Archive of Life

Under the Stars(fr)

Paying tribute to some of America's only surviving drive-ins – and those who keep them running – this heartfelt documentary captures efforts to preserve these nostalgic theaters in small-towns across the country.

Translating History to Screen(en)

Translating History to Screen (2008) Video Short - 10 June 2008 (USA)

My Dead Body(en)

The extraordinary moving story of Toni Crews, a young mum with a rare terminal cancer who charted her illness online before donating her body for medical research and public dissection.

Opa sein Berlin(de)

Rare documentary footage from around 1900 depicts the mood of life in Berlin at the turn of the century.

I Needed Color(en)

Jim Carrey exhibits his talent as a painter and reflects on the value and power of art.

Vanilla(pt)

Look around. Everything you see and touch can taste like vanilla.

Studio 2(en)

Film student Patrick Atallah has a problem on his hands: his graduation documentary was cancelled at the last moment, so he has just one day in a studio to make an entire, fully realised film. What’s the film going to be about now? He doesn’t know, but he’s hoping to find it along the way. To do this, he invites five of his closest friends to the studio to help him come up with some interesting ideas.

I Choose to Live(sl)

The documentary »I Choose to Live« presents a touching confession of a young girl who after losing her mother, tried to end her life. Later on she struggled with self-destructive behaviour and also an eating disorder. In this documentary the young girl is portrayed by the actress Nina Rakovec. The theme of mental health of youngsters is highlighted with the help of the professional counsellors.

Preghiera della sera (Diario di una passeggiata)(it)

The film recounts an experience, that of a director and his two actors at grips with a play: from the first meeting to the initial readings, the rehearsals done at home, the ones done on stage and finally the first performance. But an experience that took place in the peculiar situation in which the whole of Italian culture found itself in the days between the first and second wave of the pandemic, when it really seemed possible to restart and the feeling of euphoria was accompanied by the illusion that the worst was behind us. Once again we were suddenly checked in our desire for beauty, for life.

An hour with Carlo Scarpa(it)

A documentary with and about the legendary Italian Architect Carlo Scarpa.

Hold on Tight(en)

A short documentary exploring the ways LGBT couples show affection, and how small interactions like holding hands in public can carry, not only huge personal significance, but also the power to create social change.

Going Varsity in Mariachi(en)

A year in the life of an underdog competitive high school mariachi band in the Texas borderlands.

STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie(en)

A short kid from a Canadian army base becomes the international pop culture darling of the 1980s—only to find the course of his life altered by a stunning diagnosis. What happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease?

Fumaças do Passado(pt)

Canuck and I(en)

Meet Canuck – a wild crow who formed an unlikely bond with his human friend, Shawn. The mischievous crow has captured the hearts of Vancouverites and garnered global attention through his antics.

After Haiyan(en)

'After Haiyan' is a short film about the challenges faced by the Deaf community in Tacloban, Philippines accessing disaster relief, medical care, and basic services after Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda.

Learning About Deer(de)

The birth, feeding and upbringing of fawns are shown, as well as the dangers for newborn deer. The multifaceted interplay between doe and fawn, as well as the gradual development of typical behavioral patterns in the fawns are also depicted, as are the diverse behaviors during the mating season.

ABBA: Against the Odds(en)

This year marks the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s iconic Eurovision victory, a milestone that calls for a celebratory cinematic tribute fitting for the ultimate pop band. ‘ABBA: Against the Odds’ unveils the epic journey of ABBA’s rise to global fame. Starting with the moment they won Eurovision, it tells the story of how they overcame critical backlash, societal attitudes and marital break-up to deliver their ground-breaking music and prove themselves as a live act.

The Last Key(fr)

A young immigrant arrives in Canada from France, and brings his Citroën 2CV with him. The iconic post-war car stands out on the streets of Vancouver, and before long he meets up with a group of like-minded car buffs.

On Nation (and other dogmas)(es)

From the re-appropriation of archive images with various contents (war images, soccer matches, social celebrations, religious rites, historical characters, etc.) and from different sources (including films by Chris Marker, Alain Resnais, Leni Riefenstahl or Gianikian and Ricci Lucchi, as well as images from ads and news...), together with reflections of Pierre Bourdieu, Zygmunt Bauman, Bertolt Brecht, Hannah Arendt, Stanley Milgram, Eric Hobsbawn, Amin Maalouf, Josep Fontana, etc., Zavan Films producer develops this complex and kaleidoscopic work on (national, religious, commercial...) identities and their relation with war, economic profit and "legal crimes".