Hacking at Leaves

Chuy, The Wolf Man(en)

Jesus 'Chuy' Aceves and a dozen living members of his extended family suffer from the very rare condition of congenital hypertrichosis, meaning they were born with excessive hair on their faces and bodies. Due to their appearance, they suffer from discrimination in all areas of their lives: the children are made fun of at school and abandoned by their 'non-hairy' parents, and the adults cannot find work unless they choose to exhibit themselves as freaks in circuses. This moving and visually arresting documentary is a portrait of Chuy and his family members. It examines their day-to-day lives and their struggle to find love, acceptance and employment.

The Big Reset(es)

Play Dead!(fr)

If there is one person Matthew Lancit can’t get out of his mind, it is his uncle Harvey. Dark rings around his eyes, pale, blind, his legs amputated. Like Harvey, the filmmaker also suffers from diabetes. He has the disease under control, but one question is always nagging at him: How much longer? His long-term (self-)observation reliably revolves around fears of infirmity and mutilation. He translates the feared body horror into film, stages himself as a zombie, vampire, a desolate figure. Lancit playfully anticipates his potential decline, serving up a whole arsenal of effects which – as video recordings prove – go back to his youth. It is not for nothing that the “dead” in the title is also reminiscent of “dad.” Because “Play Dead!” also negotiates his own role as a father.

Con Traje y Sin Zapatos(es)

Twenty(en)

Set in a speakeasy in Atlanta, “Twenty” is a feature documentary about fifteen young people making it through 2020. The film is an observational time capsule that lays bare the raw reflections of a group of people surviving a year that will be seared into our generational memory.

Mann vor wilder Landschaft(de)

Una Famiglia | Team Europe's Story(en)

Team Europe's story of the 2023 Ryder Cup. Una Famiglia gives unprecedented access to Team Europe, going behind-the-scenes to follow Luke and his team on the journey to Rome, as well unpacking everything from that special week in a series of exclusive interviews. It features the likes of Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and Ludvig Åberg, as well as past winning Captains José María Olazábal and Paul McGinley, as they open up on what makes the bond between European players so special.

Corona Film Club(en)

Documentary about filmmaker and film lover Stig Björkman during the pandemic year of 2020 when he stay in touch with his friends over his laptop.

Titanic's Fatal Fire(en)

The sinking of the Titanic sent shockwaves around the world and started debates that continue to this day. But new, explosive evidence from the most unlikely of sources may finally lay all arguments to rest and reveal, for the first time, the full story of what possibly doomed the "unsinkable" liner. Join us as we unveil recently discovered and never-before-seen photographs of the super ship that exposes shocking clues that investigators and historians once dismissed but can no longer ignore.

Never Turn Your Back On Sparks(en)

As he turns 50, filmmaker Pini Schatz sets out to explore his life-long obsession with the band Sparks (the brothers Ron and Russell Mael). Pini charts the impact of Sparks on his life while meeting with fellow Sparks fans, among them famous musicians, in Tel Aviv, London, Berlin, Rotterdam and NYC. Structured as a personal quest of the filmmaker to prove that Sparks are the coolest underrated band in the history of popular music, this docu-comedy explores the universal themes of growing old and being an outsider, the importance of art in daily life and the power of non-conformism.

The Moroccan Labyrinth(es)

Empathy(es)

Ed is commissioned to make a documentary intending to change those habits of society that are harmful to animals. But completely alien to the animal protection movement, he will realize that to carry out the project, he must first convince himself.

July Talk - Live At A Drive-In(en)

Originally performed in the unprecedented circumstances of 2020, Live At A Drive-In shows a band at the height of their potent creative vision and technical prowess. Under the summer stars, in a field surrounded by parked cars tuned into the broadcast dial, July Talk brought people together (but not too close!) at a time when impactful live music experiences were nearly impossible.

Point of Origin - Building a house in Austria(en)

An international tech entrepreneur with a fondness for architecture asks Rem Koolhaas to build a house on an impossibly small piece of mountainside in Zell am See in Austria. The architect of the celebrated book S,M,L,XL seizes the challenge: how to draw light into a house less than four metres wide that is mostly underground? Photographer and filmmaker Frans Parthesius followed the building process and offers insight into Koolhaas’s way of working and the special relationship with his client.

Les dents de la mer: Un succès monstre(fr)

In the summer of 1975, the young director Steven Spielberg set new standards for cinema worldwide with an oversized shark bite, a plastic shark fin and an unmistakable two-note main theme composed by John Williams. With the horror from the deep, a man-eating, gigantic great white shark, the film of the same name became a similarly traumatic reference as Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho": it triggered lasting primal fears across generations. On the beaches of the world, there was clearly a "before" and an "after". Steven Spielberg, who was only 28 at the time, not only set new standards for the thriller genre, but also hid his biting criticism of US capitalism in the 1970s behind it.

The 11th Hour(en)

A look at the state of the global environment including visionary and practical solutions for restoring the planet's ecosystems. Featuring ongoing dialogues of experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolse

Fábulas Vivas(pt)

Archetype - Petar Meseldžija: The Life and Work of an Artist(sr)

A documentary about the painter Petar Meseldžija.

We Still Make Things(en)

Documents a southern Ohio story of partnership and creative problem-solving that helped a hospital tackle its PPE shortage.

The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari(en)

A close examination of the Whakaari / White Island volcanic eruption of 2019 in which 22 lives were lost, the film viscerally recounts a day when ordinary people were called upon to do extraordinary things, placing this tragic event within the larger context of nature, resilience, and the power of our shared humanity.