Pale Mirrors

Six Days(en)

Three women, three wars, one dream. Lanja is a journalist in Iraq fearlessly fighting against honor violence. Maia in Abkhazia battles archaic customs like 'bride kidnapping'. Nelly runs a women's shelter in the slums of Monrovia, Liberia. A universal story of women's courage and survival in the aftermath of war.

The Silence(it)

Fatma and her mother are Kurdish refugees living in Italy. One day at the hospital, Fatma learns her mother has breast cancer.

Home & Key(ku)

The story of this film is an aesthetic narration of the death of a Kurdish Family, along the 20th century.

A Time for Drunken Horses(fa)

After their father dies, a family of five children are forced to survive on their own in a Kurdish village on the border of Iran and Iraq.

1988(ku)

In the winter of 1988, in the depths of the Iraq/Iran war, the border town of Halabja was attacked by chemical weapons with all its people and their different stories.

Momê(tr)

A Kurdish woman as a suspect of terrorism: the exciting political thriller deeply depicts the racist surveillance system in Turkey. The young Kurdish woman Arjin is under surveillance by the Turkish intelligence service. Her offense: She housed another Kurdish woman for one night, who then disappeared without a trace. Every step of Arjin and her friend Sidar is monitored from now on. When Ramo, a secret service worker of Kurdish origin, claims to have found evidence that Arjin and Sidar are involved in the planning of a suicide bombing in Istanbul, the ugly face of the Turkish government is uncovered.

Monologue(ku)

Sivan Encü, a young Kurdish man, provided for his family by "smuggling" through the Turkish-Iraqi border. When he was murdered in the 2011 Robozik (Roboski) Massacre, the responsibility of family's welfare was taken over by his younger brother Sinan, who lost his life in an unfortunate accident. This is the story of their grief-stricken mother Heyam and her resilience. Alongside Heyam's struggle, the film brings the voices of Robozik elders and notables to the forefront, who have experienced first-hand the social, political and economic dimensions of smuggling, which has been the backbone of survival for the locals for many generations.

Girls of the Sun(fr)

Bahar, the commanding officer of the Daughters of the Sun, a battalion made up entirely of Kurdish female soldiers, is on the cusp of liberating their town, which has been overrun by ISIS extremists.

Elaha(de)

Elaha, 22, believes she must restore her supposed innocence before she weds. A surgeon could reconstruct her hymen but she cannot afford such an operation. She asks herself: why does she have to be a virgin anyway, and for whom?

Rhino Season(fa)

Kurdish-Iranian poet Sahel has just been released from a thirty-year prison sentence in Iran. Now the one thing keeping him going is the thought of finding his wife, who thinks he's been dead for over twenty years.

Wild is the Spring(en)

Through a series of vignettes from the ancient and war-torn Levant, WILD IS THE SPRING captures moments in the lives of diverse ethnic communities who struggle to survive when life descends into chaos.

Refugee Poetry(ku)

The Kurdish Iraqi poet and actor Zeravan Khalil travels with his dog through an Alpine gorge after fleeing from IS war and genocide. As he remembers the abomination, he writes a poem with the title “You drive me mad” in Kurmanji Kurdish. In his home country, Yazidic Kurds are forbidden to work in his profession. Then he eats his apple and wanders through Europe’s middle with more hope.

Çerx(ku)

In the 1990s, some newspapers were not allowed to enter the Diyarbakir region, under a state of emergency at that time, although they were legal. Children like Bawer and Hebûn, who were part of the distribution group, would secretly collect these newspapers from outside the city at a previously agreed location and take them to the planned meeting place in the city. There, the children changed their clothes and went out to distribute them, under the guise of other work. But they were constantly followed by those who saw the newspaper as dangerous and wanted to prevent its dissemination. Çerx is a testament to the conditions under which these newspapers were distributed to readers and the difficulties encountered.

Press(tr)

The story of a Kurdish newspaper whose journalists are under the constant threat of being abducted and killed by the state security forces.

An Alley Behind Our House(ku)

The story of two youngster girls who became the victims of female genital mutilation.

Road Blocks(el)

Ali, a Kurdish refugee, travels to Athens in search of his missing brother. He discovers that his brother paid to be smuggled into Italy but then disappeared, so Ali tries to find his brother and get his way into Italy.

Jiyana Rewsenbireki Kurd: Casimê Celîl(ku)

Casimê Celîl was born into a Yezidi Kurdish family in 1908, in a village called Kızılkule, located in Digor, Kars. The village and family life, which he longed to remember throughout his life, ends with the massacre they endured in 1918. During his long road to Erivan, Armenia, he lost all his family members. Left all alone, Casim was placed into an orphanage and was forced to change his name. To remember who he was and where he came from, every morning he repeated the mantra “Navê min Casim e, Ez kurê Celîlim, Ez ji gundê Qizilquleyê Dîgorê me, Ez Kurdim, Kurdê Êzîdî me”, which translates to: “My name is Casim, I am the son of Celîl, I come from the village of Kızılkule in Digor, I am a Kurd, and I am Yezidi”. He clings to every piece of his culture he can find, reads, and saves whatever Kurdish literature or art he comes across. As the year’s pass, Casim finds himself with an impressive collection of Kurdish culture and history.

Traces: People of the Peacock(ku)

Filmmaker Binevsa Bêrîvan travels to Armenia to capture the daily life, customs, and history of the country's Yazidi Kurdish community.

Translating Ulysses(ku)

Kawa Nemir is like a walking dictionary of the Kurdish language. He flees Turkey and takes refuge at Anne Frank's former house in Amsterdam. Will he be able to finish the translation of Ulysses and publish it?

My War(en)

A disturbing portrait of four Western volunteers who risk their lives to fight ISIS alongside Kurdish forces. The feature documentary 'My War' probes the complex motives behind the need to take up arms on someone else’s behalf.

Joy in Moscow(fr)

Pretty Joy and her friend come to Moscow to shoot a commercial. A taxi driver, who recruits girls for an underground organization run by a distant descendant of Rasputin, suggests they visit the Rasputin Museum. During the tour, the girls are hypnotized by the evil character, who hypnotizes his victims before using their charms to seduce the rich tourists.

MAN(lv)

A story about several hours, which significantly change the adolescent boy's life. In a small town in Latvia, there is an old Ferris wheel near a bar, in which the protagonist meets a female truck driver, and soon the wheel of fate of the adolescent boy is set in motion.

East of Main Street: Milestones(en)

The Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple had an opportunity to take part in an episode of East of Main Street, an HBO documentary series that has been produced for the past three years to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. This year’s episode, Milestones, focuses on how different groups of Asian Americans mark the milestones throughout their lives.

Spider(en)

After being fired by his ruthless boss, the dangerously vulnerable David is forced to confront the looming loss of his terminally ill mother, Annie, as well as his own relentless demons.

Spider(en)

16mm, colour, silent.

Get Lucky(de)

Six teenagers experience tumultuous vacation at the Baltic Sea with a lot of sun and beach. At the holiday home they meet the sexologist Ellen. The teenagers experience their first love, the first sex and what possibly can go wrong.

The Main Celebration of Life(ru)

In Russia, the attitude to death is paradoxically irrational – we all seem to live forever. Entrepreneur Sergey Yakushin is the only reasonable "madman" who conducted a funeral "revolution" in his native Novosibirsk. Yakushin himself turned around to face death after being diagnosed with late-stage cancer 15 years ago. And they gave me a year of life.

009 Re:Cyborg(ja)

009 Re:Cyborg follows a group of nine cyborgs, each of them created by a shadowy organization for use as weapons against humanity. The group turns on their creators to protect the population instead, using the powers given them to fight their creators.

Timro Chanchale Chulbule Yoban(en)

The music video Timro Chanchale Chulbule Yoban weaves a story of longing, fleeting connections, and unfulfilled desires. Aanchal and Udip, a married couple from Nepal, are struggling with an unhappy relationship. Seeking a break, Aanchal travels to the UK for a holiday. Meanwhile, Paul, a handsome and strong man living in London, dreams of finding the perfect woman to marry. Their paths cross at Tower Bridge, where Paul is instantly captivated by Aanchal's beauty. Mesmerized, he begins to follow her through the city-Tower Bridge to Waterloo Station, and finally to London Bridge-imagining a future together filled with love and happiness. But when Paul turns to approach her, Aanchal suddenly disappears. Reality strikes, and Paul learns she is already married, her sadness hidden behind her beauty. This realization brings Paul back to reality, leaving him to reflect on the bittersweet nature of love and missed chances.

Great(en)

Did the Nazis ever see Charlie Chaplin's 'The Great Dictator'? Yugoslavia, 1942 - The young Serbian projectionist Nikola Radosevic decides to teach the German oppressors a lesson they won't forget. The beginning of a true and astonishing World War II resistance story.

Ten Years of La Haine(fr)

A documentary tracing the history of La Haine, from the real-life shooting that inspired the screenplay to the film’s success at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.

Main Krishna Hoon(hi)

In answer to an orphan boy's prayers, the divine Lord Krishna comes to Earth, befriends the boy, and helps him find a loving family.

Cherrie - ut ur mörkret(sv)

Dschungel unter Wasser(de)

Dylan Moran: Like, Totally(en)

Dylan Moran returns with an all-new stand-up show. Unpredictable, startling, bizarre, elegiac, but above all brilliant and hilariously funny, Moran is a master of comedy.

The New Moscow(ru)

A comedy about a naive young architect and his wild designs for a “New Moscow.” The Soviet censors weren't at all amused and shelved it.

Air(fr)

23(ru)

Jura is 23 years old - and Lena is 23. They live in Budennovsk, play computer games, walk and learn. They live in a city where Shamil Basayev entered 23 years ago with militants, and know almost nothing about the events of that time.

Panman(en)

Panman is a demon chef with the recipe for murder. As people start to disappear, a custard professor and a few of his students, band together to try and stop PANMAN. In the beginning, Panman seems to be a vicious killer with a pan in his hand and a craving for fresh victims, but we soon find out he has a thirst for something more, LOVE. Lurking on the other side of town is a grizzled culinary professor who is hell bent on forming an assassination squad to kill Panman once and for all. The Professor and his hunters are able to infiltrate Panman's love life and cause disastrous results. Once Panman's girl is gone and his heart is broken, he goes on a one-pan-man killing spree exacting revenge on the Professor and his students.