Nerdcore Rising

Election Day(en)

Forget the pie charts, color-coded maps and hyperventilating pundits. What's the street-level experience of voters in today's America? In a triumph of documentary storytelling, ELECTION DAY combines eleven stories--all shot simultaneously on November 2, 2004, from dawn until long past midnight--into one. Factory workers, ex-felons, harried moms, Native American activists and diligent poll watchers, from South Dakota to Florida, take the process of democracy into their own hands. The result: an entertaining, inspiring and sometimes unsettling tapestry of citizens determined on one fateful day to make their votes count.

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.

Chhabili(hi)

Following Israeli author Amos Oz over two years, as he meets readers and discusses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Along the way, Oz offers advice to Israeli president Shimon Peres, and is seen with fellow writers Salman Rushdie, Paul Auster and Nadine Gordimer, and the Palestinian intellectual Sari Nusseibeh.

Teatro Amazonas(en)

Teatro Amazonas is an elaborate, intriguing formalist experiment investigating the cinematic gaze and cultural exchange, and offering an unconventional ethnographic record of its Amazonian subjects engaged (and disengaged) in the act of spectatorship.

Kaleidoscope(ja)

Naomi Kawase collaborates with Shinya Arimoto, a Taiyo award-winning photographer she knows from university, to create a photo album of Machiko Ono (who Kawase scouted for her previous feature film Moe no Suzaku) and Mika Mifune (daughter of famous actor Toshiro Mifune) with the idea to contrast these two aspiring actresses, Ono coming from the rural Nara and Mifune from Tokyo. Kawase documents the photo shooting and interviews Arimoto, Ono and Mifune as the work progresses, while the tension between her and Arimoto increases over disagreement on the direction of the project.

Trip to Asia: The Quest for Harmony(de)

Journey with the musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic and their conductor Sir Simon Rattle on a breakneck concert tour of six metropolises across Asia: Beijing, Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei and Tokyo. Their artistic triumph onstage belies a dynamic and dramatic life backstage. The orchestra is a closed society that observes its own laws and traditions, and in the words of one of its musicians is, “an island, a democratic microcosm – almost without precedent in the music world - whose social structure and cohesion is not only founded on a common love for music but also informed by competition, compulsion and the pressure to perform to a high pitch of excellence... .” Never before has the Berlin Philharmonic allowed such intimate and exclusive access into its private world.

Tondo, Beloved: To What Are the Poor Born?(tl)

Virgie's family feeds on the fishes that lurk under the industrial ships of North Harbor. Their alternatives are packs of tasteless gelatin found in the same waters. One morning when the fishes are dead and the sea's color is that of milk, uncertainty is born.

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse(en)

A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.

Julia(de)

Julia is a young transgender woman who left her home country of Lithuania. Now living in Germany, she walks the streets of Berlin, working as a prostitute to survive. This documentary revisits Julia over a ten-year period of her life.

Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq(en)

Of all the great ballerinas, Tanaquil Le Clercq may have been the most transcendent. With a body unlike any before hers, she mesmerized viewers and choreographers alike. With her elongated, race-horse physique, she became the new prototype for the great George Balanchine. Because of her extraordinary movement and unique personality on stage, she became a muse to two of the greatest choreographers in dance, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. She eventually married Balanchine, and Robbins created his famous version of Afternoon of a Faun for her. She had love, fame, adoration, and was the foremost dancer of her day until it suddenly all stopped. At the age of 27, she was struck down by polio and paralyzed. She never danced again. The ballet world has been haunted by her story ever since.

Lost and Found(en)

Lost and Found depicts a life of a man with no homeland. 10 years ago Konstantin G fled the persecutions of homosexuals from Moscow to Finland. He lives now in Helsinki, living the different roles of his life: he is a nurse and a friend of the aged, a bright personality of the nightlife in Helsinki's gay-world, a solitary figure of the Russian community and the Orthodox Church, and as well as an intensive cabaret performer. Film is a mosaic-like journey to the loves and lives of Konstantin, where poems, songs and encounters form a picture of one passionate and unusual life. In the roles of his own life Konstantin Gontcharev.

Last Hijack(nl)

Documentary that follows the lives of two pirates and their community on the Somali coastline; what are the incentives of the pirates, why did they become pirates, how did they grow up in a country with political chaos, war and extreme poverty? The narrative structure is built around two interweaving story-lines; one depicting the "present", the daily lives of the pirates and their community, and the second in the "past", revealing through epic animation, the unfolding of a recent hijacking.

Dream Chasers(en)

Rap's Most Wanted(en)

Documentery from 1991 where The 2 Live Crew, Chuck D (Public Enemy), Too Short, Ice-T, Geto Boys, H.W.A. drop real talk on different topics.

On the Other Island(es)

Loose collection of individual portraits of the inhabitants of the Isle of Pinos [now Isla de la Juventud], who tell their stories, share ideas and discuss topics such as racism and crime.

Broken Promises: The High Arctic Relocation(en)

In the summer of 1953, the Canadian government relocated seven Inuit families from Northern Québec to the High Arctic. They were promised an abundance of game and fish - in short, a better life. The government assured the Inuit that if things didn't work out, they could return home after two years. Two years later, another 35 people joined them. It would be thirty years before any of them saw their ancestral lands again. Abandoned in flimsy tents, the Inuit were left to fend for themselves in the desolate settlements of Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord, where the sea was nearly always frozen and darkness reigned for months on end. Suffering from hunger, extreme cold, sickness, alcoholism and poverty, Québec's Inuit had become the victims of a government policy supposedly designed to return them to their "native state". Evidence points to the government's wish to strengthen Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic as playing a part in the decision to relocate.

Nepal Forever(ru)

This film features two Russian communist politicians. Being committed Leninists; both of them have served several terms as city council members. Their horizons are broad, but what concerns them the most is the future of global communism. At one point, by decree of fate, their booming activities begin to expand far beyond the boundaries of their native St. Petersburg and the Russian Federation. However, the future of global communism remains unclear. What remains clear is the fact that in the modern world the tail still wags the dog. A documentary comedy.

Haru, Island of the Solitary(fi)

In early 1970s, the graphic designer Tuulikki Pietilä had seen enough of stative visual art and purchased a film camera from Japan. She filmed the games and chores of the artist couple in their beloved hideout, the island of Klovharun.

The World's Most Famous Train(en)

During its nine-month-long season, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express makes over 60 journeys, covering 150,000 kilometres, with the majority of trips between London and Venice. The train is comprised of 17 unique 1920s carriages that have transported a host of elite individuals across Italy, Switzerland, and Turkey for more than a century. This documentary follows the stories of the staff and passengers as the train makes its way across Europe, with some customers having paid more than £2,000 for the privilege.

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1(en)

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, one veteran dies by suicide in America every 80 minutes. While only 1% of Americans has served in the military, former service members account for 20% of all suicides in the U.S. Based in Canandaigua, NY and open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the Veterans Crisis Line receives more than 22,000 calls each month from veterans of all conflicts who are struggling or contemplating suicide. This timely documentary spotlights the traumas endured by America’s veterans, as seen through the work of the hotline’s trained responders. CRISIS HOTLINE captures extremely private moments, where the professionals, many of whom are themselves veterans or veterans’ spouses, can often interrupt the thoughts and plans of suicidal callers to steer them out of crisis.

12(en)

After blowing his professional ballet career, John's only way to redeem himself is to concoct the demise of his former partner, Leah, who he blames for his downfall; he rehearses his salvation in his mind in the way that he rehearses a dance, but being able to break from the routine will be the key to his success.

12(xx)

An old Finnish athlete travels alone through eastern Europe with his van.

12(tl)

Anton and Erika started out as friends for five years and got into a romantic relationship for seven years. Anton is a commercial director while Erika is a former band member and becomes his stay-at-home partner. The day finally comes when he asks her to marry him.

Object: Alimony(en)

Ruth Butler, a clerk in an emporium, marries Jimmy Rutledge and thereby greatly displeases his mother, the owner of the emporium, because of Ruth's lowly origins. Renaud Graham, one of Mrs. Rutledge's friends, becomes interested in Ruth, forces his way into her apartment, and attempts to make violent love to her. Jimmy walks in on their embrace and, suspecting the worst, leaves Ruth. In the family way, Ruth finds refuge in a boardinghouse where she meets Al Bryant, an aspiring writer. Ruth tells Al her life story, and he makes it into a bestselling novel and then into a play. Jimmy sees the play and comes to his senses, winning Ruth's forgiveness.

12(ar)

not there yet

The Return(en)

The Return is a 2016 documentary directed by Emmy Award winning director Erich Joiner chronicling Ford GT's return to 24 Hours of Le Mans after their 1966 1-2-3 victory.

12(en)

12, is a comic parody about an office's obsession with the television show 24 as the their obsessions kick into high gear with the shows season finale approaching. Part The Office part 24, the short film mash-up introduces a novel send-up of these pop culture staples.

12(en)

“Can one man bear the sins of the world?”

For frihed og ret(da)

With a Right to Kill(da)

This documentary looks at the Danish resistance movement's execution of 400 informers during the Nazi occupation and the ensuing cover-up.

12(en)

A half-sister and brother, illegitimate offsprings of Zeus, are stranded on a Channel Island ranch and face eviction by the US Government. They must find a play fated by Zeus and perform it flawlessly for the gods' amusement. If they do not act well, they will die. Shot over a period of 10 years "12" is 1 part L.A. love story, "The Importance of Being Earnest", a pagan spoof, personal diary of LA disasters of the 90's, and an unforgettable adventure about characters in search of themselves.

Slayers Return(ja)

Lina Inverse and Naga the White Serpent are back! What begins as a routine bandit-stomping turns into the adventure of a lifetime involving magical golems, an ancient Elven weapon and even someone bent on destroying the world. It's a predicament only Lina and Naga could get themselves in to.

Bark(en)

Gordon discovers that his girlfriend's dog isn't quite what she says it is.

12(ru)

A loose remake of “12 Angry Men”, “12” is set in contemporary Moscow where 12 very different men must unanimously decide the fate of a young Chechen accused of murdering his step-father, a Russian army officer. Consigned to a makeshift jury room in a school gymnasium, one by one each man takes center stage to confront, connect, and confess while the accused awaits a verdict and revisits his heartbreaking journey through war in flashbacks.

Qwerty(en)

The movie is a fictionalized account of a disgruntled cop who has been wrongly implicated in a torture video that went viral. It begins on his last night of duty, as he is about to leave for abroad for better job prospects.

Forest(en)

Short film built from photographs, sped up like a traditional stop motion and is meant to be an evocation of the English Eerie and Folk Horror.

Return to a Better Tomorrow(cn)

An adventure that delves into the dark caverns of the underworld and tells the tale of three chivalrous gangsters who attempt to escape the powerful clutch of their gang leader.

Ivan Tsarevich & the Grey Wolf 3(ru)

Prince Ivan, Grey Wolf and Vasilisa set off on a magic carpet ride to new lands as the deputy scarecrow in charge of the kingdom sets new rules.

Towa no Quon 5: The Return of the Invincible(ja)

The story follows a boy named Quon and others who suddenly wake up with supernatural powers.

Krampus: The Return(en)

After Lisa's brother mysteriously dies, she and her college friends go to her family home for answers. They are shocked to discover that his killer was non-other than the Christmas demon, Krampus.