Hoopties(2023)

Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations(de)

Starting with a long and lyrical overture, evoking the origins of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece, Riefenstahl covers twenty-one athletic events in the first half of this two-part love letter to the human body and spirit, culminating with the marathon, where Jesse Owens became the first track and field athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympics.

Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty(de)

Part two of Leni Riefenstahl's monumental examination of the 1938 Olympic Games, the cameras leave the main stadium and venture into the many halls and fields deployed for such sports as fencing, polo, cycling, and the modern pentathlon, which was won by American Glenn Morris.

Standout: The Ben Kjar Story(en)

Standout tells the powerful story of Ben Kjar, born with Crouzon Syndrome, a rare craniofacial disorder. From birth, doctors warn that his life will be overshadowed by limitations. Ben yearns for an ordinary life free from the harsh scrutiny he faces daily. However, each experience of adversity, including relentless bullying and a series of painful surgeries, ignites a fire within him. Wrestling becomes his proving ground, a place where he learns to transform his facial difference into a source of power. Determined to succeed, he pushes himself relentlessly, breaking through physical, social, and even romantic barriers that once seemed insurmountable. But as unexpected challenges arise and ridicule resurfaces, Ben finds himself at a defining crossroads: fade into the background of a “normal” life, or fully embrace his unique path and boldly stand out.

Vana: The Biggest Race Is the Life Itself(cs)

A documentary portrait of a legendary Czech jockey, Josef Vána, reveals his inner world of thoughts. His unique way of life can't be described in words, and this is a first, really original view into his daily life around horses, terrifying accidents, and also stories about his family.

We Could Be King(en)

Germantown and Martin Luther King High Schools were bitter rivals for over 40 years. This past year, a budget crisis caused Philadelphia to lay off over 4000 employees and close 37 schools, including Germantown High. Now Germantown must merge with their former rival, King. Against overwhelming odds, a 27-year old first time head coach and a new principal fight to inspire young men from difficult circumstances to come together and lift each other toward a better future.

Boca Fechada(pt)

La Roche(fr)

The ascend and mental battle of Marc Rochat into the elite world of Slalom skiing.

Strange Days Diary NYC(en)

One neighborhood in New York City, March 2020: the coronavirus is spreading rapidly, the federal government is clueless, and life seems increasingly surreal. A month later, the city has become an epicenter of the pandemic as the death rate spirals upwards. Then the racial justice protests erupt... Strange Days Diary NYC is an intimate account of living through a disruptive, frightening, yet inspiring time.

Urtain, King of the Mountains(es)

A humorous visit to the turbulent world of the controversial Spanish boxer José Manuel Urtain.

Karen: Women In Sports(en)

Guest speakers from "Women In Motion" Conference, Vancouver, B.C. 1975.

Meine alles außer gewöhnliche Familie(de)

It is normal for 15-year-old Linn to have two mothers. But when she finds out that there are still numerous siblings, she realizes that she is part of an extraordinary extended family. Her father Eike not only had an appointment with Linn's mothers to donate sperm, Petra and Anny also have three children with him. A film crew followed this rainbow family for twelve years.

Cool Water(en)

21-year-old Keith Blauschild, formally trained in the culinary arts, is also a self-taught ice carver. Together with his fiancee Angela Boone, Keith sculpts intricate but impermanent artworks for catered affairs, hotels, cruise ships and for advertising promotions. In this short documentary profile, Keith is filmed as he fashions a prototype (a sword-bearing warrior fighting a dragon) for an upcoming ice carving competition. At the contest site, the young man joins scores of other chainsaw-wielding sculptors busily freeing their creations from blocks of ice. Although Keith does not win a prize, his devotion to ice-carving remains intact. Moving from his home in New Jersey to a new life in Florida, Keith is featured as the "Person of the Week" on a Florida news broadcast

Best Served Cold(en)

A feature length cinema documentary on how THE FARMER (1977) became the most-requested cult film of the new millennium, and it's a crazy tale that involves an actor incarcerated for manslaughter, serious on-set injuries, banana-man costumes- as well as surprising links to Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorsese. The film also broadens its scope to explore the overlooked, eclectic and often ultra-violent sub-genre THE FARMER belongs to - The Returning Veteran film. A film type that hit its stride in the 1970's with hard hitting character studies such as WELCOME HOME, SOLDIERS BOYS (1971), THE NO MERCY MAN (1973) and ROLLING THUNDER (1977).

Germany: A Summer's Fairytale(de)

A documentary of the German national soccer team’s 2006 World Cup experience that changed the face of modern Germany.

13 Days in France(fr)

This colorful documentary chronicles the events of the 1968 Winter Olympics in France. The events made international celebrities of skater Peggy Fleming and skier Jean-Claude Killy for their gold-medal performances. The camera accurately catches the speed of bobsleds and downhill racers and ski jumpers as they race for the gold. President Charles DeGaulle is shown observing the action over 13 days, which saw France earn the best performance to date in the winter games.

The Journeymen(en)

This documentary shows the struggles of making it on the ATP World Tour with rare, behind-the-scenes footage featuring tennis super stars Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, Patrick Rafter, Goran Ivanisevic, Jim Courier and others.

Spartakiáda(cs)

Documentary by Jan Kadar

Ernesto(en)

In 1973 a military coup was staged in Chile, Ernesto lived through these tough times and shares his story about what happened to him

The Giants(en)

We follow the epic lives of sumo legends who made it from humble beginnings in Hawaii, to becoming the first foreigners to rise to the highest ranks in sumo. Starting with Takamiyama who paved the path for Konishiki, Akebono, and Musashimaru who soon followed and ignited sumo fandom around the world. As diplomats for the sport and Japanese culture, these 600 pound outsiders share their hero’s journey from a small Hawaiian village, to having God-like adulation from fans across the world.

A Shepherd(fr)

Félix, a young, melancholic and secretive shepherd, leads a surprisingly timeless life. He lives alone and works along his father to raise the family herd. From autumn to spring, he looks after his animals, feeds them and keeps them in the dense forests of holm oaks of French Pre-Alps. In the summer, he travels on foot for more than two hundred kilometres, leaving his father to lead the herd to the mountains pastures, in the High Alps Ubaye valley. There, he lives far from everything for many long months, in a mineral and inaccessible world where an invisible being prowls: the wolf. Against the tide of his time, Félix has chosen a profession that isolates him and keeps him out of the world.