The One Who Holds Sovereignty Over Everything（English Subtitles）

Director  The Church of Almighty God
Republic of Korea
Runtime  01:26:13
Completion Date: May 15, 2018
Documentary, Experimental, Other

A profound and far-reaching choral documentary that ranges from the mysteries of the stars and the universe, to the changes in the global stage, to mankind’s existence and development to recount the wondrous deeds of the Lord of creation from ancient times until today. This is a testimony from a whole new perspective of how the Lord of creation created all that is and rules and manages all things, how He gives sustenance to and nourishes mankind, and how He promotes the course of human history.

 

The Evil Within

Director  Eduardo A Rufeisen
United States
Runtime  01:33:55
Completion Date: June 30, 2016

The documentary “The Evil Within” presents the circumstances that influences a society, a culture, and minds of the perpetrators to create a political regime capable of committing the most horrifying atrocities in the history of mankind: the Holocaust.

 

#Bicyclediary

Director  Sami Myllys
Finland
Runtime  57:04
Completion Date: January 1, 2018
Bicycle, nature, camping

Jaska Halttunen, 40-something cycling nature blogger, got a new bike some years ago and found love for cycling all over again. Soon his bike trips were longer and finally Jaska got an idea to bike the full length of Finland, from the south point of Finland in Hanko to Nuorgam, northest place in Lapland. With hardly no experience in camping he planned to pack just hammock and camp in woods. His over 2000 kilometres routeplan included trails, dirt roads and detours to Finland's most beatiful nature sigths such as caves, ravines, rapids and other impressive places. Take a deep breath and and join the adventure.

#Fillaripäiväkirja (bicycle diary) was one of the Finland 100-years anniversary projects in 2017, recognized by The Office of the President of the Finland. #Fillaripäiväkirja documentary film premiered in Finnish television early 2018 and it has allready been seen by over 100.000 viewers.

 

"Gruß vom Krampus" (Greetings from Krampus)

Director  Gabriele Neudecker
Austria
Runtime  01:38:37
Completion Date: April 23, 2018

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In German folklore, during the Christmas season, Krampus is a horned beast who punishes children who have misbehaved, in contrast with Saint Nicholas, who rewards good children with gifts.

The documentary points out why the fur covered beast Krampus is fascinating to women and men and gives a glimpse of the Krampus runs that combine male masquerade, initiation rites, mating behavior, ritual beatings and long standing tradition. Spectators, especially young women, anticipate an adrenaline rush from being hit by the strong beast. Krampus runs are considered a mirror to our society in Austria and South-Germany. (Awarded with four international prizes since the World Premiere in April 2018)
 

SKYGGER-NЕR FORTIDEN STYRER NUTIDEN.

Director  ANNE GYRITHE BONNE
Denmark
Runtime  51 min
Completion Date: 2017 - January
Documentary / Educational, History, Holocaust, Human Rights, Identity, Jewish, Justice, Politics, Religion

We all know about the failing peace process between Israel and Palestine, the settlements and the long occupation. But do we understand the obstacles to peace? The documentary 'Shadows - When the Past Rules the Present' raises the question: 'Is the fear of Holocaust the stumbling block of peace, and can the traumas of the past be broken?' The film offers unexpected insight into an influential rabbi who is building bridges to Muslims and Jihadists. A prominent politician who turned his back to power, and now is working to end the government's repression of peace. A historian who calls the government's Holocaust teaching “pure pornography” and a psychiatrist, whose work reveals the abuse of the hidden and inherited traumas in society.
As peace again collapses, the shadows of the past and present are taking over, and step by step we see the four main characters facing a reality they can't control. The documentary is a profound universal story about the shadows of the past, how they inflict our lives, countries and continents and our whole future, if we don't break or disperse them. Israel is far from the director's Scandinavian background both in the matter of conflict, traumas and religion

 

ALGANESH

Director  LIA AND MARIANNA BELTRAMI
Italy
Runtime  61 min
Completion Date: April , 2018
Documentary / African, Biography, Human Rights, Refugees, Women

'I didn't believe it until I saw it'. A sign on a wall says this, as a hundred Eritrean refugees arrive in Endabaguna collection centre in the Tigray region in Ethiopia, after traveling in an airless truck for four days.
Why do people run away? What happens before the infamous images we are shown in the West of refugees crossing the sea? An intense journey through four refugee camps for Eritreans in Ethiopia, amongst unaccompanied children, persecuted Kunamas, people who have been there for as long as 17 years. This journey will follow Dr Alganesh Fessah's work, and her commitment in securing refugee's rights and liberating kidnapped and tortured prisoners in the Sinai desert. Three protagonists: refugees; Ethiopia, a welcoming land; and Alganesh who, among despair, will tell us her hopes on the horizon

 

Essie

Director  Brook Pruitt
United States
Runtime 55:48
Completion Date: March 31, 2018

Essie Ebrahimi immigrated from Iran in the early 70s and lives in Montevallo, Alabama. He has been a woodturner since 1997. He also shares his religious experiences that are very moving and powerful. He spends months making one piece of woodwork. He has a room full of wood working pieces that have never been viewed publicly until the Fall of 2017, when he displayed his work at Orr Park for the Montevallo Bicentinneal Bash then again at a juried Art Show called the Bluff Park Art Show in Hoover, Alabama. He wins 1st place at the 54th Annual Bluff Park Art Show for his Persian pierced wood platter project. He had never participated in a juried art show and it's very unique that he won an Art Show on his very first try. His woodturning pieces are a labor of love and have many intricate details. Essie makes platters, vases, crosses, and pierces wood.


 

The Stigma?

Director  Martí Sans
Spain
Runtime 60:00:00
Completion Date: January 27, 2013
reflects on the genesis and sticking with the anti-Jewish prejudice in the current Spain and it has the participation of fifteen experts

The Stigma? is a documentary by Martí Sans that explores and reflects on the genesis and sticking with the anti-Jewish prejudice in the current Spain and it has the participation of fifteen experts. This project has involved three years of work, including a year and half research.

 

Gottscheer Homeland - The lost cultural Heritage

Director  Uros Zavodnik
Austria
Runtime 59:00
Completion Date: June 19, 2015

‘Gottscheabar Lont’ (Gottscheer Homeland) telling the story about the lost cultural heritage of the German speaking people called ‘Gottscheer’ who lived since the 13th century in the Slovene geographic area of ‘Kočevje’ (Gottschee). At the time of the II. World War, through the agreement between Nazi Germany and Fascistic Italy, they were moved from their homes and at the end of the war spread all over the world. Yet till today they preserve unique language from 13th century – the film represent the last trial to preserve the unique German language from the Middle Age called ‘Gottscheabarisch’ for the future generations of ‘Gottscheer’ as well for the world cultural heritage.

 

La Famille - one afternoon for the whole life

Director Maximiliane Nirschl
Austria
Runtime 30:00
Completion Date: November 11, 2017
Documentation, Drama, historical

Jean Pierre V. was only 10 years old when he stumbled upon the family secret for the first time. What follows are years of searching, searching for the truth about his own family’s history as well as the truth about his own roots.
“La Famille” follows the real historical events between 1914 and today, which were shaped by the Franco-German conflict of that time. It is a story about forlorn love and a scattered family in between the ups and downs of war, reconciliation and friendship.

 

Cuatro Colores

Director Aldo  Guerrero
Chile
Runtime 65 min
Completion Date: Oct 2017
Sports  Human Rights  Historical
Debut film

From Santiago to Bethlehem. From the Chilean stadiums to the Palestinian refugee camps. 4 Colores entails 100 years of history, linking landmarks of the Club Deportivo Palestino (Palestino Soccer Club) with key moments of the ocuppation process of Palestine by Israel. A different approach for a human drama that continues to happen nowadays, becoming the greatest injustice and abuse of military power worldwide.


 

MEKLETAJI

Director DIDZIS EGLITIS
Latvia
Runtime 26 min
Completion Date: 2017 - December
Documentary / Action, Adventure, Anthropology, City, Drama, Nature, Rural, Social, Water

In Latvia every day 2 people go missing. Government forces are not capable of searching for everyone. That is why Alexander founded the organisation "bezvests.lv". They search missing people. In 8 years they have found more than 90. In this movie you will be introduced to most active members, you'll see the training process and actual search missions.


 

K ́ALTIK ZAPATISTA

Director CUCHO RAMНREZ
Spain
Runtime 55 min
Completion Date: 2017 - January
Documentary / Anthropology, Feminism, History, Human Rights,

K ́altik, in Tzotzil language, means milpa. The milpa is the traditional Mesoamerican cultivation system, based on the coexistence and mutual help of several plant species, which reinforce each other. The documentary K ́altik Zapatista brings us to Chiapas, 22 years after the uprising of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, to show us some results of the planting they did with their revolution. Through a journey through the most indigenous and most discriminated state of the 32 states of the country, we know several communities and groups that adhere to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle. People who adopted, continue and reinforce the Zapatista ideas, from their struggles and with their own forms. We also briefly review the history of the EZLN, checking the validity of its proposals

 

It's Not Silence

Director Joonas Salo
Finland
Runtime 25:00
Completion Date: February 24, 2018
First-time Filmmaker

Far north, in the isles of Svalbard, is a small town called Pyramiden
that was once the finest model of communism.

Now the former home of Soviet workers is almost empty - but not completely abandoned. Every year thousands of tourists come to see the town of Pyramiden. Nine people live in Pyramiden to serve the tourists as guides, cooks and hotel employees.

The residents of Pyramiden live without Internet or telephone connections. It’s a place where one can hide from the flood of stimulus and constant messaging that surround us in the modern world - a sanctuary to find peace of mind.

It’s Not Silence is a story of people who have chosen a slower way of life. The abandoned houses filled with items from the past raise a question: what is truly worth concentrating on in our lives?

 

BÎR (WELL)

Director Veysi Altay
Turkey
Runtime 01:03:10
Completion Date: February 2, 2018

In the 1990s many people in Kurdistan were taken into custody and interrogated under torture; their killers disposed of the bodies by throwing them out of helicopters, or burying them in acid-filled wells. Thousands were murdered/disappeared by paramilitary forces—such as Jitem and Hizbul-Kontra—that were financed and supported by the state, though they have always stuck to the line: “We didn’t do it.” The documentary ‘BÎR’ looks at the case of seven people, including four children, who were disappeared from the town of Kerboran [Dargeçit] in 1995, and tells the story of their families’ tireless search for their bones.

 

THE OTHER MAGIC

Director LEANDRO BARTOLETTI
Argentina
Runtime 01:39:00
Completion Date: January 10, 2018

In the depths of the City of Buenos Aires there is a strange house, a neutral zone.

It is a refuge that is dedicated to the spiritual search.

And it is also a meeting place.
An utopia.

An energetic nucleus that is gathering people interested in Esotericism.
A space where ceremonies, rituals and performances.

This is the story of the Aurea Abbey.
This is the story of its founder, José Luis Parada, a young initiate in magical fraternities and heir of Noun-ism.
This is the story of a group of young magicians who seek the Light, traveling the path of Darkness.

The Third Reich Social Network

Director Michael Rozenshtein
Israel
Runtime 38:00
Completion Date: December 21, 2017
drama
First-time Filmmaker

Anti-Semitism is a natural phenomenon, the reverse side of one of the fundamental laws of the universe. This is how it is explained in Kabbalah. The film analyzes the growth of anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany, based on the prophecies of one of the greatest Kabbalists of the 20th century, Baal HaSulam. The plot is built around the tragic story of the sailing of the St. Louis steamship, nicknamed "The Floating of the Doomed." Thanks to an unusual form, the film contains a retelling of genuine personal stories, which undoubtedly correspond with the events we are observing today. The film uses a unique newsreel and material of numerous photo archives.

 

Leaving Memel - Refugees from the Reich

Director Fred Finkelstein
United States
Runtime 41:31
Completion Date: April 1, 2018

Three sisters, now in their 90s, reflect on their lives growing up in Lithuania amidst the turmoil of the 1930s and the changes that impacted so much of the world. .

 

Murder on the Reef

Director Allen Dobrovolsky
Australia
Runtime 31:51
Completion Date: February 28, 2018
Documentary, Adventure, Man vs Nature
First-time Filmmaker

Something felt terribly wrong when the former President of the United States pressed on his visit to Australia: “The incredible natural glory of the Great Barrier Reef is threatened!”

While politicians got into a huff, experts confirmed our worst fears: the Reef, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and a tourism haven for millions of visitors, is dying.

In environmental science and climate change circles, no part of the Earth is under a bigger microscope than the Great Barrier Reef. As it deteriorates before our eyes, panicked questions are being asked about its long-term survival.

MURDER ON THE REEF is a highly charged, thoughtful documentary asking: how did we get here? Climate change? Mining? Agriculture? Cyclones? Overfishing? Tourism? It interrogates past practices, business activities, and current government policy.
For the first time all sides of the sordid tale have their say: environmentalists, biologists, indigenous communities, coral specialists, marine experts, politicians, farmers, tourism operators, miners, fishermen, and townies.

MURDER ON THE REEF doesn’t answer all the questions, but raises new ones. Unlike any other reef documentary most of the time is on land, because this is not a nature documentary, it’s a brawl. We will almost certainly lose the Reef and this will be the climate change panacea to wake the world from its slumber.

A Thousand Years on Mount Athos

Director Daniil Syryh
Ukraine
Runtime 01:14:32
Completion Date: June 1, 2016
Documentary, Television

This is the summit of the Holy Mountain.
The sun is rising over Mount Athos - the last fragment of Byzantium, a monastic republic, the earthly abode of the Blessed Virgin.
It sounds like the whole world is being called for prayer by the bell ringing.
The prayer on the Holy Mountain has never ceased for a single minute for more than one thousand years...

To Save and Protect

Director Lusine Kolykhalina
Ukraine
Runtime 47:32
Completion Date: September 1, 2017
Documentary, Television

The picture pursues the aim of telling the viewers about a new era of persecution of Christians in the modern world. The scale of the persecution of people on religious grounds is striking. All in all, Christians are persecuted for their faith in more than 60 countries. Every month, about three hundred Christians are killed and more than 200 churches destroyed. In particular, our view is focused on the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, where dramatic events are taking place today. The Middle East is the cradle of Christianity. Here, in some locations, the language of Jesus Christ is still spoken. Iraqi and Syrian monasteries remembering apostles - the disciples of the savior, are being mercilessly turned into ruins. The entire Christian families are falling victim of the ISIS…This documentary is an attempt to answer how to save and preserve Christian civilization.

From Christmas to Baptism. Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

Director Lusine Kolykhalina
Ukraine
Runtime 50:18
Completion Date: December 27, 2017
Documentary, Television

2018 A.D. Things on the Earth have changed a lot since Mary and Joseph came to Bethlehem. But still people have charished places bearing the memoriesof the evangelical events. The audience together with the film crew will walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ's earthly path - from Christmas to Baptism in the Jordan. It is commonly believed that after a visit to the Holy Land, people begin a new life, is it true? The project "From Christmas to Baptism. Pilgrimage to the Holy Land" will give an opportunity to look at the Bible as a book that described the real historical events that took place in Judea during the earthly life of Jesus Christ.

THE CIRCLE

Director Philippa Frisby
India
Runtime 01:04:24
Completion Date: December 15, 2017
Historical, home movie, family

The Circle is a documentary film about the transformational power of yoga in treating drug addiction in the street children of Mumbai. The film focuses on the centre in Dharavi, which finds and takes in some of the most vulnerable members of society, ultimately reforming their lives.

The documentary tells the tale of four street children through their individual stories, portraying their harrowing ordeals whilst living on the streets. We hear how they fall into a cycle of addiction - one from the age of just seven - how they live out of dustbins, and survive simply by selling rubbish, using drugs to block out their inner pain.

As the film was shot organically over two years, we witness their gradual transformation: We see them going to school, forming friendships with other boys in the centre and beginning the process of rebuilding their self-esteem and hope for the future.

The film gives a vivid insight into daily life in the centre and the people who run it, some of whom were themselves street children struggling with addiction. They, like the children they look after, have managed to overcome terrible hardship to turn their life full circle and become role models for everyone afflicted by addiction. The Circle is a moving, at times disturbing, but ultimately uplifting tale of the human spirit.

A Story of the Remainders

Director Chou, Pan-Kai
Taiwan
Runtime 45:42
Completion Date: December 24, 2015
Historical, home movie, family

An ordinary military dependents' village faces the problem of an aging population, with the young moving out while the elderly staying behind to watch over their property. Some with cancer-ridden family members move back home. In 2008, when the KMT party came to power, one of the first things they did was to demolish these villages. With homes vanishing into thin air, it's as if this part of Taiwan never existed.

A Story of the Remainders is a story about life and love of a family clan. The word "Remainders" represented the first generation of immigrants who came to Taiwan after the civil war in mainland China. They settled down in Taiwan and their children and grand-children are the descendents of the "Remainders".

HOME SWEET HOME

Director Aurélien Vallotton
Switzerland    
Runtime 57 min 47 sec
Completion Date: Apr 2017
1ST TIME FILMMAKER

Lakay se Lakay, refers to the quest for roots, identity and home of Haitians returnees. This multi-faceted Haitian expression can be translated by 'Home Sweet Home'.

 

Festival

Director Anna Gawlita, Tomasz Wolski
Poland   
Runtime 1 hr 25 min
Completion Date: May 2017
Documentary, Music

There is a classical music festival going on. The camera takes a look at the backstage, captures the last rehearsals, follows the work of the technical crew, costume preparations and the banter between the signer and the pianist. The stage seems to be somewhere far away as the process of music creation and the commotion that accompanies it is more important

 

Holocaust Revisited

Director Igor Stevanovic
U S A
Runtime 17 min
Completion Date: Jan 2012
Drama

What is and what is not an artwork? How it happens in 21. century that an American artist has been sued because of his arts.

sing our song

Director Magdalena Plöchl
Austria
Runtime 1 hr 14 min
Completion Date: May 2017
Documentary, History, Biography
1ST TIME FILMMAKER

Songs and memories can be loving and painful companions. In advanced age the childhood becomes matter of interest and awareness again. The documentary 'Sing our song' gathered people and picked them up - in their childhood, in their beginnings. The film brought together senior citizens in Austria and Tel Aviv and their memories. The recollections and songs collected and documented in Austria were intertwined with those of former Viennese Jewry in Tel Aviv. The songs, poems and tales the people tell and sing point out parallels to the fate of the interviewees.
Their stories are condensed into a separate history of this generation

RIGHT THERE - SOUTH AFRICA

Director Leo Santos, Beto Chaves
Brazil
Runtime 1 hr 12 min
Completion Date: Jan 2018
1ST TIME FILMMAKER

Beto, a policeman from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, goes to South Africa trying to understand how that country managed to clean up the marks of Apartheid and what we brazilians can learn from your society.

 

rising to jerusalem

Director  Vladimir Chislensky
Kazakhstan
Runtime   10:53
Completion Date: 15.10.2017

Perhaps, the title of my film seems to be pompous to somebody. As it is spoken in Israel, we don't come or arrive to Jerusalem – we'll ascent to Jerusalem. This majestic city is situated on the peaks of the Judean Mountains. But we mean the spiritual ascent, not physical. I would present Jerusalem as the spiritual capital of the world

 

Playing Frisbee in North Korea

Director Savanna Washington
United States
Runtime 01:30:00
Completion Date: December 15, 2017
First-time Filmmaker

PLAYING FRISBEE IN NORTH KOREA is the first documentary produced and directed by an African-American female filmmaker from inside North Korea. It follows Ms. Washington’s journey inside North Korea, offering a first time glimpse into the everyday life of its people. Through interviews with North Korean refugees, long time aid workers, scholars, and experts on the topic, this documentary provides an authentic, inimitable perspective of the lives and struggles of a people.

 

Blind cinema

Director Grigory Glyants
Russian Federation
Runtime 01:25:00
Completion Date: June 2, 2017

The boat sails away from Saint Petersburg and heads to Finland. The crew is composed from sighted and blind persons. They discover new realms together. “Blind people always have to move forward, even if it is about going nowhere and entering the void”, says Oleg. “The turning points will reveal themselves anyway”. Other participants seem to agree.

 

Timeless Beauty

Director Deyan Parouchev
France
Runtime 01:25:00
Completion Date: March 31, 2018
First-time Filmmaker

What is the meaning of beauty? A journey through the contemporary world of fashion, with some of the most contradicting models from today's industry. The film explores the ever-changing concept of beauty worldwide.

 

When school broke out of prison

Director Päivi Kapiainen-Heiskanen
Finland
Runtime 59:00
Completion Date: April 30, 2017
societal documentary

This is a 60-minute documentary film about community spirit, voluntary work and a fight for the right to live in rural areas.

When the first elementary schools were started in Finland over 100 years ago, no pupil was supposed to have more than a 5-kilometer walk to the nearest school. Now children living in rural areas can expect to spend up to 2,5 hours a day at school taxis and buses. Finland has been closing its village schools since the 60s and there are no signs for the end of this process. In the same time the Finnish educational system is glorified globally.

This is the other side of the success story. A group of parents and village activists living in a village called Halmeniemi in Lakeland Finland chose to start a fight for their kids rights to go to a school close by. Prior to the school fight, activists made a successful campaign to attract new families to the village.

For the last two years (2006-2007) the school was called the Halmeniemi Free Village School and it was run on a voluntary basis. In this documentary film, a local group of activists shares their stories about finding new families, fundraising events, operating the school and efforts for obtaining an independent school status. This school fight interested researchers, journalists and sponsors. A new pedagogical invention, the pedagogy of joy for one-teacher schools, was developed by Juha Juurikkala who was teaching for two years without pay. At one point a Polish journalist came to write about "talkoot", the Finnish concept for voluntary work for your community. This encouraged a group of 8 Polish scout girls to travel by train over the Baltics to come and work for the school activists in summer 2007.

All the music was composed and performed by Lahjomattomat band that was created for the fundraising activities and recorded 3 LPs and a seperate single record. The core band consists of Vesa Vuopala who was teaching at Halmeniemi school for two years prior to the fight, an academic farmer Mika Mattila and construction engineer Tapani Heiskanen who spends his holidays at his cabin in the village.

 

Easter Island

Director De Zaklika
France
Runtime 47:00
Completion Date: February 28, 2017
First-time Filmmaker

The island hidden from the world and its post-industrial reality. Ile de Pâques is an artistic vision which tries to preserve the reality, and is like a moment frozen in the walls of small village, Brossac (Charente Sud, France), where the signs of globalization are not visible yet. There are people and their concerns. Everyday life and the past design the monolith of the surrounding world and form the consensus of individual human lives.
Poetry and music fashion a unity with nature, and ask a question: What is the meaning of hope? Time passes slowly, rhythmically metered by sunrises and sunsets. Nevertheless, the fate of the human and destiny hide individual tragedies and sorrows. Therefore, each of characters has its own and individually definition of hope. The film shows places where the spirits of the past, shown by the personalities on the screen, penetrate to the real world. Personal tragedies of principal characters are reflected in the purpose of the others, and jointly outline the new reality of the French province. There is no McDonald's, but there are several local and tourist destinations, providing the identity of culinary and life culture in France. The local inhabitants prefer inartificial answers and unaffected definitions of the reality. It embodies, however, a profound philosophy of coexistence of the man and the nature. The movie tries to conserve that time and place for future generations. Ile de Pâques brings into play an experimental form of a motion picture and narration, with the dramaturgy based on ancient canons. There are natural actors in the movie but nothing is accidental. This is the shortest review for a movie called Ile de Pâques.


 

Hero Among Us

Director Brent E Watkins
United States
Runtime 01:11:30
Completion Date: February 20, 2018

John Gualtier is living a quiet life in his hometown of Vinton, Iowa when a local schoolteacher discovers he has a secret: He is actually a decorated war hero. World War II Army Medic, Sgt. John Gualtier was a liberator of the little known Gunskirchen Lager concentration camp. Amazingly, filmmakers find a survivor of that same camp. The documentary details two separate lives that intersect at the same place and time. Though these men survived the war, could they survive the peace? For one of them, life after the war would prove just as challenging.

 

Our Lady of Altagracia

Director  Abinadab Alberto
Dominican Republic
Runtime   01:10:00
Completion Date: September 1, 2016

Our Lady of Altagracia is the first image of the Virgin brought to the western hemispheres in the early XVI Century in a Spaniard colonizing fleet; the devotion of the Holy Mother of Jesus in the Dominican Republic has been carried ever since. This documentary is about the testimonies of pilgrims; it demonstrates how a community comes together in different scenarios to worship under the same religious belief. A long-lasting tradition of more than 300 years takes place in a 5-day journey towards the sanctuary of Our Lady of Altagracia (Basilica de Higuey) at the east side of the island, pilgrims walk without rest as an act of love and devotion inviting the spectator to the path of Jesus. At the same time pilgrims in the city live the profound greatness of her love due to their endless adoration and prayers. The presence of Our lady of Altagracia can be felt everywhere accompanying the devotees of her son. The Documentary offers a story full of dynamism and profoundness, expressing joy, a feeling very characteristic of the Dominicans, transporting the spectator in a moving story shared across all social classes. This is a story about miracles; it’s about the deep feeling of love and faith the Dominicans have towards their devoted Holy Mother.

 

YALLA BABY!

Director  Victoria Schmidt, Alexander Peiler
Germany
Runtime   44:03
Completion Date: January 6, 2018
First-time Filmmaker

YALLA BABY! is a documentary on the encounter of two cultures,on ten German and Palestinian teenagers, who meet in Jenin, Palestine and their dreams and on the burning desire to finally set eyes on the sea.
They retell an old Palestinian tale, travel the West Bank, get to know the others’ foreign culture and overcome walls that seemed far too high before.

 

BEHIND THE COVE

Director Keiko Yagi
Japan
Runtime   01:45:00
Completion Date: September 4, 2015
Enveroment, Culture, Food

Rebutting the Academy Award® Winning Documentary "THE COVE".

Negative media coverage on Japan about the never-ending whaling issue prompted first-time documentary filmmaker Keiko Yagi to find out more about the topic. With no budget, limited experience in filmmaking, no fluency in English, but armed with a video camera and a strong desire to find out about the truth of the matter on whaling, I started my research.

What started out as a personal investigation triggered by childhood memories of whale meat dishes inevitably led me to the town of Taiji, the center of the whaling debate and the stage of THE COVE. What I found through my experiences there
and elsewhere was a much bigger story than I had initially imagined.

JERUSALEM VOICES

Director Marc Kornblatt
United States  
Runtime   28:00
Completion Date: September 1, 2017
Social Commentary

JERUSALEM VOICES offers an intimate look at the City of Peace, and conflict, as seen through the eyes of people who live and work there. Jewish and Muslim Israelis, Armenian and Palestinian Christians, the ultra-religious and the secular all have their say in this 28-minute documentary.

 

Unlocked: The World of Games, Revealed

Director Jeremy Snead
U S A  
Runtime   6 hr
Completion Date: Dec 2016

The revenge of a woman who believes she has met the man who had hurt her in the past

Filmed Diary of an Exile

Director  Magali Magne
France
Runtime   52:00
Completion Date: September 5, 2017
History

In 1936, following the birth of his son, Robert Bernas buys an Eumig 8mm camrecorder. Jewish and forced to flee from Vienna to Paris and then to the United States until 1947, the now amateur filmmaker documents his franco-austrian family's life as they go through dramatic events. Those powerful, joyful and inventive images tell the story of this incredible victory of life over the threats of nazism and war. Harry Bernas, Robert's son share with us the tale of this exile.  

 

A Sniper's War

Director  Olya Schechter
United States
Runtime   01:20:00
Completion Date: August 1, 2017
First-time Filmmaker

A Sniper’s War is a story of a sniper, whose anti-US views led him to join the pro-Russian rebels in the ongoing Ukrainian conflict—a primary source of tension between the United States and Russia. When social media becomes a communication platform to schedule sniper duels, Deki’s rival threatens to kill him.

The New York-based filmmaker, Olya Schechter, obtains unprecedented access to military bases and front line battles to paint an intimate portrait of the complex and fascinating nature of a man walking the tightrope that often comes to the morality of war: is Deki a solder or a killer?

 

The Silent Glow - Recovering the Present

Director  Anja Krug-Metzinger
Germany
Runtime   01:28:19
Completion Date: December 30, 2017

New forms of manipulation and the permanent inundation of stimuli from new media environments pose a great risk to children’s mental health. Unnoticed by political institutions, society has long since started to respond. A secular culture of consciousness is arising: meditation and new forms of resilience and mindfulness training have formed part of the curriculum in many of Europe’s schools for some time now. The French Football Federation, for example, was the first governing sports body in the world to include “consciousness” and “self-awareness” as a central component of its training programme.

The film shows the experiences that children and teenagers – many from refugee and migrant families – have had in training programmes that combine classical mindfulness meditation, social self-experience and body awareness with schooling in a global perspective and with activism. Can openness, compassion and an ethical attitude in children be increased by mental training? The film also offers unusual insights into current scientific research programmes at the Max-Planck Institute in Leipzig, where one of the world’s largest studies of various forms of mental training was conducted.

A cultural movement rooted both in antiquity and in the spiritual traditions of Asia is now irrevocably experiencing a real renaissance: a new culture of consciousness is arising at the moment in many places in Europe: at the same time, secular mindfulness practice is finding its way into our education system in many places. Can systematic inner development genuinely enable young people to take responsibility – for their own lives, for society and for the world?

 

Damascus Steel

Director  Jaan Kolberg
Estonia
Runtime   1 hr 18 min
Completion Date: Apr 2017

The film's main character is Taimo Kõrvermaa, a blacksmith nicknamed Sepa Tom (Tom Blacksmith), who is also called Damascus as he is one of few craftsmen in Estonia who has the skills for forging a sword made of Damascus steel.
The foundation of the film is the blacksmith creating a sword, ordered by the Estonian Neopagans, from beginning to end. In parallel, we will explore the life of the smith, who grew from a thieving orphanage child into a craftsman.

 

"The Reality Behind What We See" ~The Poet, Yoshimasu Gozo, in Kyoto~

Director  HARUO INOUE
Japan
Runtime   1 hr 47 min
Completion Date: Feb 2018
History, Biography

78-year-old Gozo Yoshimasu is Japan’s most reknowned poet. Yoshimasu began composing in his twenties and has since been on the cutting edge of contemporary poetry for the past sixty years. Contemporary Japan seems to be hanging onto the back of a dragon as politics reeks of war, radiation, tsunami, and earthquakes. . . Yoshimasu, who witnessed the devastation caused by the massive tsunami of the Great Earthquake of 2011, was at a loss for words upon seeing the impact of “water” strip everthing away.After the earthquake, and as if dismantling his own “framework of the mind,” Yoshimasu began to cut out words, ruled lines, and notes of all sizes and shapes he kept in his “diary.” He then started to paste Japanese and manuscript paper together to make one large piece of paper, and with pencil and pen, words and colors, wrote whatever what was on his mind onto that paper, collaging onto the paper mailed letters he had received that day. By further adding more color to his work, a new styled diary was born. This was his new “poetry.”Yoshimasu doesn’t simply “write.” He turns on a lamp, burns an incense, plays a cassette tape, and listens to himself “chanting” . . . At times he is blindfolded and at other times he listens to the sound of a rock, pouring ink onto paper. . .

 

Bill Evans Time Remembered

Director  Bruce Spiegel
United States
Runtime   01:27:00
Completion Date: November 4, 2015

Bill Evans Time Remembered is a 90-minute documentary film, produced by Bruce Spiegel which tells the story of Bill Evans’ turbulent life and his contribution to jazz music. The film was self-funded by the producer who traveled and interviewed approximately 40 people over a 7 year period of time. Several well renowned musicians are included in the film including Tony Bennett, Dr. Billy Taylor, singer Jon Hendricks, and jazz pianist Bill Charlap. The film also compiles a wide range of historical information about the jazz pianist including his first TV recording which appeared on CBS Look Up and Live in April 1958, playing Come Rain or Come Shine.

 

Lviv - Israel 2018

Director  Sashko Balabai, Sergiy Talochko
Ukraine
Runtime   24:24
Completion Date: December 26, 2017

Lviv – Israel 2018
There were interviews with Jewish people from Lviv, photos of their youth and videos of their being nowadays. These people have been living in Lviv for all their lives – and they`re of the same age as Israel. But only a few of them had an opportunity to visit this country, others are still dreaming to do that. Each of the individuals tells us his personal thoughts about Israel and his Jewish life in Lviv. There were used an experimental drama technique at that film, so you couldn`t meet there any standard elements as a main hero, plot, conflict, so on. Audience can try to find the main idea of the film for own taste. But in general the plotline one can compare to turning over the pages of the old photograph album. Both the film atmosphere and dialogues content are making the basement for meditation and retrospection.

 

Beyond the border the story of Ettore Castiglioni

Director  Andrea Azzetti, Federico Massa
Italy
Runtime   01:06:00
Completion Date: January 18, 2017

The story of mountaineer Ettore Castiglioni (1908-1944) relives through the words of his diary. From a young boy coming from a good family, restless and solitary, a lover of arts and music, to lieutenant and then partisan escorting refugees and Jews safely from Italy to the Swiss border. A journey suspended between past and present, through witnesses and documents that try to shine a light on the mountaineer’s death. His diary ends at March 1944. Castiglioni did not want to leave trace of what happened. After entering Switzerland under false identity, he is arrested in Maloja (Grisons); his clothes and boots are confiscated and he is locked in a room at the hotel Longhin. During the night, he climbs out of the window and faces the Forno glacier wearing only a blanket. His frozen body was later found a few meters over the Italian border. What pushed him to try an impossible escape? And what was his mission in Switzerland? The deeper meaning of his gesture seems to call back to a romantic idea of mountaineering and the need for absolute freedom.