The Game Designers

Made for Play: Board Games and Modern Industry(en)

Jettingen Germany is home to Ludo Fact, one of the world's largest manufacturers of board and card games. This documentary shows how a board game makes the leap from an idea to your table. You'll see every aspect of the manufacturing process: the technology and machines, the many detailed steps, and the hundreds of people that are involved in the production of a single game. Mostly, we hope the film gives you a greater appreciation of the time, effort and investment that goes into every quality board game that makes it to the marketplace and your home. The business of fun requires a lot of hard work!

Scrabble: A Night on the Tiles(en)

Scrabble is experiencing a renaissance. The younger generation have rediscovered the game online - through the copyright busting Scrabulous - and they're having night after night on the tiles. Alan Yentob sets out to discover why the word game leaves us spellbound, tracing its surprising history, meeting the American tournament Word Freaks, and paying a visit to the SAS-style training camp that the Nigerian government trains their players at.

Space Lions: The Story of Twilight Imperium(en)

Popular review site Shut Up & Sit Down follows the creative heads of Fantasy Flight Games as they develop a new edition of their flagship game Twilight Imperium.

Ruthless: Monopoly's Secret History(en)

America’s favorite board game, Monopoly, is a love letter to unbridled capitalism and the impulses that make our free-market society tick. Contrary to the folksy legend spread by Parker Brothers, Monopoly’s origin involves a radical feminist and a community of Quakers in Atlantic City. If not for the determination of an economics professor and impassioned anti-monopolist, the real story behind the creation of the game might never have come to light.

Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine(en)

Garry Kasparov is possibly the greatest chess player who has ever lived. In 1997, he played a match against the greatest chess computer: IBM's Deep Blue. He lost. This film depicts the drama that happened away from the chess board from Kasparov's perspective. It explores the psychological aspects of the game and the paranoia surrounding IBM's ultimate chess machine.

Who Did It? The Story Behind the Clue VCR Mystery Game(en)

A documentary about the makings of two Parker Brothers VHS games - 'Clue VCR Mystery Game' and 'Clue II: Murder in Disguise'.

Word Wars(en)

The classic board game, Scrabble, has been popular for decades. In addition, there are fanatics who devote heart and soul to this game to the expense of everything else. This film profiles a group of these enthusiasts as they converge for a Scrabble convention where the word game is almost a bloodsport.

Über Goober(en)

Über Goober focuses on the often-misunderstood, sometimes-controversial, and always-kind-of-geeky world of Gamers. Director Steve Metze examines several different groups including historical miniature gamers, role-players, and those known simply as "LARPers." The film also explores opposition from religious groups, negative media portrayals, and some of the meanest 'man-on-the-street' interviews ever committed to video. Meet the Gamers, learn their exotic language, see their bizarre rituals, gasp at their semi-authentic costumes, and thrill to the painting techniques on their miniatures!

Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story(en)

Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story shows how the classic board game has become a worldwide cultural phenomenon and follows the colorful players who come together to compete for the coveted title of Monopoly World Champion.

Friendly Local Game Store(en)

The unlikely story of the world’s largest game store – The Sentry Box – located in Calgary. Communities are not just bound by borders – they are often comprised of people with shared passions. A friendly local game store (FLGS) is a unique place where people can connect with each other, create memories, and build community. Celebrating over 40 years of operation, the Sentry Box in Calgary, Alberta has grown to become the world’s largest game store. It has achieved this incredible milestone by being an inviting and welcoming space for people of all backgrounds to enjoy table top games, such as Dungeons and Dragons. The documentary from CUFF alumnus and Calgarian Garry Snow shares the unique history of the Sentry Box by interviewing the owner, long-time customers, current and former employees, and local industry influencers who have all been connected by the friendly local game store.

The Next Great American Game(en)

Randall Hoyt is an aspiring game designer on the road to publishing his first board game. His wry observations about life, gaming and his own struggles with being bipolar drive this story about what it takes to get a board game published.

The Great Chess Movie(fr)

In this Gilles Carle feature documentary on the game of chess, the international chess match is cast as a classic Western shoot-out. Three chess greats dominate the film: Russia's Anatoly Karpov; Viktor Korchnoi, a Russian defector; and American Bobby Fischer. Chess aficionados Camille Coudari and Fernando Arrabal analyze the personalities and strategies of the players and comment on the interplay of politics and chess.

Monopoly - Spiel ohne Erbarmen(de)

Analog Gaming(en)

What's with the sudden boom of independent designers and small publishers creating tabletop games? This film tells their stories.

Beyond the Gates(en)

Two estranged brothers reunite at their missing father's video store to liquidate the property and sell off his assets. As they dig through the store, they find a VCR board game titled 'Beyond the Gates' that holds a connection to their father's disappearance and deadly consequences for anyone who plays it.

Clue(en)

Clue finds six colorful dinner guests gathered at the mansion of their host, Mr. Boddy -- who turns up dead after his secret is exposed: He was blackmailing all of them. With the killer among them, the guests and Boddy's chatty butler must suss out the culprit before the body count rises.

My House(en)

A family game night turns ugly when a protective mother, desperate to keep her turn in the game a secret, is forced to commit a heinous act that holds a troubling, family-shattering secret.

Zathura: A Space Adventure(en)

After their father is called into work, two young boys, Walter and Danny, are left in the care of their teenage sister, Lisa, and told they must stay inside. Walter and Danny, who anticipate a boring day, are shocked when they begin playing Zathura, a space-themed board game, which they realize has mystical powers when their house is shot into space. With the help of an astronaut, the boys attempt to return home.

Jumanji(en)

When siblings Judy and Peter discover an enchanted board game that opens the door to a magical world, they unwittingly invite Alan -- an adult who's been trapped inside the game for 26 years -- into their living room. Alan's only hope for freedom is to finish the game, which proves risky as all three find themselves running from giant rhinoceroses, evil monkeys and other terrifying creatures.

The Games Maker(es)

Young Ivan Drago's newfound love of board games catapults him into the fantastical and competitive world of game invention, and pits him against the inventor Morodian, who has long desired to destroy the city of Zyl, founded by Ivan's grandfather. To save his family and defeat Morodian, Ivan must come to know what it is to be a true games maker.

Phas Gaye Re Obama(hi)

Phase Gaye Re Obama is a comedy set against the backdrop of global recession/meltdown that originated in USA. The film traces the journey of OM Shashtri, an American citizen of Indian origin, who loses all his wealth overnight to the global recession & has been asked to vacate his home by the bank unless he pays up $100,000 (mortgaged amount) within 30 days. Seeing no other option Om comes to India to sell a small piece of an ancestral property. But within days of landing in India he is kidnapped by a 'recession-hit' underworld gang those who think that he is still a millionaire. What happens to Om, is he able to save his home, how did the 'poor' gangster cope with their 'poor' catch & what do small town Indian gangsters have to say to President Obama...is largely forms the rest of the story. The film, showcases how global recession/ meltdown impacted lives from an America based businessman to underworld dons in the dusty plains of small town India.

Box(fr)

Rewind 2: 1996(en)

When Marty's car is stolen, he sets out on a mission to find it; however, he soon realizes that the person who stole it is much more dangerous than he thinks.

Linkin Park: Live In Moscow(en)

Linkin Park have taken their expansive rock show to seemingly every corner of the globe, but they've never played Moscow's Red Square (to be fair, very few acts ever have). But now, thanks to the power of Michael Bay and "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," they can finally cross it off their list.

Rheme Maining Sources(pt)

A place-specific film-excavation of Bixiga neiborhood – São Paulo. Choreography of forces that cross present time. Filmancy, clairvoyance is the vision of what is taking shape.

Killer of Men(en)

A man lurks the night alleys, killing people at random, he feels nothing, no emotion, and no pain; when he meets a graceful widow he must confront what it means to be human.

Re-Existences(pt)

“Re-Existence” is a documentary about migration stories of individuals from the Brazilian queer community.

School of Thieves 2(it)

In this second episode Dalmazio and Egisto come, respectively, from the prison and the insane asylum. They risk a second arrest for their awkwardness so they return from their "uncle" who is willing to help them.

Ripper's Revenge(en)

One year on from the notorious Ripper murders, London is terrorised once again by a series of brutal killings. When gruesome letters from the Ripper begin landing on his desk, an innocent reporter finds himself drawn into a deadly mystery, threatening the lives of everyone around him.

Mr. Bones 2: Back from the Past(en)

Hekule, the King of Kuvukiland, is given a gemstone by the dying Kunji Balanadin. The stone is cursed and causes Hekule to become possessed by the spirit of the mischievous Kunji. It is up Mr. Bones, the royal witch doctor to cure his King and get rid of this cursed stone by returning the gem to its home in an Indian fishing village.

Fantozzi 2000 - The Cloning(it)

Ugo Fantozzi was resurrected from the company where he worked because of a crisis, how it will end?Tenth and final chapter of the film series of Fantozzi character.

Test(en)

On his journey towards becoming a film director, Cole discovers an insight that flips his perspective on his way of living.

Ice Trap(es)

Sound of My Voice(en)

A journalist and his girlfriend get pulled in while they investigate a cult whose leader claims to be from the future.

Firefighters 2: Heroic Mission(it)

Following a twinning between the national fire brigade and the special forces of the Canadian firefighters, Captain Carter arrives in Rome.

The Quiet Man(en)

An American man returns to the village of his birth in Ireland, where he finds love and conflict.

American Ninja 5(en)

When a scientists daughter is kidnapped, American Ninja, attempts to find her, but this time he teams up with a youngster he has trained in the ways of the ninja.

A Film Like Any Other(fr)

An analysis of the social upheaval of May 1968, made in the immediate wake of the workers’ and students’ protests. The picture consists of two parts, each with with identical image tracks, and differing narration.

Bad(en)

This film puts you inside the head of a dyslexic child trying to get through the 5th grade in the 1970's.

L'allenatore nel pallone(it)

Oronzo Canà is called to coach Longobarda, the football team of a small town of Northern Italy, newly promoted to the First Division. His only task is not to be relegated, but Longobarda's owner plots against him, finding the team's current ranking far too expensive, and his top Brazilian striker is affected by a deep saudade.