Straight Stories, Part 1

Parchís: the Documentary(es)

The spotlight's on Parchís, a record company-created Spanish boy/girl band that had unprecedented success with Top 10 songs and hit films in the '80s.

Land Without Bread(es)

An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time. (Silent short, voiced in 1937 and 1996.)

Sydney Castells: Spirit of Catalunya(en)

'Sydney Castells: Spirit of Catalunya' is a documentary exploring Catalan climbing and culture. Bringing light to a relatively unknown community based in Sydney, NSW. Viewing insights into the personal lives of individuals who partake in this thrilling sport.

Manda huevos(es)

A look at the different masculinities portrayed in Spanish cinema through time. (A sequel to “Barefoot in the Kitchen,” 2013.)

Fale Comigo Verão: O diário de um cineasta amador(pt)

For years, together with his partners from the production company O Quadro, he has been betting on cinema as a tool to explore the typical issues of youth. In this film, Evandro Scorsin turns the cameras on himself as he deals with the dilemmas of the passing of time and the imposition of adulthood. In an exercise in autofiction where cinema and life merge, the film is also a cinematic love letter to the beloved masters (especially Nicholas Ray). Coming and going between two countries and times, it records the vertigo of displacement and the reinventions inherent to an immigrant experience.

Aan ons den arbeid(en)

Documentary that shows the changing attitude towards immigrant labor in The Netherlands. The documentary follows three immigrants that arrived in Holland 30 years ago to work in a bakery.

Visions of Europe(en)

Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.

Parasceve, retrato de una Semana Santa(es)

Billy(es)

The Spanish Civil War(en)

Documentary series which uses film and eyewitness accounts from both sides of the conflict that divided Spain in the years leading up to World War Two, also placing it in its international context.

Forbidden People(ca)

Constitutionally precluded from claiming any right to self-determination, the Catalans stick to their guns. The separatist movement is gaining ground in Catalonia. Notwithstanding the Spanish Constitution (which states that Spain is indivisible, making any referendum thereby unconstitutional), 2.3 million people voted in the November 2014 de facto referendum. The results speak for themselves: 81% of Catalans are in favour of independence. Seizing this historic moment, filmmaker Alexandre Chartrand gives a voice to the civil society figures who have been propelled to centre stage in national politics.

Llull. Volver a ser yo(es)

"1-O"(ca)

On September 6, 2017, the Catalan regional government called an independence referendum. This propagandistic documentary by the Catalan government collects the experiences of an illegal referendum that led to the virtual independence of Spanish territory and the biggest constitutional crisis in Spain since 1981

Santuario(en)

In Greensboro, NC, a small church community offers sanctuary to Juana Ortega, a Guatemalan grandmother threatened with deportation after 25 years of living and working in the United States.

Guernica: El último exiliado(es)

Balnearios(es)

An album of odd and humorous stories on small places exclusively dedicated to idleness, which are empty in winter and crowded in summer: the spa towns. Cities under water, luxury hotels, mermaids, sea animals, sand castles, people who worship water, praying for health.

A Tale of Two Kitchens(en)

Two countries, two restaurants, one vision. At Gabriela Cámara's acclaimed Contramar in Mexico City, the welcoming, uniformed waiters are as beloved by diners as the menu featuring fresh, local seafood caught within 24 hours. The entire staff sees themselves as part of an extended family. Meanwhile at Cala in San Francisco, Cámara hires staff from different backgrounds and cultures, including ex-felons and ex-addicts, who view the work as an important opportunity to grow as individuals. A Tale of Two Kitchens explores the ways in which a restaurant can serve as a place of both dignity and community.

El conserje(es)

Off Sides(cs)

When the junior ice hockey team from the small town of Náchod, in the Czech Republic, sets off in a bus to Morocco to play the away game in an exchange programme, the players and their coach expect an easy victory and a cultural shock: “bring ear plugs”, the coach suggests them with a touch of undisguised condescendence, so as not to hear the call to prayer early in the morning. Both on and off the ice, Rozálie Kohoutová and Tomáš Bojar’s camera focuses on a few teenagers and their exchanges, simultaneously funny and cruel, in a clumsy English.

¡Al fútbol!(es)

Any given Sunday of 1974 in Spain, soccer games in several stadiums, the sarcastic voice of commentators, the inevitable presence of advertising. Goal! The victors and the defeated.

Promises(fr)

Clémence, the fearless mayor of a town near Paris, is completing the final term of her political career. With her faithful right-hand man Yazid, she has long fought for this town plagued by inequality, unemployment and slumlords. However, when Clémence is approached to become Minister, her ambition arises, questioning her devotion and commitment to her citizens. Will her political integrity and election promises survive her newly found ambition?

Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight 2(pl)

When something horrible happens to the only survivor of a bloody massacre, an insecure rookie cop must overcome his fears to stop further carnage.

The Merry Gentlemen(en)

To save her parents' small-town nightclub, a Broadway dancer stages an all-male, Christmas-themed revue — and meets a guy with all the right moves.

The Grifters(en)

A small-time conman has his loyalties torn between his estranged mother and his new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.

Flaminia(it)

French Tech(fr)

Down-on-his-luck, unemployed Alexandre has two months to prove to his wife he can take care of his two young kids and be financially independent. Now, the thing is, although The Box, a user-friendly startup, wants to hire him on pro- bation, the company’s slogan is “No kids!” and Séverine, his future boss, is a short-tempered “killer”. So if Alexandre wants to land the job, he’s bound to lie... Will his meeting with Arcimboldo, an “entrepreneur of himself” and the king of online odd jobs, help the brave, disoriented Alexandre overcome all those challenges?

The Painter(en)

An ex-CIA operative is thrown back into a dangerous world when a mysterious woman from his past resurfaces. Now exposed and targeted by a relentless killer and a rogue black ops program, he must rely on skills he thought he left behind in a high-stakes game of survival.

Life, and Nothing More…(fa)

After the earthquake of Guilan, a film director and his son travel to the devastated area to search for the actors from the movie the director made there a few years previously. In their search, they see how people who have lost everything in the earthquake still have hope and try to live life to the fullest.

Selina's Gold(tl)

Selina's father sells her to Tiago who makes her a sex slave. With the help of Domeng, Tiago's blind slave, she plans their way out of this living hell.

Another Summer Holiday(it)

Altiero Molino is a twenty-six-year-old digital entrepreneur who’s returning to Ventotene with his model husband in order to gather his old friends together around his ailing father so as to treat him to one last holiday in this place which is so special to him. He didn’t expect to find the island all abuzz with Sabry Mazzalupi’s marriage to her partner Cesare. This young woman, who’s the awkward daughter of Roman shopkeeper Ruggero, has become an online celebrity and her wedding is a global event attracting the media as well as mysterious emissaries from the new political regime. These two tribes of vacationers, two seemingly irreconcilable sides of Italy, are destined to come together during the Ferragosto holiday for an ultimate showdown.

Piece by Piece(en)

A unique cinematic experience that invites audiences on a vibrant journey through the life of cultural icon Pharrell Williams. Told through the lens of LEGO® animation, turn up the volume on your imagination and witness the evolution of one of music's most innovative minds.

Under Therapy(es)

Three married couples undergoing therapy are summoned by their female psychologist to a meeting. The psychologist won’t be attending the reunion herself, but she will give to them instructions about what they must do. Thus, to the sound of a horn (literally), the six protagonists will gradually air their dirty laundry concerning their relationships and bring up issues like taking care of the kids, the different home tasks, money, jealousy and sex, until it all leads to a most unexpected and equally shocking end.

Dunki(hi)

Four friends from a sleepy little village in Punjab share a common dream: to go to England. Their problem is that they have neither the visa nor the ticket. A soldier alights from a train one day, and their lives change. He gives them a soldier's promise: He will take them to the land of their dreams. What follows is a hilarious and heartwarming tale of a perilous journey through the desert and the sea, but most crucially through the hinterlands of their mind.

My People, My Country(zh)

Anthology of short films directed by several different directors.

The Silence(de)

13-year-old Sinikka vanishes on a hot summer night. Her bicycle is found in the exact place where a girl was killed 23 years ago. The dramatic present forces those involved in the original case to face their past.

Free Country(de)

Former East Germany, 1992. Patrick Stein and Markus Bach, two very different police officers, are commissioned to investigate the disappearance of two female teenagers in a remote area of the country. Did they run away from home or did something more terrible happen to them?

Holiday on the Buses(en)

Due to a female passenger falling out of her top whilst running for the bus Stan is distracted and crashes the bus resulting in the depot managers car being written off. As a result Stan, Jack and Blakey are fired. Stan and Jack soon get new jobs as a bus crew at a Pontins holiday resort but discover that Blakey has also gotten a job there as the chief security guard.

The Accusation(fr)

The Farels are a power couple: Jean is a prominent French pundit and his wife Claire an essayist known for her radical feminism. Together they have a model son, Alexandre, who is a student at a prestigious American university. During a brief visit to Paris, Alexandre meets Mila, the daughter of his mother’s new partner, and invites her to a party. The next day, Mila files a complaint against Alexandre for rape, destroying family harmony and setting in motion an inextricable media-judicial machine that posits opposing truths.

Dirty Angels(en)

During the United States' 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, a group of female soldiers posing as medical relief are sent back in to rescue a group of kidnapped teenagers caught between ISIS and the Taliban.

Race to the Summit(de)

Fearless alpine climbers Ueli Steck and Dani Arnold enter into a death-defying rivalry to set speed records on the Swiss Alps' great north faces.