Fortress

Microcosmos(fr)

A documentary of insect life in meadows and ponds, using incredible close-ups, slow motion, and time-lapse photography. It includes bees collecting nectar, ladybugs eating mites, snails mating, spiders wrapping their catch, a scarab beetle relentlessly pushing its ball of dung uphill, endless lines of caterpillars, an underwater spider creating an air bubble to live in, and a mosquito hatching.

Uranium Drive-In(en)

A new uranium mill -- the first in the U.S. in 30 years -- would re-connect the economically devastated rural mining community of Naturita, Colorado, to its proud history supplying the material for the first atomic bomb. Some view it as a greener energy source freeing America from its dependence on foreign oil, while others worry about the severe health and environmental consequences of the last uranium boom.

Underwater Dreams(en)

Underwater Dreams, narrated by Michael Peña, is an epic story of how the sons of undocumented Mexican immigrants learned how to build underwater robots. And go up against MIT in the process.

Ouaga Girls(fr)

A group of young women from Ouagadougou study at a girl school to become auto mechanics. The classmates become their port of safety, joy and sisterhood, all while they are going through the life changing transition into becoming adults in a country boiling with political changes. In a country with youth unemployment at 52 percent, jobs are a hot issue. The young girls at a mechanics school in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou are right in the middle of a crucial point in life when their dreams, hopes and courage are confronted with opinions, fears and society’s expectations of what a woman should be. Using interesting narrative solutions, Theresa Traore Dahlberg depicts their last school years and at the same time succeeds in showing the country’s violent past and present. This is a feature-film debut and coming-of-age film with much warmth, laughs, heartbreak and depth.

Keep Talking(en)

Three Alaska Native women work to save their endangered language, Kodiak Alutiiq, and ensure the future of their culture while confronting their personal demons. With just 41 fluent Native speakers remaining, mostly Elders, some estimate their language could die out within ten years. The small community travels to a remote Island, where a language immersion experiment unfolds with the remaining fluent Elders. Young camper Sadie, an at-risk 13 year old learner and budding Alutiiq dancer, is inspired and gains strength through her work with the teachers. Yet PTSD and politics loom large as the elders, teachers, and students try to continue the difficult task of language revitalization over the next five years.

Velorama(en)

Documentary looking at a century of cycling. Commissioned to mark the arrival of the 2014 Tour de France in Yorkshire, the film makes full use of stunning British Film Institute footage to transport the audience on a journey from the invention of the modern bike, through the rise of recreational cycling, to gruelling competitive races. Award-winning director Daisy Asquith artfully combines the richly-diverse archive with a hypnotic soundtrack from cult composer Bill Nelson in a joyful, absorbing watch for both cycling and archive fans.

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired(en)

Examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States.

Brothers(no)

A film about the close relationship between two brothers. Markus (10) and Lukas (7) live in an old, yellow townhouse in the middle of Oslo. The river runs close to their home. A paradise in the heart of a big city. Here the brothers grow up with their dreams and longings for the future.

Beer Wars(en)

In America, size matters. The bigger you are, the more power you have, especially in the business world. Anat Baron takes you on a no holds barred exploration of the U.S. beer industry that ultimately reveals the truth behind the label of your favorite beer. Told from an insider’s perspective, the film goes behind the scenes of the daily battles and all out wars that dominate the industry.

Life and Debt(en)

Life and Debt is a 2001 American documentary film that examines the economic and social situation in Jamaica, and specifically how the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank's structural adjustment policies have impacted the island.

My Survival as an Aboriginal(en)

Essie Coffey gives the children lessons on Aboriginal culture. She speaks of the importance of teaching these kids about their traditions. Aboriginal kids are forgetting about their Aboriginal heritage because they are being taught white culture instead.

Glitter and Dust(de)

Four girls living in the lonely vastness of the USA share one passion: The wild world of rodeo. Although they move about in the powerful imagery of the American prairie and the myths of the Wild West, they give it new resonance and break free of it. In a world which used to belong to their fathers and brothers, they prove that "you ride like a girl" is not an insult but a compliment.

Yellow Fever(en)

What does beauty look like? In this award-winning short, Kenyan filmmaker Ng’endo Mukii combines animation, performance, and experimental techniques to create a visually arresting and psychologically penetrating exploration of the insidious impact of Western beauty standards and media-created ideals on African women’s perceptions of themselves. From hair-straightening to skin-lightening, YELLOW FEVER unpacks the cultural and historical forces that have long made Black women uncomfortable, literally, in their own skin.

Oh, What a Lovely Tea Party(en)

Directed by the wife of 'That Kevin Smith', Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, a feature length documentary looking at the behind the scenes making of JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK.

The Story of a Butcher Shop(ja)

The Kitades run a butcher shop in Kaizuka City outside Osaka, raising and slaughtering cattle to sell the meat in their store. The seventh generation of their family's business, they are descendants of the buraku people, a social minority held over from the caste system abolished in the 19th century that is still subject to discrimination. As the Kitades are forced to make the difficult decision to shut down their slaughterhouse, the question posed by the film is whether doing this will also result in the deconstruction of the prejudices imposed on them. Though primarily documenting the process of their work with meticulous detail, Aya Hanabusa also touches on the Kitades' participation in the buraku liberation movement. Hanabusa's heartfelt portrait expands from the story of an old-fashioned family business competing with corporate supermarkets, toward a subtle and sophisticated critique of social exclusion and the persistence of ancient prejudices.

Deliver Us from Evil(en)

Documentary filmmaker Amy Berg investigates the life of 30-year pedophile Father Oliver O'Grady and exposes the corruption inside the Catholic Church that allowed him to abuse countless children. Victims' stories and a disturbing interview with O'Grady offer a view into the troubled mind of the spiritual leader who moved from parish to parish gaining trust ... all the while betraying so many.

Trailer Camp(en)

Film archivist and former director of the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Jenni Olson created this fast-paced and often funny, campy 75-minute film comprised entirely of spliced together movie trailers. Some of the segments have themes such as a breezy look back at John Travolta's career that includes trailers from such films as Saturday Night Fever, Staying Alive, Grease, Perfect, and Moment by Moment. Other trailers include Mae West in Sextette, the disco camper Thank God It's Friday, Raquel Welch in Kansas City Bomber, Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew and the rarely seen Chastity, the serious acting debut of Cher.

Daphne du Maurier: In Rebecca's Footsteps(fr)

A portrait of the masterful author whose novels were adapted into the classics 'The Birds,' 'Jamaica Inn,' and 'Rebecca."

Beastie Boys: Video Anthology(en)

The Beastie Boys are among the most influential groups of the last two decades. As their music has opened hip-hop to a wider audience and changed the parameters of its sound, their ambitious music videos have carried the medium to new levels of artistic expression. This groundbreaking two-disc anthology showcases eighteen videos containing alternate visual angles and multiple audio tracks. Loaded with never-before-seen footage and unreleased music tracks, this special edition also contains a trove of rare still photos and exclusive audio commentary by the band and the video directors.

Ydessa, the Bears and etc.(fr)

Ydessa Hendeles' exhibition entitled "The living and the Artificial" (consisting of works of art all comprising a photograph of living persons in the company of one or several teddy bears) had puzzled Agnès Varda so much that she decided to go to Toronto where the artist lives and interview her. In front of Agnes Varda's DV camera, Ydessa tells about the singularity of her artistic approach. She also expresses herself about the Holocaust, which both her parents survived.

Two Soldiers(en)

Set during WWII, a young boy wants to join his brother in the "war at Pearl Harbour".

Parkour!!! (and corruption with a Q)!(en)

the boys (and Georgina) take on the Emirates stadium in an epic afternoon of parkour! Corruption 4 eva!!!

The Dachshund(de)

They’re small, clever, and incredibly strong-willed: dachshunds. Their soulful gaze wins hearts and fuels their lasting popularity. Once royal hunting dogs, they now take on unusual jobs—like Strolchi, a miniature dachshund who sniffs out woodworm in historic buildings. The bond between humans and dachshunds goes back to Celtic times. Archaeologists have even found joint burials of people and dachshund-like dogs. Versatile and charming, they thrive as city pets, hunting companions, and even racers—like those at the annual Wiener Race in Kirchheimbolanden. Beloved far beyond Germany, dachshunds have fans in France too, with events like Paris’s “Sausage Walk.”

Joy in Hong Kong(fr)

Joy flies to Hong Kong, where she meets her best friend Alain. With him, she visits the hottest districts of the city. She is kidnapped and imprisoned in a brothel and has to pay a high price for her freedom.

The Flag of Iron(zh)

Loyal gang member Iron Panther takes the heat for his boss after a dustup with their rivals, only to end up betrayed in this vintage kung fu yarn.

Long Shot Louie(en)

A dark, gritty drama that wraps around Louie Lazaro. a drug addict and a male dancer. As he tries to escape the evils of his past.

Arizona Bad Man(en)

The daughter of a notorious cattle thief falls for a stranger at a dance. The stranger is really a lawman who is after her father.

13(ja)

The film is a continuous time-lapse with multiple exposures of the sunset from the same angle and position on 16mm film. The shoot was done in a span of 5 years. The title 13 is because the time-lapse has a 13-second interval per frame.

El Asesino del Zodiaco(es)

A Public Opinion(pt)

Documentary about middle-class people in Rio de Janeiro, in the 1960s, when Brazil was going through a hard period in its history, with the military coup and the following dictatorship. Interviews with people in the street disclose their fears, aspirations and political alienation.

Cinderella(fr)

Sergei Prokofiev's setting of the fairy tale "Cinderella" premiered at Moscow's Bolshoi Theater in 1945. In 1986, Rudolf Nureyev, then ballet director of the Paris Opera, choreographed the ballet anew and transposed the story into a private cinema, with sets reminiscent of Fritz Lang's "Metropolis." ARTE shows the Paris Opera performance from December 31, 2018.

André Is an Idiot(en)

André, a brilliant idiot, is dying because he didn’t get a colonoscopy. His sobering diagnosis, complete irreverence, and insatiable curiosity, send him on an unexpected journey learning how to die happily and ridiculously without losing his sense of humor.

Krokiga vägen till Lyckliga gatan(sv)

A film about dreams and opportunities, not about problems.

King of Knives(en)

A New York family implodes over three days as they careen through mid-life and quarter-life crises.

The Beckett Affair(fr)

Rod Cooper, an American agent of the CIA, is sent to Paris to discover if colonel Segura, head of a clandestine organization which proclaims itself anti-Castroist, is playing a double game at the expense of the United States. He first tries to make contact with Ms Beckett, who should tell him. Segura's intentíons, but the woman is found killed. Subsequently, Rogerson, another American, presents Cooper to Segura himself and so Rod can enter his organization. Here he discovers that the colonel tries to attract a certain number of Americans to use them in an attack against the president of a state of southern America and thus promote communist expansion. Segura soon discovers Rod's real identity and tries to get rid of him; but the agent manages to reverse the situation and kills Segura in a shoot-out.

Dear Students(ml)

The Rise of Duton Lang(en)

Professor Duton Lang is an obese scientist who has made many great discoveries. When he finally weights 497 pounds he develops a compound which permits him to eat as much as he wants and still lose weight. He gets down to 150 pounds in weight but is still the same body-size as when he weighed nearly 500 pounds. Eventually, he becomes a minus-weight and floats off into outer space.

Short'nin' Bread(en)

A singalong 'Screen Song' hosted by a cast of kooky confections.

Fate(en)

Serial killers have plagued the American landscape for decades, committing gruesome atrocities, and providing some tough cases for criminal investigators to crack. Two detectives are on the trail of a bizarre murderer intent on slaughtering his victims, then using them as real-life puppets in a tale that he is trying to tell.