letters to eleanore(2024)

Fighters(en)

Meet Matt Edwards, a lower-limb amputee boxer determined to break barriers and obtain his amateur boxing license—the crucial first step toward his dream of becoming a professional fighter. But the real fight isn’t just in the ring; it’s against a system that continues to put up obstacles, reflecting the everyday struggles disabled people face simply to be included in society.

The Current: Explore the Healing Powers of the Ocean(en)

The story of individuals from all walks of life that have faced incredible obstacles, found the drive to overcome their disabilities, and have through water sports become real everyday heroes.

Goodnight, Irene(sl)

An extraordinary love story of Irena and Avguštin Maučec from Turnišče, a village in the region of Prekmurje, Slovenia. In the 1990s, soon after their wedding Irena and Avguštin had a bad car accident that left Irena with a serious brain injury. Failing to wake up, she was given up on by the doctors to die a slow death. Avguštin would not agree: he took her home and has since been giving her selfless care. After years of battling the healthcare system, he decided at the age of 40 to study law. He is now about to take his bar exams, and find a job to be able to take proper care of Irena.

Brothers: A Family Film(de)

After 20 years of separation, brothers Adrian and Valentin spend a week together. 32-year old Adrian lives with their parents and benefits from a disability pension. Valentin, barely older, seems to have found his autonomy. Brothers - A Family Film is a dizzying dive into a relationship as impossible as it is established, where violence and tenderness are one and the same.

The Raging Soil(id)

A story of the sacrifice of farmers in defending their land from the mining permit given by the local government to a big company in the district of Lambu.

Refuge(e)(en)

Refuge(e) traces the incredible journey of two refugees, Alpha and Zeferino. Each fled violent threats to their lives in their home countries and presented themselves at the US border asking for political asylum, only to be incarcerated in a for-profit prison for months on end without having committed any crime. Thousands more like them can't tell their stories.

Trans*BUT — Fragments of Identity(tr)

Fragmentary perspectives on Human Rights and transgender (trans*) People in Turkey. What remains at the place where a murder happened? What constitutes trans* life? How to cope with daily violence and hatred? We begin to search for traces. We follow the tracks of resistance and survival. We are collectors of the expelled. We gather fragments of trans* lives inspired by texts of Nazim Hikmet, Foucault, Benjamin and Zeki Müren. Trans*BUT is a documental research study driven by the question: “What keeps you going when all else falls away?”

Lindansaren(sv)

Documentary about wheel-chair bound stand-up comedian Jesper Odelberg. He was born with cerebral palsy and largely uses this as his material, but mixes his comedy with an overall serious message about inclusion and understanding.

Is There Anybody Out There?(en)

While navigating daily discrimination, a filmmaker who inhabits and loves her unusual body searches the world for another person like her, and explores what it takes to love oneself fiercely despite the pervasiveness of ableism.

Jinsuk & Me(ko)

I have been pretty satisfied with my life before I got on the bus. When I do in June 2011, my whole life turns upside down. I am just a regular passenger at first. Like other people I was sorry, and felt obliged to help and care for other passengers. Then I begin to film these common heroes with my camera. Those who speak about hope, who provide it and get on the bus, Ms. Kim Jin-suk, and other crane laborers who risk their safety while demonstrating for their rights on high. She, while stationed insecurely on high, begins interacting with the world through Twitter and makes friends. Then I realize I really love her. Will we have her back safely?

Devant – Contrechamp de la rétention(fr)

Pauline, Norah, Kristina and others wait for hours, sitting under a hut deep in the Bois de Vincennes. In front of the administrative detention center (CRA) in Paris, they have all come to see their loved ones locked up. Lives on hold, awaiting deportation or release. On this stage, these women tell their stories, talk to each other, share their experience, their revolt and their dreams with new visitors. They are the mirror of migrant detention, its reverse view.

À la canne blanche(fr)

Murderball(en)

Quadriplegics, who play full-contact rugby in wheelchairs, overcome unimaginable obstacles to compete in the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Strike or Die(fr)

In October 1995, Forbach witnessed one of the most violent strikes in the history of contemporary France. A thousand or so miners took to the streets for a merciless struggle against a reform in their rights. Twenty years after the mines shut down, people’s will to fight is still alive, just hidden away somewhere.

Plating Blind(en)

Nathan Quinell is a fully trained chef… he also happens to be legally deaf and blind. That’s never stopped him from chasing his dreams to become a full-time cook, but now Nathan must prove himself to his peers, his students and potential employers.

Connection | Isolation(en)

Connection | Isolation presents eight intimate portraits of trans and post-gender individuals navigating the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst moments of connection and isolation, these participants reveal a deepening awareness of gender, their bodies, and trans community. Created by an all trans and queer crew, this hybrid documentary film interlaces portraits with reenactments, integrating archival material documenting what so many experienced and many still do.

Voices from the Shadows(en)

‘Voices from the Shadows’ shows the brave and sometimes heartrending stories of five ME patients and their carers, along with input from Dr Nigel Speight, Prof Leonard Jason and Prof Malcolm Hooper. These were filmed and edited between 2009 and 2011, by the brother and mother of an ME patient in the UK. It shows the devastating consequences that occur when patients are disbelieved and the illness is misunderstood. Severe and lasting relapse occurs when patients are given inappropriate psychological or behavioural management: management that ignores the severe amplification of symptoms that can be caused by increased physical or mental activity or exposure to stimuli, and by further infections. A belief in behavioural and psychological causes, particularly when ME becomes very severe and chronic, following mismanagement, is still taught to medical students and healthcare professionals in the UK. As a consequence, situations similar to those shown in the film continue to occur.

Ogar: Will of Steel(en)

Kevin Ogar, a gifted athlete destined for greatness, suddenly finds himself paralyzed from the waist down, his dreams shattered. He fights to survive, then to build a new life, even daring to pursue his dream job­–a job nobody in a wheelchair has ever attained or even attempted

The Gulag Archipelago: The Book That Changed Russian History(fr)

The story of Russian writer and Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) and his masterpiece, The Gulag Archipelago, published in Paris in 1973, which forever shook the very foundations of communist ideology.

Once Upon a Time There Was a Man(fa)