The Idle Ones

Ricardo Bär(en)

Ricardo Bar (22) is a young man who lives with his family in a little farm, in the border of Brazil and Argentina. There is mainly the jungle and the settlers, descendants of German immigrants. Ricardo doesn't want to inherit his father's land; he wants to become a pastor. Problems begin when Ricardo and the community tell the directors to stop shooting and leave. From that moment on Ricardo Bar tells two stories: one about a deal, the directors' offer to Ricardo in order to be able to shoot the film, and the other about Ricardo's life at this moment, his reaction to the director's offer, reenacted for the camera.

Talking to the Air: The Horses of the Last Forbidden Kingdom(en)

The world’s most magnificent horsemen face an unsure future in one of the planet’s last great equine cultures. The Tibetan Buddhist region of Mustang in the High Himalaya is the Last Forbidden Kingdom and their unique heritage and remarkable spiritual bond with the horse is under threat. In a land where a man’s wealth can still be measured in horses, death defying races are the colorful back-drop for this story of the ascent of civilization in the high Himalaya. With lush cinematography, and insightful intervieww, the film also recounts the little known story of the CIA’s covert operations in Mustang, and features rare archival footage of the Dalai Lama’s flight on horseback over the Himalaya.  The scholarly and perceptive voices of Dr. Sienna Craig - author of "Horses Like Lightning" and Mikel Dunham, author of "Buddha's Warriors" turn this lens to issues of globalization, fragile border politics and the precarious future for Mustang’s distinctive equine culture.

Beirut Outtakes(en)

Fragments from movies found in an abandoned cinema in Beirut. Retrieved by Mr. Salloum. Assembled by Ms. Ahwesh.

Path to Glory: The Rise and Rise of the Polish Arabian Horse(en)

It can be said that the history of man is the history of the horse. Nowhere is that more true than in Poland with their beloved Arabian horse. This is the strange, unexpected story of far-flung lands as disparate as Egypt and the long-suffering Slavic kingdom of Poland coming together in war and in peace and influencing one another through the living history written on the backs of centuries of horses. This breathtaking film documents the unlikely, triumphant story of Poland's entrance onto the world stage via their worldwide influence on the breeding of one animal; how a beleaguered nation rose up to become the pinnacle of Arabian horse breeding, coming full circle from desert sands to the hallowed halls of Europe.

East of War(de)

White-tiled rooms, neon lighting; on the walls black and white photographs documenting the atrocities committed by the german Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front in WW2. Against this background former soldiers talk about their experiences beyond the bounds of "normal" warfare. An uncompromising film on remembrance and oblivion.

Born in Evin(de)

Follows filmmaker and actress, Maryam Zaree, on her quest to find out the violent circumstances surrounding her birth inside one of the most notorious political prisons in the world.

A Portrait of Ga(en)

Another early experiment in portraiture from Tait. In filming her mother she asks the wider question of how much the camera can reveal of the person.

The Market(en)

In a slum in Chennai, India, a young mother of two, wants to sell her kidney so she can pay off the crippling debts of her family. If she sells Hema will be the fifth member of her family to sell a kidney for an amount that represents several years' wages. Across the world in Nanaimo, Canada, forty year old single mom Sandra's kidneys are failing and she has been on a waiting list for 5 years now. Two different people. Two journeys.

Es geht um Alles(de)

What the #$*! Do We (K)now!?(en)

Amanda is a divorced woman who makes a living as a photographer. During the Fall of the year Amanda begins to see the world in new and different ways when she begins to question her role in life, her relationships with her career and men and what it all means. As the layers to her everyday experiences fall away insertions in the story with scientists, and philosophers and religious leaders impart information directly to an off-screen interviewer about academic issues, and Amanda begins to understand the basis to the quantum world beneath. During her epiphany as she considers the Great Questions raised by the host of inserted thinkers, she slowly comprehends the various inspirations and begins to see the world in a new way.

For Sama(en)

A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.

Hotel Nueva Isla(es)

In the early twentieth century, the Hotel Nueva Isla was an emblematic luxury hotel. After the Cuban Revolution, it was confiscated by the State and became a shelter for homeless people. Located in Old Havana, today it is an imposing ruin. Jorge de los Rios, a retired clerk, is one of the few residents who remain there, along with La Flaca, his lover, and Waldo, a young itinerant. As the rest leave for safer places, Jorge clings to his dilapidated home and its buried treasures, slowly digging his way through its debris. The film speaks poignantly to a lost generation who fought in the Cuban Revolution and dreamed of a better society.

Forever Yours(fi)

Forever Yours is a film about children who have been taken into custody. Through the children, their biological parents and foster parents, the film depicts love in everyday life. The film explores the invisible bond between a child and a biological parent. Even when a child is taken into custody, the yearning for closeness to the biological parents and need for their approval never seems to disappear. This longing is a form of loneliness that the foster parents struggle to overcome. The film describes the entire foster care process: a child being brought into a shelter home, a teenager’s everyday life in a foster family, and siblings preparing to return to their biological mother, after five years in a foster family.

Prague – The Restless Heart of Europe(cs)

This distinctive documentary portrait of Prague extolls the beauty, significance and spirit of the ancient city adopting modern way of life. The form and content of the film share a common underlining principle. The author doesn't simply list out the sequence of events, but rather approaches them in a broader context of their historic implications and circumstances. The content of the film covers a large period from the pagan times to these days. The facts are grouped under several general headings (paganry, the spread of Christianity, renaissance, baroq and modern times) with allusions to the modern life of Prague and Praguers that has its roots in those times.

People Preparing the Staufer Anniversary(de)

Alexander Kluge documents the preparations for an exhibition on the Staufer dynasty.

How We Played the Revolution(lt)

It was the year 1984 when a group of architects decided to organize a one night music band as a New Year's party joke in Kaunas, Lithuania. The joke proved to be so good that rumors about the new exciting rock band spread from lips to lips and soon their intellectual circus grew into the Rock Marches - massive events involving thousands of people - that transformed into the big meetings for Lithuanian Independence later named the Singing Revolution. This is the story about the people who raised their independence with the smiles and songs regardless of the danger of the situation.

Midsummer Night's Tango(fi)

Finns have a quirky sense of humour - and are a bit shy. But: Tango is THE folk music of the Finns. The documentary discovers the Finnish tango from the viewpoint of the singer Chino Laborde, the guitarist Diego "DIPI" Kvitko and the bandoneonist Pablo Greco. The three Argentine musicians travel to Finland to find out whether Aki Kaurismäki is telling the truth when he asserts that tango music was invented in Finland.

Brasslands(en)

Half a million people descend upon a tiny Serbian village for the 50th anniversary of the world's largest trumpet festival. Brasslands chronicles the cultural and musical collisions through the personal journeys of 3 musicians - American, Serbian, Roma - whose lives are bound to Balkan brass for very different reasons.

The Last Song Before the War(en)

The story of the most remote music festival in the world, Festival Au Desert, and the battle to make it happen.

Bathing Babies In Three Cultures(en)

Compares treatment of Balinese and Iatmul (New Guinea) babies with American practices. The different methods of bathing children is seen in three contrasting cultures. "New Guinea". A native mother is seen washing her own and a neighbour's children in a river. "U.S.A.". "The 1930's". In a small bathroom, the mother first carefully wipes the child's face with a flannel, before putting him into the bath-tub. "U.S.A.". the 1940's: Similar setting, similar routine, but mother is less protective, child more independent and interested in outside objects. "Bali": In a mountain village, a mother bathes her child in a small tub on a raised platform.

Reindeerspotting: Escape from Santaland(fi)

Reindeerspotting is a documentary film of a group of young guys living in Rovaniemi, Arctic Circle, dabbling in petty crime and hard drugs. One of them, Jani, has lost five years of his life and two fingers to his debotators. He wants to leave Lapland and his old life behind. Robbing a supermarket is a start for his getaway. A few years back a documentarist, Joonas Neuvonen, was a young men living on social welfare, using drugs on daily basis. He started to film his friends and their life. This is the story of Jani.

The Double Born(en)

A woman is tortured by the sudden disappearance of her only child years before. Obsessed with having another baby, she is devastated and driven to emotional crisis when discovering her new husband is infertile. Gripped by despair, the woman begins to resign herself to the bitter likelihood of never having another child. Striking up a friendship with two discarded young laborers hired to re-paint her son's now silent room, the three lost souls form a disturbing bond as the boys are led deeper into the woman's tormented world. Her family's suspicions of this unsettling new friendship sets off an irreversible series of events, leading to madness and murder as the horrors of the past collide with the sins of the present, ending in tragedy and terror.

Insidious: Chapter 3(en)

A twisted new tale of terror begins for a teenage girl and her family, and revealing more mysteries of the otherworldly realm, 'The Further'.

Final Destination 3(en)

A student's premonition of a deadly rollercoaster ride saves her life and a lucky few, but not from death itself – which seeks out those who escaped their fate.

Midnight Special(en)

A father and son go on the run after the dad learns his child possesses special powers.

Carnage(en)

After 11-year-old Zachary Cowan strikes his classmate across the face with a stick after an argument, the victim's parents invite Zachary's parents to their Brooklyn apartment to deal with the incident in a civilized manner.

Final Destination 5(en)

In this fifth installment, Death is just as omnipresent as ever, and is unleashed after one man’s premonition saves a group of coworkers from a terrifying suspension bridge collapse. But this group of unsuspecting souls was never supposed to survive, and, in a terrifying race against time, the ill-fated group frantically tries to discover a way to escape Death’s sinister agenda.

While We're Young(en)

An uptight documentary filmmaker and his wife find their lives loosened up a bit after befriending a free-spirited younger couple.

Laggies(en)

Overeducated and underemployed, 28 year old Megan is in the throes of a quarterlife crisis. Squarely into adulthood with no career prospects, no particular motivation to think about her future and no one to relate to, Megan is comfortable lagging a few steps behind - while her friends check off milestones and celebrate their new grown-up status. When her high-school sweetheart proposes, Megan panics and- given an unexpected opportunity to escape for a week - hides out in the home of her new friend, 16-year old Annika and Annika's world-weary single dad Craig.

A Few Good Men(en)

When cocky military lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee and his co-counsel, Lt. Cmdr. JoAnne Galloway, are assigned to a murder case, they uncover a hazing ritual that could implicate high-ranking officials such as shady Col. Nathan Jessep.

The Favourite(en)

England, early 18th century. The close relationship between Queen Anne and Sarah Churchill is threatened by the arrival of Sarah's cousin, Abigail Hill, resulting in a bitter rivalry between the two cousins to be the Queen's favourite.

Some Like It Hot(en)

Two musicians witness a mob hit and struggle to find a way out of the city before they are found by the gangsters. Their only opportunity is to join an all-girl band as they leave on a tour. To make their getaway they must first disguise themselves as women, then keep their identities secret and deal with the problems this brings - such as an attractive bandmate and a very determined suitor.

The Conjuring 2(en)

Lorraine and Ed Warren travel to north London to help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by malicious spirits.

Alice in Wonderland(en)

On a golden afternoon, young Alice follows a White Rabbit, who disappears down a nearby rabbit hole. Quickly following him, she tumbles into the burrow - and enters the merry, topsy-turvy world of Wonderland! Memorable songs and whimsical escapades highlight Alice's journey, which culminates in a madcap encounter with the Queen of Hearts - and her army of playing cards!

Mama(en)

Guillermo del Toro presents Mama, a supernatural thriller that tells the haunting tale of two little girls who disappeared into the woods the day that their parents were killed. When they are rescued years later and begin a new life, they find that someone or something still wants to come tuck them in at night.

Notting Hill(en)

William Thacker is a London bookstore owner whose humdrum existence is thrown into romantic turmoil when famous American actress Anna Scott appears in his shop. A chance encounter over spilled orange juice leads to a kiss that blossoms into a full-blown affair. As the average bloke and glamorous movie star draw closer and closer together, they struggle to reconcile their radically different lifestyles in the name of love.

House on Haunted Hill(en)

An amusement park mogul offers a random group of diverse people $1 million to spend the night in a decrepit former mental institution.

A Star Is Born(en)

Seasoned musician Jackson Maine discovers — and falls in love with — struggling artist Ally. She has just about given up on her dream to make it big as a singer — until Jack coaxes her into the spotlight. But even as Ally's career takes off, the personal side of their relationship is breaking down, as Jack fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time(ja)

When 17-year-old Makoto Konno gains the ability to, quite literally, "leap" backwards through time, she immediately sets about improving her grades and preventing personal mishaps. However, she soon realises that changing the past isn't as simple as it seems, and eventually, will have to rely on her new powers to shape the future of herself and her friends.

The Final Destination(en)

After a young man's premonition of a deadly race-car crash helps saves the lives of his peers, Death sets out to collect those who evaded their end.