy, chance, and contingency at a fundamental level. Shot in the Dark enriches our understanding of perception and creation. We all close our eyes in sleep, the sighted and blind alike, and in our dreams - we see.

The Boy Who Found Gold(en)

William Hart McNichols is a world renowned artist, heralded by Time magazine as "among the most famous creators of Christian iconic images in the world". As a young Catholic priest from 1983-1990 he was immersed in a life-altering journey working as a chaplain at St. Vincent's AIDS hospice in New York city. It was during this time that he became an early pioneer for LGBT rights within the Catholic church. "The Boy Who Found Gold" is a cinematic journey into the art and spirit of William Hart McNichols. The film follows his colorful life as he crosses paths with presidents, popes, martyrs, and parishioners, finding an insightful lesson with each encounter. McNichols' message as a priest, artist and man speaks to the most powerful element of the human spirit: Mercy.

The Beauty President(en)

In 1992, at the height of the AIDS pandemic, activist Terence Alan Smith made a historic bid for president of the United States as his drag queen persona Joan Jett Blakk. Today, Smith reflects back on his seminal civil rights campaign and its place in American history.

Stone Wound(es)

The marks of the violence of the Chilean state, against its own compatriots. Flicker Film. 35mm B & W Still Photography. Silent.

Letter Beyond the Walls(pt)

Letter Beyond the Walls reconstructs the trajectory of HIV and AIDS with a focus on Brazil, through interviews with doctors, activists, patients and other actors, in addition to extensive archival material. From the initial panic to awareness campaigns, passing through the stigma imposed on people living with HIV, the documentary shows how society faced this epidemic in its deadliest phase over more than two decades. With this historical approach as its base, the film looks at the way HIV is viewed in today's society, revealing a picture of persistent misinformation and prejudice, which especially affects Brazil’s most historically vulnerable populations.

Grid(pt)

A ritual of grids, reflections and chasms; a complete state of entropy; a space that devours itself; a vertigo that destroys the gravity of the Earth; a trap that captures us inside the voids of the screen of light: «That blank arena wherein converge at once the hundred spaces» (Hollis Frampton).

Godard Cinema(fr)

Jean-Luc Godard is synonymous with cinema. With the release of Breathless in 1960, he established himself overnight as a cinematic rebel and symbol for the era's progressive and anti-war youth. Sixty-two years and 140 films later, Godard is among the most renowned artists of all time, taught in every film school yet still shrouded in mystery. One of the founders of the French New Wave, political agitator, revolutionary misanthrope, film theorist and critic, the list of his descriptors goes on and on. Godard Cinema offers an opportunity for film lovers to look back at his career and the subjects and themes that obsessed him, while paying tribute to the ineffable essence of the most revered French director of all time.

The World at Arm's Length(de)

Sven has a dream. Once in his life he wants to walk the Camino de Santiago - the Way of St. James. But that seems impossible, Sven has Usher syndrome, a disease which slowly, inexorably robs him of hearing and vision. Profoundly deaf and completely blind since 2010, he can only communicate using a special hearing aid in the spoken language.

Blindspot(en)

A brief glimpse through the life of Granny Lue. A woman of faith, fearlessness, and fierce energy, she never allowed her disability to determine her ability to live.

Host(en)

An artist leads his Infection Procession to the water.

Life of Crime 2(en)

This follow-up to the 1989 documentary ONE YEAR IN A LIFE OF CRIME revisits three of the original subjects in New Jersey during a five-year period in the 1990s. We share in their triumphs and setbacks as they navigate lives of poverty, drug abuse, AIDS, and petty crime.

Drawing the Line: A Portrait of Keith Haring(en)

Short documentary about artist Keith Haring, detailing his involvement in the New York City graffiti subculture, his opening of the Pop Shop, and the social commentary present in his paintings and drawings.

The Beaches of Agnès(fr)

Filmmaking icon Agnès Varda, the award-winning director regarded by many as the grandmother of the French new wave, turns the camera on herself with this unique autobiographical documentary. Composed of film excerpts and elaborate dramatic re-creations, Varda's self-portrait recounts the highs and lows of her professional career, the many friendships that affected her life and her longtime marriage to cinematic giant Jacques Demy.

Seeing Through the Darkness(uk)

Carried by an immersive sound environment that plunges us in the reality and the perceptions of these resilient and inspiring people, this film questions our own blindness face to violence and suffering of our time — despite the overabundance of images that reach us — and highlights the urgency of lending an ear to hear these stories.

Quattro Quinti(it)

I AM(es)

Canceled short film.

Wojnarowicz: Fuck You Faggot Fucker(en)

A collage-like, incisive look at the life of writer, painter and thinker David Wojnarowicz, whose powerful, unapologetic way of seeing the world gave voice to queer rights at a critical time in US history.

Freddie Mercury: The Final Act(en)

The story of the extraordinary final chapter of Freddie Mercury’s life and how, after his death from AIDS, Queen staged one of the biggest concerts in history, the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium, to celebrate his life and challenge the prejudices around HIV/AIDS. For the first time, Freddie's story is told alongside the experiences of those who tested positive for HIV and lost loved ones during the same period. Medical practitioners, survivors, and human rights campaigners recount the intensity of living through the AIDS pandemic and the moral panic it brought about.

Last Room(fr)

Made in Japan, Last Room is both fiction and documentary. The occupants of the love-hotels and capsule-hotels tell their own intimate, dreamlike stories, interspersed with journeys through the archipelago's landscapes. Soon, these personal stories resonate with a collective history: that of Gunkanjima, the abandoned ghost island of Nagasaki, and then that of Japan as a whole.

The Geneva Mechanism: A Ghost Movie(en)

The long dead ghosts of celluloid are coming back to haunt the digital space.