Woodgirls – A Duet for a Dream(2021)

Imaginary Painting(fa)

A documentary about the life and works of the maestros of Imaginary Painting School who made Iranian popular old style Khialisazi or Coffee-House Painting.

Oproerkraaiers(nl)

Sidney & Friends(en)

When his family tries to kill him, Sidney, who is intersex, flees to Nairobi where he meets a group of transgender friends. Together, they fight discrimination and discover life, love and self-worth.

Attila(fa)

A harrased dog is found by animal helpers near a small village in Iran, they take him to the shelter and cure his disease but soon they find out Attila the dog suffers from an infected leg. As the helpers don't want his leg to be cut off They manage to send Attila to the USA via an unbelievable story.

Seven Winters in Tehran(fa)

After seven years in prison, a female student in Tehran is hanged for murder. She had acted in self-defence against a rapist. For a pardon, she would have had to retract her testimony. This moving film reopens the case.

Palm to Palm: Love. Home. Family(en)

"Everybody should have a home. If you punish a nation, this is so abstract, it's very mean to use your power to put another country in your control... Instead of punishment, maybe we should have love." Eliane from Chile, Milad from Iran, and Georgia from Greece, three migrants in the UK and their thoughts on love, home, family, and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Rabies in a Human Patient(en)

Case history of an Iranian patient bitten by a rabid wolf.

Noncia(de)

The animated short film tells the moving story of the resistance and bravery of Alfreda Noncia Markowska, a young Roma woman from Poland who saved the lives of around fifty children and young adults during the Second World War.

Baghdad or Bust(en)

It's a satirical comedy that chronicles 3 young Canadian film makers from Yellowknife as they travel from northern Canada to the middle east just as the Iraq war is erupting. As well as being very funny, it is also quite thought provoking. The trio travels through Canada, Turkey, Israel, Jordan and finally Washington DC interviewing "regular people" for their comments on the impending war. This film won best documentary at the 2003 Whistler Film Festival in Canada.

Nila's Dream in the Garden of Eden(de)

Leyla and her six-year-old daughter Nila live in the holy city of Mashhad in Iran. Nila is the result of a temporary marriage, which allows a man to marry a woman even if he is already married. Children born from such a relationship are legally non-existent. As long as the father does not recognize the child, no birth certificate can be issued and Nila cannot attend school. The documentary depicts Leyla's tireless efforts to clarify Nila's legal status in order to offer her a perspective for her future. In a never-ending bureaucratic battle, Leyla fights not only against the legal system, but also against a judgmental society.

1979: Big Bang of the Present(de)

Deng Xiaoping's economic and political opening in China. Margaret Thatcher's extreme economic measures in the United Kingdom. Ayatollah Khomeini's Islamic Revolution in Iran. Pope John Paul II's visit to Poland. Saddam Hussein's rise to power in Iraq. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The nuclear accident at the Harrisburg power plant and the birth of ecological activism. The year 1979, the beginning of the future.

Rug(fa)

In this guided tour of a unique Persian carpet, a close-up of the delicate "spine" of a tree branches out into the discovery of a fantastical world.

Coded Bias(en)

Exploring the fallout of MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini's startling discovery that facial recognition does not see dark-skinned faces accurately, and her journey to push for the first-ever legislation in the U.S. to govern against bias in the algorithms that impact us all.

The Kiwi, The Knight and the Qashqai(en)

Follows Anna Williams, an Oriental carpet repairer from New Zealand, on a pilgrimage to Iran, where she stays with the Qashqai, and then to London where she meets Sir David Attenborough to talk about the Qashqai and their traditionally woven rugs.

The Forgotten Ones(fr)

In the 1950's, Jews coming from North Africa and the Middle East settled in the newly constituted State of Israël. The Mizrahim, as their are called, were denied their right to a better life and forced to move to development towns in the Negev Desert. Today, the new generations of Mizrahim still suffer from this policy conducted 70 years ago. Michale Boganim follows the footsteps of her father, who came from Morocco and quickly became a leader of the local Israeli Black Panthers to stand against this discrimination. She embarks on a road trip through Israël's history to meet with three generation of Mizrahims.

Little Girl(fr)

7-year-old Sasha has always known that she is a girl. Sasha’s family has recently accepted her gender identity, embracing their daughter for who she truly is while working to confront outdated norms and find affirmation in a small community of rural France.

For Neda(en)

On June 20, 2009, Neda Agha-Soltan was shot and killed on the streets of Tehran during the turmoil that followed the Iranian presidential contest. Within hours, images of her dying moments, captured on cell phones, appeared on computer screens across the world, focusing the world's attention on mass protests against the rigged elections in Iran. Featuring previously unseen footage of Neda with friend and family, as well as exclusive video of her recorded the day she died, "For Neda" debuts just before the anniversary of her death.

The Queen and the Coup(en)

Planned by Britain’s MI6 and then executed by America’s C.I.A., the coup d’état which follows will destroy Iran’s last democracy, and relations between Iran and the West until the present day. Most shocking of all, the truth about Her Majesty’s role will be hidden from the Queen herself, and even the all-powerful Shah who will be used by Britain and American to replace Iran’s last democratic Prime Minister. The coup will lead to political upheaval all over the Middle East for decades to come, eventually resulting in the Islamic Revolution of 1979 which will end the reign of the Shah, and British and American influence in Iran, inspiring countless other Islamist revolutions around the world.

Iranian Taboo(fa)

Iranian Taboo tells the harrowing story of Baha'i woman Nadereh and her 14-year-old daughter who decide to sell all their belongings and leave their home in Isfahan to take refuge in the west. The film takes us across continents from Turkey to Israel and from the USA to Iran. We are given unique insights - from the underground Baha'i university (BIHE) to Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi, from the suppressed Baha'i peasants of the Ivel village in the northern province of Mazanraran to Abolhassan Banisadr, 1st president of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Two Pandemics(en)

Seven Asian-Americans discuss their experiences with racism and the spike in Asian-directed hate crimes as a result of COVID-19.