HUMAN INTEREST

  • THE PRESIDENTS’ TAILOR – FROM AUSCHWITZ TO THE WHITE HOUSE

    THE PRESIDENTS’ TAILOR – FROM AUSCHWITZ TO THE WHITE HOUSE

    Martin Greenfield survived the Holocaust to become America’s most celebrated tailor. Now, at 92, his legacy is at stake. Can his sons Jay and Tod modernise their father’s bespoke menswear empire without sacrificing his legendary craftsmanship?

  • UNKNOWN KARELIA

    UNKNOWN KARELIA

    Forests and tens of thousands of lakes – that’s Karelia, a region in north-eastern Europe. Part of it belongs to Finland, a larger part, known as the Republic of Karelia, belongs to Russia. Only seven percent of the inhabitants identify as Karelians, the majority are Russians. Many Karelians are concerned about the survival of their culture and fight to keep it alive.

  • WOMEN OF ISLAM

    WOMEN OF ISLAM

    Can feminism be Islamic? The role of women in Islam is a constant subject of controversy. We introduce female scholars of Islam, artists and authors who have set themselves the goal of finding their own path to emancipation.

  • MUAY THAI – STRONG WOMEN, TOUGH FISTS

    MUAY THAI – STRONG WOMEN, TOUGH FISTS

    Muay Thai: the martial art of the kings. In Thailand this popular national sport is still a male preserve. However, more and more young girls and women aspire to a professional career in the ring and are questioning centuries-old traditions. They call for social change, insisting that Thai boxing is a sport for everyone.

  • LOST IN FACE

    LOST IN FACE

    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.

  • THE ART OF LIVING IN DANGER

    THE ART OF LIVING IN DANGER

    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.

  • SPIRITS I’VE CALLED – THE JOURNEY OF STEEL

    SPIRITS I’VE CALLED – THE JOURNEY OF STEEL

    Gigantic opencast mines in Brazil, Europe’s biggest steel mill in southern Italy and landscape parks in western Germany: exploitation and pollution on the one hand, slow recovery from decades of industrial use on the other. The film gives an idea of the massive impact of the global steel industry on people and the environment

  • THE INVISIBLE GIRL

    THE INVISIBLE GIRL

    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.

  • TRANSYLVANIA – THE CLOSED WORLD OF THE GABOR

    TRANSYLVANIA – THE CLOSED WORLD OF THE GABOR

    The Romanian village of Karácsonyfalva in legendary Transylvania is the centre of the Gabor community. Largely shielded from the outside world, they have held on to their customs and rituals for 500 years. Considered the aristocrats among the Roma, most Gabor are Adventists. We provide a first glimpse of their closed world.

  • NEPAL – SO CLOSE TO HEAVEN

    NEPAL – SO CLOSE TO HEAVEN

    A land where primeval forests meet mountain deserts, with both tropical regions and icy peaks. One of the poorest countries in the world and yet a magical, mystical place, realm of the gods and a spiritual paradise. A journey to discover Nepal’s natural beauty and the people who make their lives in this harsh and remote setting.

  • THE SECOND LIFE

    THE SECOND LIFE

    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.

  • ART COMES FROM THE BEAK THE WAY IT HAS GROWN

    ART COMES FROM THE BEAK THE WAY IT HAS GROWN

    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.