Heavy Heart(2017)

'Are'are Music(en)

A documentary about the traditional music of the 'Are'are people of the Solomon Islands.

Carmen(fi)

A documentary about a young Finnish Romany Carmen, 11, who lives with her grandmother and aunt in the suburb of a small town in Northern Finland.

Amir: An Afghan Refugee Musician's Life in Peshawar, Pakistan(en)

Amir, shot during the height of the Afghan civil war in the 1980s, investigates and portrays the life of Afghan refugees living in and around the city of Peshawar in northern Pakistan through the experiences of the musician Amir. The aspirations of Afghan refugees are expressed through their political songs dealing with the civil war in Afghanistan, with exile, with Afghan nationalism and with the Islamic revolution. In highly charged and tragic circumstances, music can be used in very direct ways, both to promote solidarity and as an agent of catharsis.

Acasă, My Home(ro)

In the wilderness of the Bucharest Delta, nine children and their parents lived in perfect harmony with nature for 20 years – until they are chased out and forced to adapt to life in the big city.

The Concert for Bangladesh(en)

A film about the first benefit rock concert when major musicians performed to raise relief funds for the poor of Bangladesh. The Concert for Bangladesh was a pair of benefit concerts organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. The shows were held at 2:30 and 8:00 pm on Sunday, 1 August 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, to raise international awareness of, and fund relief for refugees from East Pakistan, following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide.

Soldiers of Song(en)

Ukrainian musicians of all genres, from metal to opera, transform their passion for music into devotion to their country in this moving documentary. Beginning on the very first day of the Russian invasion, Soldiers of Song documents how the lives of its cast of Ukrainian musicians have irrevocably changed and how they use their musical talents to support themselves and their communities. Using shocking footage from the frontlines, this film reminds us not only of the ongoing tragedies that continue to happen during this war, but also of the resilience of Ukraine and its cultural forces. Here music functions not only to lift the spirits of the soldiers, but also as a cultural export to raise awareness of the war, a tool for raising humanitarian and military funds, and a valuable cultural artifact for everyday Ukrainians to rally around and protect. The musician’s commitment to their craft reminds us of the real power art has and the impact of beauty under catastrophic circumstances.

Концерт(ru)

Beyond the Forest: Hungarian Music in Transylvania(en)

The dance house movement, which (illegally) brought folk music from the minority Hungarian Gypsies and peasants of Transylvania - now part of Romania - to Budapest, and its effect on views of the value of traditional culture.

Silent Night: A Song for the World(de)

This documentary tells the story of the creation and cultural impact of the world's most famous Christmas carol, composed in 1818 in Salzburg, Austria, and since then translated into about 140 languages.

The Third End of the Stick(sk)

Otherness in otherness. What does it mean to be different in a community that is itself excluded from society? The documentary follows the fate of Roma who have become a minority in a minority society. Roma gays and transvestite search for their living space and dream of working abroad. A legless father of five longs for a wheelchair. A Roma grandmother sacrifices her life for the health of her beloved grandson. Will Emil, a Roma man who has found faith in God, be able to save his son from alcohol? Four stories from the poorest Roma settlements in Slovakia aim to break down prejudices between the Roma community and the white majority.

Lio(fr)

Je m'appelle Régine et je vous emmerde !(fr)

Sufi, Saint & Swinger(en)

The tragic story of an American music virtuoso who found in 1970s Iran the love and acceptance he never received back home, and who was punished by his country upon his return after the Iranian revolution.

Atumpan: The Talking Drums of Ghana(en)

This classic documentary features the story and sounds of the talking master drums of the Ashanti. Filmed in Ghana and narrated by Mantle Hood

Zucchero | Sugar Fornaciari(en)

The documentary film tells the story of Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari through his words and those of colleagues and friends such as Bono, Sting, Brian May, Paul Young, Andrea Bocelli, Salmo, Francesco Guccini, Francesco De Gregori, Roberto Baggio, Jack Savoretti, Don Was, Randy Jackson and Corrado Rustici. A journey of the soul which, thanks to images coming from Zucchero's private archives and from the "World Wild Tour", his last and triumphant world tour, goes beyond the portrait of a successful musician reaching into the doubts and fragilities of 'man.

The Drunkmen’s Marseillaise(es)

In the summer of 1961, a group of young Italian anthropologists made a clandestine journey through Spain, in order to record popular songs that supported anti-Franco resistance. As a result of their work, they were prosecuted and their recordings were censored. Sixty years later, and guided by Emilio Jona, aged 92, the last living member of that group of travellers, we recover the unpublished recordings and reconstruct the journey, today, across an emotional and political landscape, regaining historical memories through these songs, as relevant today as they were then.

Dajori(cs)

The protagonist of Dajori (mother in Romani) is forty-five-year-old Marie Hučková, who lives with her husband in Varnsdorf. After her younger sister Iveta ends up on the streets with her nine children, she decides to take her own fate and theirs firmly into her own hands and attempts to break out of the vicious circle of poverty that characterises their hometown. This sensitive film, which captures three years of a newly formed family's life together, follows the small joys and daily challenges of caring for others and asks whether a mother's love can overcome the dysfunctional system in which socially excluded localities find themselves.

O Baripen(sk)

The TV biopic maps the fate of Roma writer Elena Lackova in an intimately personal way. As viewers, thanks to the author's authentic voiceover and preserved archive footage, we delve into her memories of the Holocaust and the communist dictatorship in the context of the play Burning Gypsy Camp. We uncover the circumstances of growing up in a gypsy settlement, her first literary achievements, and her struggle to combine her personal and professional life. We also get to know her life story through her great-granddaughter and actress Alžbeta Ferencova, known as Zea or the serial Iveta (dir. Jan Hřebejk, 2022). The parallel between the life of the writer and that of her great-granddaughter, who also embarked on an artistic career and broke down stereotypes about the role of Roma women in society, creates a timely and transferable story. A crucial motif of the poetic film is also the unprecedented emancipation of the writer for the time.

Gershwin's Summertime: The Song That Conquered the World(en)

The song "Summertime" was written by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward and although not thought to be directly involved, Ira Gershwin gets an official credit. The song soon developed a life of it's own beyond the original opera and has been recorded and adapted into many different styles of music from jazz to opera, rock to reggae, soul to samba. It has been recorded and performed in many different languages around the world and remains one of the most famous and best loved songs ever written. This documentary looks at its history, how it came to be created, and its subsequent history as it traveled through time and around the world. "Summertime" is the most covered song on the planet. At least 25,000 versions of it exist.

All My Love(en)