Four Years of Solitude(2023)

To Stay Alive: A Method(en)

Iggy Pop reads and recites Michel Houellebecq’s manifesto. The documentary features real people from Houellebecq’s life with the text based on their life stories.

What Is to Be Done? A Journey from Prague to Ceský Krumlov, or How I Formed a New Government(cs)

Quite a few years have passed since November 1989. Czechoslovakia has been divided up and, in the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus’s right-wing government is in power. Karel Vachek follows on from his film New Hyperion, thus continuing his series of comprehensive film documentaries in which he maps out Czech society and its real and imagined elites in his own unique way.

Hiroshima: A Mother's Prayer(ja)

The horrors of war and the devastating effects of the atomic bomb.

In the Intense Now(pt)

A personal essay which analyses and compares images of the political upheavals of the 1960s. From the military coup in Brazil to China's Cultural Revolution, from the student uprisings in Paris to the end of the Prague Spring.

Call into Silence(cs)

A documentary about the artistic and verbal expressions of mentally ill people.

Trauma(en)

On the London Underground, a young man relives past traumas as he endures the sensory overload of rush hour, only to look up and see a young woman at the end of the carriage going through the same PTSD symptoms. Their recognition of each other's condition allows them a moment of peace before the train jolts them back into reality and she disappears at the next platform.

Larisa(ru)

Elem Klimov's documentary ode to his wife, director Larisa Shepitko, who was killed in an auto wreck.

Max in the Morning(en)

At the microphone with Max Ferguson, radio satirist, as he creates his weekday-morning program. Filmed inside his CBC broadcasting booth, this film watches and records as Max ad-libs his way through zany interpretations of news events. His only script is the morning paper and with it he tilts at humbug with a flair that has made him a national figure.

Blush: An Extraordinary Voyage(fi)

For 18-year-old Finnish–Kosovan Fatu, a simple visit to the grocery store feels as nerve-racking as a lunar expedition: for the first time in his life, he’s wearing makeup in public. Luckily his best friend Rai, a young woman on the spectrum of autism, is there to ferociously support him through the voyage.

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat(fr)

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Carl och spelreklamshelvetet(sv)

Internet comedian Carl Déman from the humor group JLC lived a life that looked glorious. But beneath the surface was a terrible gambling addiction that almost cost him his life. In 2019, he and other gambling addicts struggle to stay afloat in a contemporary age marinated in gambling advertising. Carl wants to ask those who make the advertising how they think and wonders why the advertising profiles now also come from the world of culture and entertainment.

Libre(en)

For detained immigrants who can’t pay their bond, for-profit companies like Libre by Nexus offer a path to reunite with their families. But for many, the reality is much more complicated. “Libre” sheds light on one of many hidden costs of reunification for immigrant families.

Brasilia, Contradictions of a New City(pt)

In 1967, de Andrade was invited by the Italian company Olivetti to produce a documentary on the new Brazilian capital city of Brasília. Constructed during the latter half of the 1950s and founded in 1960, the city was part of an effort to populate Brazil’s vast interior region and was to be the embodiment of democratic urban planning, free from the class divisions and inequalities that characterize so many metropolises. Unsurprisingly, Brasília, Contradições de uma Cidade Nova (Brasília, Contradictions of a New City, 1968) revealed Brasília to be utopic only for the wealthy, replicating the same social problems present in every Brazilian city. (Senses of Cinema)

Passing(en)

A short documentary profiling the lives of three transgender Black men, exploring what life is like living as a Black man when no one knows you are transgender, and their journeys with gender in the years since they transitioned.

Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory(fr)

Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Prince's 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene pre-dated it by seven years. Three separate versions of this film exist, which differ from one another in numerous ways. The first version features a carriage drawn by one horse, while in the second version the carriage is drawn by two horses, and there is no carriage at all in the third version. The clothing style is also different between the three versions, demonstrating the different seasons in which each was filmed. This film was made in the 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds, holding a total of 800 frames.

Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities(en)

A haven for Black intellectuals, artists and revolutionaries—and path of promise toward the American dream—Black colleges and universities have educated the architects of freedom movements and cultivated leaders in every field. They have been unapologetically Black for 150 years. For the first time ever, their story is told.

Fittan brinner - livet med vestibulit(sv)

A Different War(he)

Although Nuni has been selected to play the lead (King David) in his Jerusalem grade school play, he'd secretly rather play the princess role instead.

Song 5(en)

SONG 5: A childbirth song (the Songs are a cycle of silent color 8mm films by the American experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage produced from 1964 to 1969).

Where Do You Stand Now, João Pedro Rodrigues?(pt)

João Pedro Rodrigues answers the question from the title with an autobiographical short-film.