21 Below

Nose and Tina(en)

The unusual story of Nose and Tina, 2 people in love. He is employed as a brakeman, she as a sex worker.

Lena(sv)

Follows the story of the beloved and internationally acclaimed Swedish actress Lena Nyman, based on 17 paper bags with diaries that she left behind.

Daughters of the Forest(en)

A small group of girls in one of the most remote forests left on earth attend a radical high school where they learn to protect the threatened forest and forge a better future for themselves. Set in the untamed wilds of the Mbaracayu Reserve in rural Paraguay, this intimate verite documentary offers a rare glimpse of a disappearing world where timid girls grow into brave young women even as they are transformed by their unlikely friendships with one another.

Bakelite(en)

This underwater ballet is an ecological story depicting our paradoxical relationship with plastic. Bakelite launched the #SickOfPlastic campaign from On Est Prêt, along with the Surfrider Foundation, Break Free from Plastic and the Resilient Foundation. Photography was directed by Jacques Ballard, a specialist in underwater cinematography.

Bitch Academy(ru)

A documentary on women in St. Petersburg who enroll in a program which will help them land millionaire husbands.

Maestra(en)

Cuba, 1961: 250,000 volunteers taught 700,000 people to read and write in one year. 100,000 of the teachers were under 18 years old. Over half were women. MAESTRA explores this story through the personal testimonies of the young women who went out to teach literacy in rural communities across the island - and found themselves deeply transformed in the process.

Two: The Story of Roman & Nyro(en)

Combining over twelve years of footage and narrated by their twin sons, TWO: The Story of Roman & Nyro, follows legendary songwriter Desmond Child and his lifelong partner's loving journey to create their new modern family.

The New Black(en)

The New Black is a documentary that tells the story of how the African-American community is grappling with the gay rights issue in light of the recent gay marriage movement and the fight over civil rights. The film documents activists, families and clergy on both sides of the campaign to legalize gay marriage and examines homophobia in the black community's institutional pillar-the black church and reveals the Christian right wing's strategy of exploiting this phenomenon in order to pursue an anti-gay political agenda. The New Black takes viewers into the pews and onto the streets and provides a seat at the kitchen table as it tells the story of the historic fight to win marriage equality in Maryland and charts the evolution of this divisive issue within the black community.

Conversations on Serious Topics(lt)

Conversations On Serious Topics is a film without exterior action, props, landscapes or special effects. Its main characters are children and teenagers with a special ability to describe the surrounding world. Intimate conversations with them reveal the picture of the modern world -- at times melancholic, at times comical, at times dramatic. Shot in a minimalist fashion, the film raises questions about loneliness, love, God, the world and human relations. "The world is people." "Don't you believe in God? I can teach you how to start believing..."

À ciel ouvert(fr)

On the Franco-belgian border, there's a unique place that takes in children with mental and social problems. Day after day, the adults try to understand the enigma that each one of them represents and, without ever imposing anything on them, invent the solutions that will help them to live in peace, case by case. Through their stories, 'Like an Open Sky' reveals their singular vision of the world to us.

The Mask You Live In(en)

Compared to girls, research shows that boys in the United States are more likely to be diagnosed with a behaviour disorder, prescribed stimulant medications, fail out of school, binge drink, commit a violent crime, and/or take their own lives. The Mask You Live In asks: as a society, how are we failing our boys?

Folie à Deux - Madness Made of Two(en)

Folie a Deux is a quintessentially English tale with a universal message. Prophetic and surprisingly humorous, the narrative is driven by a tenacious single mother of seven, who risks bankruptcy and homelessness to fulfill a dream. Shot over five years and set in the oldest house in England. This film is an intimate portrayal of a large bohemian family with all the ups and downs of daily life, an intriguing insight into England's history, and future. This is a nail-biting journey through the economic crash and life's biggest gamble. This is not a story of the conspicuous consumerism of billionaires; rather this is the human cost of the banking crisis.

Bound by Flesh(en)

Conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton were once the cream of the sideshow crop. Taught to sing and dance at an early age, the winsome duo ascended through the early 20th-century vaudeville circuit as a side attraction (working alongside Bob Hope and Charlie Chaplin as well as a memorable turn in the Tod Browning classic "Freaks") before a cascade of unscrupulous management and harsh mistreatment brought their careers (and lives) tumbling down. This engrossing glimpse into a bygone era is filled with fascinating interviews and rare archival footage.

De verdediging van Robert M.(nl)

The Paw Project(en)

This is a David and Goliath story of one veterinarian's battle to protect her patients (tigers, lions and even house cats) from big corporations, with their big corporate money, that will shamelessly do anything to animals to increase their bottom line. She starts a grassroots movement that is fueled by passion, but appears to be losing the battle. Then, unexpectedly, she realizes that the corporations accidentally left her a giant loophole. In a scramble to take advantage of this unforeseen gift, she leads the crusade passing legislation protecting animals from de-clawing in seven cities in just six weeks.

We Came Home(en)

We Came Home is the story of Afghanistan through Afghan American musician, Ariana Delawari. Born in LA, the year the Soviets invade Afghanistan, her home's filled with refugees, Afghan music and her father's dedication to Afghanistan, a country nobody else seemed to care about. After 9/11, her parents move to Kabul to help reconstruct. Ariana spends ten years between LA and Afghanistan, documenting her father's homeland in photographs, film and music. During the Taliban resurgence, Ariana records an album with master musicians in Kabul, revealing the challenges of building anything in this country. Ariana experiences firsthand the threat of war and corruption when her father is arrested. Through this, she unexpectedly realizes why her father could never abandon his people. She now understands Afghanistan cannot be forgotten.

Neither Allah, Nor Master!(fr)

Filmmaker Nadia el Fani explores secularism in the predominantly Muslim country of Tunisia before and after the fall of Ben Ali.

Banaz: A Love Story(en)

This is a documentary film chronicling the brutal Honour Killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British Kurdish woman in London, killed by her own family for choosing a life for herself.

Winter(en)

A journey through North Russia and Siberia where people have to cope with one of the world’s harshest climates, Zima portrays a reality where the boundary between life and death is so thin that it is sometimes almost nonexistent. In these remote places, civilization constantly fights and embraces nature and its timeless rules and rites. People, animals and nature become elements of a millennial existence cycle where physical and mental endurance are as important as chance and where life and death constantly meet each other.

Saint Death(en)

In Mexico there is a cult that is rapidly growing- the cult of Saint Death. This female grim reaper, considered a saint by followers but Satanic by the Catholic Church, is worshiped by people whose lives are filled with danger and/or violence- criminals, gang members, transvestites, sick people, drug addicts, and families living in rough neighborhoods. "La Santa Muerte" examines the origins of the cult and takes us on a tour of the altars, jails, and neighborhoods in Mexico where the saint's most devoted followers can be found.