The Leading Role(2016)

Lines from the Heart(sv)

The trio of actresses have ostensibly gathered to pay tribute to Mai Zetterling, but also reminisce about their own careers and the illustrious figures, including Ingmar Bergman, they have worked with.

Deshilando Luz(es)

A film essay that intertwines the director's gaze with that of her late mother. Beyond exploring mourning and absence as exclusively painful experiences, the film pays tribute to her mother through memories embodied by places and objects that evidence the traces of her existence. The filmmaker asks herself: What does she owe her mother for who she is and how she films? To what extent does her film belong to her?

Once My Mother(en)

Australian filmmaker Sophia Turkiewicz investigates why her Polish mother abandoned her and uncovers the truth behind her mother's wartime escape from a Siberian gulag, leaving Sophia to confront her own capacity for forgiveness.

Terwijl het liefde was(nl)

Artistic director of the National Theater Eric de Vroedt writes and directs a performance about his own mother Winnie, who passed away in 2020. This piece, titled The Century of My Mother, is a family story about the migration from the Dutch East Indies to the Netherlands. It is De Vroedt's way of examining the relationship with his mother and not having to say goodbye to her yet: 'I can let her live on stage, but when the curtain falls, when the play is completely finished, then she is really dead'.

The Divine Garbo(en)

Profile of actress Greta Garbo, narrated by Glenn Close

After You(sv)

"My mother is spending all her time with her dying father. I’m spending all my time filming her. As the end is getting closer, my mother and I start doing the filming more and more together. It becomes our way of dealing with the time we have left." —Marius Dybwad Brandrud

Carnations(en)

Seven strangers are interviewed to talk about the relationship they have with their mother.

Sieben Mulden und eine Leiche(de)

Thomas Haemmerli is about to celebrate his fortieth birthday when he learns of his mother's death. A further shock follows when he and his brother Erik discover her apartment, which is filthy and full to bursting with junk. It takes the brothers an entire month to clean out the place. Among the chaos, they find films going back to the 1930s, photos and other memorabilia.

Personal Affairs(sh)

The story follows five months in the life of Belgrade student Maja Sabljic, an actress-to-be, from her high school graduation day (at the end of May) until mid September when she tries to enroll at the Film Academy (FDU). The story is presented in the documentary style, involving the real-life persons of the late seventies' Belgrade scene.

The Mirror and the Window(es)

Filmmaker Diego Gutiérrez knows that he is soon to lose two loved ones: his mother Gina Coppe and his best friend Danniel Danniel. Both ask him to film them during this final phase of their lives—Gina in her apartment in Mexico City, Danniel in a Dutch restaurant where he feels at home. What stories do they want to leave behind?

Another World(pl)

Outstanding actress Danuta Szaflarska, in a colorful and humorous way, tells about her experiences from the old years.

CHSLD(fr)

François Delisle draws an intimate portrait of his mother in a nursing home. A chronicle of the daily life and medical care of a woman approaching the end, treated with love, respect and dignity.

Salaam Cinema(fa)

Makhmalbaf puts an advertisement in the papers calling for an open casting for his next movie. However when hundreds of people show up, he decides to make a movie about the casting and the screen tests of the would-be actors.

Bond Girls Are Forever(en)

Through vintage film clips of past Bond movie epics, and with the participation of several former "Bond Girls" as interviewees (among them Dr. No's Ursula Andress and Diamonds Are Forever's Jill St. John), the documentary traces the evolution of the typical James Bond heroine from decorative damsel in distress to gutsy (but still decorative) participant in the action.

Tatjana in Motherland(sl)

Tatjana in Motherland is a partly animated documentary essay about Slovenia and its men. It is a “documentary-tale” of how Slovenian society has been disintegrating in an invisible way. The story will unveil a Slovenian Oedipus archetype of the possessive martyr mother type and her relationship with her son, in which she through emotional manipulation, by constantly creating feelings of guilt, burdens her son to such a degree, that he remains dependent on her for the rest of his life. In order to put this relationship to its best use, all Slovenian governing structures have elevated mother figure on the level of a saint and have assigned to it the cultish role. The result of the Slovenian maternal cult is a typical Slovene male, who is pathologically obsessed with his mother.

Terry's Little Village(en)

Terry Wilson is a 70-year-old lifelong resident of Meadowvale Village, Ontario's first heritage district. As development looms and begins to destroy Terry's favourite place in the world, he recreates pieces of history in his backyard, crafting an oasis where it feels like nothing has changed. A beautiful tribute to his childhood, his mother, and his town, Terry passionately fights to preserve history in a world that's too anxious for change.

Spijtmoeders(nl)

What if you love your child, but are unhappy in your role as a mother? Spijtmoeders is a documentary film about mothers who, if they could make the choice again, would rather not be mothers. Three women talk about their struggles with motherhood, the shame and guilt they feel, and the high expectations society places on them. The fear of judgment from others is great: what if people think that they are not a good mother, that they do not take good care of their child? What if they think they don't love their child? The mothers are represented by hyper-realistic dolls, but their voices are real.

Pivetta(en)

Elaine Stritch at Liberty(en)

With only an oversized shirt, black tights, and a chair, Elaine Stritch performs her autobiographical one-woman show at London's Old Vic Theatre featuring tales and songs from her 50-plus-year career on stage and screen.

Stále spolu(cs)

Petr and Simona have been living together for twenty-five years. They have nine children, with whom they live in caravans on a meadow in Šumava – without television, computers, or running water. The authoritarian Petr calls himself a "professional father." He guides his offspring toward freedom and harmony with nature, while trying to protect them from the harmful influence of consumer society. The children only go to school for exams—their college-educated parents teach them at home. At first glance, the family cohesion, which is practically unparalleled in today's Western world, seems idyllic. Upon closer inspection, however, doubts begin to arise. The film Still Together explores the price of a free life outside of society and asks: is there a recipe for the ideal family?