Carlotta cannot see faces, not even her own. For her, human faces are no bastion of trust, but places of fear and confusion. Filmmaker and neuroscientist Valentin Riedl travels through Carlotta’s universe, full of anthropomorphic animals, lucid dreams and bumpy false paths. Her never-ending search for answers leads her to art—and thus an avenue to her own face and back to humanity.
This author-driven documentary starts with the personal story of Mina, the director of the film. She unveils a family secret by telling the story of her grandmother, a woman she never met who died under mysterious circumstances. Her personal story and other women who share their experiences shows how Iran’s patriarchal system instils fear in women in public spaces and in the home.
A 14-year old Moroccan girl, Fatima Osaadan, is tortured to death by the family she was working for as a housemaid. We enter the background of a cruel murder and give an insight into Moroccan society from two opposing perspectives: The archaic, penurious world from which the young servants come and the world of the urban social climbers.
We accompany one of the world’s most renowned transgender surgeons and his patients, each of them in a different stage of their gender reassignment. What makes people set off on this journey despite all the pain and unresolved questions? A film full of feeling that lets us experience the full spectrum and radicalness of this transition.
Prosperity on the one side, misery on the other: just how directly the two can be connected comes to light in Luzia Schmid’s film about the meteoric rise of her hometown of Zug upon becoming a tax haven.
The story of a rural Jewish family in Germany that was torn apart, its members forced into hard labour, deported and finally murdered. We trace the steps of their destruction, from mere harassment to crimes beyond comprehension. The film takes us to where the Holocaust unfolded: Auschwitz as well as Kaunas and Treblinka.
The distance between human and nature, which leads us to make catastrophic miscalculations in how we treat our environment, can be overcome with the help of preserved animal specimens. This is the conviction of the three taxidermists we accompany as they prepare for the European Taxidermy Championships.
At the Mosaik art studio in Berlin, artists with disabilities are absorbed in their work. Filmmaker Sabine Herpich observes the artists in the course of creation and directs her gaze at the institution itself: its processes, staff and spaces. The film succeeds in maintaining its focus on the art itself rather than the handicaps of its creators.
From the perspective of his son Jiří Mucha, the film tells the story of Czech artist Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939), one of the pioneers of the Art Nouveau movement. Featuring previously unpublished letters and diary entries, the film creates an intense and intimate atmosphere that takes audiences back to Mucha’s world.
A story about a man who dedicated his life to preserving the Church but instead led it into its greatest crisis: Pope Benedict XVI. After the worldwide sexual abuse scandal became public, Benedict resigned in 2013. An analysis of the failings of an institution that believes in absolute truth as it struggles to come to terms with modern democratic society.
Julia is born in a Russian prison. The film follows the girl’s development from the first year of her life until after she turns seven. Three women take it in turns to look after her. They all want the best for Julia, but they don’t always agree on what that actually means…
What happens within our system of values when economic interests and people’s lives become intertwined through tragedy?
