Gangstresses

Ultraviolette and the Blood-Spitters Gang(fr)

After the death of his grandmother Emma, Robin Hunzinger and his mother Claudie find a carefully preserved collection of letters which Emma received from a girl called Marcelle. In the 1920s, Emma and Marcelle met at school in Dijon. Secretly, love blossomed between the two teenage girls, but after two years they parted ways. Marcelle developed tuberculosis and was admitted to a sanatorium. Complementing the sparse photographs of the women, Hunzinger combines archive footage, avant-garde films, and music to create a sensuous, poetic atmosphere.

A Man Named Scott(en)

In 2009, Scott Mescudi aka Kid Cudi released his debut LP, Man on the Moon: The End of Day. A genre-bending album that broke barriers by featuring songs dealing with depression, anxiety and loneliness, it resonated deeply with young listeners and launched Cudi as a musical star and cultural hero. A Man Named Scott explores Cudi’s journey over a decade of creative choices, struggles and breakthroughs, making music that continues to move and empower his millions of fans around the world.

The Hostilities(es)

In the deserted, littered streets of Santa Lucía, nothing ever seems to happen. But life behind the concrete walls is dominated by worry and uncertainty. When night falls, few dare to go outside for fear of the drug gangs. And even in broad daylight, there’s the danger of muggings, robberies, and murders.

The Mirror and the Window(es)

Filmmaker Diego Gutiérrez knows that he is soon to lose two loved ones: his mother Gina Coppe and his best friend Danniel Danniel. Both ask him to film them during this final phase of their lives—Gina in her apartment in Mexico City, Danniel in a Dutch restaurant where he feels at home. What stories do they want to leave behind?

A kiss for Gabriela(en)

A KISS FOR GABRIELA tells the story of a remarkable woman named Gabriela Leite. An activist for sex workers’ rights for over 30 years, Gabriela was the first sex worker to run for Brazilian Congress. The documentary presents an intimate portrait of her 2010 campaign when she faced 822 opponents and challenged a male dominated political system. Combining an observational style with unrestricted access, it explores what it means to be a prostitute, to be a wife, and most importantly, what it means for a woman representing one of the most stigmatized populations in the world to run for office. Gabriela’s charisma and amazing history of activism engages audiences and encourages them to reflect critically on laws and policies that restrict the rights and possibilities of women like Gabriela globally. For women like Gabriela who make history and challenge stereotypes with their campaigns, it is not whether they win or lose, or even how they play. It’s that they’re in the game at all.

Louis Theroux: Louis and the Brothel(en)

Louis stays with the residents of a soon to open brothel in Nevada for a few weeks.

Calling Mother(fi)

Calling Mother is about the moments when you just have to call your mum. It is a compilation of phone calls made by different people to their mothers. Film follows the lifespan of a human being from youth to adulthood, a child changing from a dependent to a caretaker. Phone calls are connected by images of an old telephone center and a story of a young mother who doesn’t have a mother to call.

Paper Cannot Wrap Up Embers(en)

During the last half-century, Cambodia has witnessed genocide, decades of war and the collapse of social order. Now, documentary filmmaker Rithy Panh looks at an irreparable tragedy that is less visible, yet no less pervasive: the spiritual death that results when young women are forced into prostitution. Angry and impassioned, PAPER CANNOT WRAP UP EMBERS presents the searing stories of poor Asian women whose lives were violated and their destinies destroyed when their bodies were turned into items of sexual commerce.

69 - Praça da Luz(pt)

Prostitutes of old age make their living in Praça da Luz, in São Paulo. Unusual and surprising accounts of five women who reveal in detail their experiences in all these years of profession.

The Corporate Coup D'État(en)

A democracy should protect its most vulnerable citizens, but increasingly the United States is failing to do so. This investigation blends the insights of experts with the experiences of citizens of the Rust Belt in the Midwest where the steel industry once flourished, but where closures and outsourcing have left urban areas desolate. It is here where Donald Trump finds some of his most fervent supporters.

Danse la Vie(fr)

Chasing The Lion(en)

Chasing The Lion is the story of Lionel Sanders' ascent from drug abuse and mental illness to one of the best up-and-coming long-distance triathletes in the world.

Karayuki-San, the Making of a Prostitute(ja)

Karayuki-san, the Making of a Prostitute is a 1975 Japanese film by director Shohei Imamura. It is a documentary on one of the Japanese "karayuki-san," who were women that were taken from their homes in Japan and used as prostitutes in the post-war period. Many of these women were told that they were doing this to support their families because of the extreme poverty that the war left much of Japan to live in. Imamura focuses on a particular such woman who was sent to Malaysia and never returned to Japan. Joan Mellen, in The Waves at Genji's Door, called this film, "Perhaps the most brilliant and feeling of Imamura's fine documentaries."

Numero Zero: The Roots of Italian Rap(it)

In the eighties comes from overseas powerful, unstoppable, the wave of hip hop. Few years later the rap music begins to take roots in Italy with the firts album in 1990. Thus began a golden age that from the undergrowth of the counterculture reaches a diverse audience, passing through the masterpiece of Sangue Misto, the evergreen Kaos and Colle Der Fomento, until the commercial success of Neffa, Frankie Hi-Nrg, Sottotono, Articolo 31 and the debut of a young Fabri Fibra. Then, suddenly, the dark at the dawn of the new millenium. Why? An epic, unique season of musical creativity narrated by its big players and accompanied by the voice of a talented and renowed freestyler grown up with those great musicians: Ensi. - Written by Bisi, Enrico

Ona Carbonell: Starting Over(es)

In August 2020, Olympic artistic swimmer Ona Carbonell became a first time mother, an experience that reshaped her life overnight.

Escobar by Escobar(es)

The true story of Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar through the eyes of his son, Juan Pablo.

Czech RAPublic(cs)

First documentary about the Czech hip hop scene shows how close the Czech rap can come to humour and irony. Three protagonists of the film, James Cole, Hugo Toxxx and Orion appear in situations where they are confronted with a professor of linguistics, children of a Romany quarter, a strict birth registry clerk, classical music trio, a statute of national revival hero Josef Jungmann, and the chanson singer Hana Hegerova, with whom they have a chance to sing the national anthem: "mimino mi mele nohu máma mele maso a máma mele sele kde domov můj?"

Awful Days: A Documentary about Awful Records(en)

A documentary chronicling the rise of Awful Records, with background on each member of the crew.

23(es)

The Creative High(en)

Nine artists—dancers, musicians, and visual artists—in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction are transformed by creativity in their search for identity and freedom. Their stories reveal how art has been a ballast while confronting old addictive habits and finding a portal into the aliveness and spiritual connection of art-making from a unique San Francisco perspective.