Secrets and mysteries lose power when they are spread too widely. This is what the villagers discover when they invade an old man's vision-inspired shrine to the namelessly holy.
Darvish Khan Esfandiarpoor
as Himself
Wolves divide and fascinate us. 150 years after they were driven to extinction in Central Europe, they are returning slowly but inexorably. Are they dangerous to humans? Is it possible to coexist? Using Switzerland as a point of departure, where wolves have returned in the very recent past, this documentary sheds light on the wolf situation in Austria, eastern Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, and even Minnesota, where freely roaming packs of wolves are more common sight.
Out of State is the unlikely story of native Hawaiians men discovering their native culture as prisoners in the desert of Arizona, 3,000 miles, and across the ocean, from their island home.
An ethnographic documentary following four Ju/’hoansi (!Kung) men during a multi-day giraffe hunt in the Kalahari Desert, filmed during the Smithsonian–Harvard Peabody expedition of 1952–53.
In the Sardinian town of Tonara, where the ancient art of crafting cowbells teeters on the edge of extinction, a family battles to preserve their heritage, passing down skills to a new generation while grappling with personal struggles and the pull of modernity. English subtitles.
When a Mongolian nomadic family's newest camel colt is rejected by its mother, a musician is needed for a ritual to change her mind.
In late August 2016, the band of Floating Points travelled to the Mojave desert to rehearse and record before their tour of the Southern states of America. Whilst visiting Joshua Tree national park, they were struck not only by its physical beauty, but also of the sonic reflections from the rock formations. A unique sound of reverb, echo and phase shifting modulating the sound from its surroundings.They took advantage of this environment to write and record some new music at the base of some of these natural sculptures which was documented in this short film.
In 1950, the explorer Roger Frison-Roche made a crossing of more than a thousand kilometers on the back of a camel with the photographer Georges Tairraz II, in the heart of the Sahara, from Hoggar then Djanet in Algeria to Ghat in Libya. From their journey they brought back a large number of color films and documents. Among thousands of photos, they selected 47 images which reflect the various aspects of these immense spaces which occupy a third of Africa in the book "The Great Desert". “The Great Desert, 1000 kilometers on camelback” is the eponymous 85-minute documentary of this epic, released in 1950.
After reading I Am the Sultan of the Law of Existence by Youssef Idris, a five-day journey through Egypt’s Western Desert, traveling from north to south., covering 2,800 km and shooting for 35 hours, the expedition became both physical and existential. The desert’s vastness and silence echo the text’s meditation on the relationship between man, nature and the universe, transforming the landscape into an active force that reshapes perception and confronts the nature of existence.
A couple of artists travels through the Mexico desert to present their puppet show.
If you think Burning Man is all about naked dancers tripping on substances, think again. This debut documentary by Renea Roberts takes an intelligent and thoughtful look at how the promotion of a gift economy ethic influences a host of social elements. The focus is on community and the power of gifting.
As a child in Burkina Faso, Yacouba was sent away from home to study the Qur'an, where he and his classmates were almost starving. The young boys would trek across miles of wilderness, only to fall and beg at a straw hut for meagre rations. It is from this harsh background that the young farmer became determined to develop techniques that would bring exhausted soil back into production. His efforts have outdone the work of the world's leading scientists and technological advances costing millions of pounds. They may also yet prove crucial to the future of the world's rapidly growing population and global food demands.
Beyond the sprawl of the urban jungle, 150 race teams meet to do battle in the heart of the Mojave Desert in southern California. The format is "run what ya brung" Unlimited 4 Wheel Drive Racing, and the stakes are higher than ever. Only 20% of the teams that take the green flag will make it to the end, the remainder being left strewn across the desert floor in the wake of one of the hardest off road races on the planet, the King of the Hammers. Follow teams in 'Element of Survival' as they set out to conquer harsh desert at speeds in excess of 100mph, as well as some of the hardest rock crawling North America has to offer, all in an effort to be crowned "King" at the setting of the sun.
Survival! is a 22-minute, Alan Madison-directed instructional wilderness survival film focusing on safety techniques. It is often described as a surprisingly cinematic, educational piece. Four scenarios depict the dangers of hyperthermia and hypothermia and how common sense, being prepared and following a few important tips can save your life: Scenario 1: A fisherman falls in icy water and suffers from hypothermia. Scenario 2: An unprepared family hikes into the mountains and is surprised by a sudden change in the weather. Scenario 3: A couple guys make multiple mistakes in the desert and experience the consequences. Scenario 4: A hunter gets lost in the forest during a winter storm.
In 1980, Jack Shae and Allen Moore, two ethnographic filmmakers from Harvard University, moved their families to the island of Berneray in the Outer Hebrides. Over the course of 18 months they documented the everyday lives and struggles of the crofters they lived among, whom were even then a vanishing breed. The film is in English and Gaelic. This carefully observed documentary by filmmakers Jack Shae and Allen Moore is a poetic ethnographic film in the style of their mentor, Robert Gardner (“Dead Birds”). It follows the rhythm of life on a wind-swept island in the Outer Hebrides through the four seasons and in the filmmakers’ observation of the day-to-day struggles of a vanishing society we see the deep-time legacy of their kind. The film is in English and Gaelic.
A Mexican boy without young neighbors to play with, befriends a diverse group of desert animals.
At once a vast expanse of mesmerizing desolation and the crucible of human history, the Sahara Desert has been both the battlefield of empires and the haunted wilderness at the margins of the known world for thousands of years. Shot on location, this exhilarating documentary brings to life the Sahara’s cruel history and the conflicts that still plague its people. THE SAHARA recounts the story of kings who once led caravans of 30,000 people across the desert, bearing riches beyond imagination. It tells of Roman death squads that exterminated the citizens of the Empire’s most bitter rival and how the Foreign Legion crafted a legend out of last stands and lost causes. From the fabled metropolis of Timbuktu to the shores of Tripoli, THE SAHARA is an illuminating exploration of this unforgiving and remote land of myth and mirage.
For the last twelve years, Marisela and Ely, along with the volunteer group The Águilas del Desierto have roamed the US-Mexico desert. Their goal: to seek, find and return to their families the bodies of migrants who died while crossing on foot. This all-consuming calling takes a crushing toll on them, but how could they stop? Spare My Bones, Coyote! follows their work, dedication, and difficult lives they have chosen to live.
In 2016, videos showing the slaughter conditions of farm animals shocked the public opinion, who quickly forgot about them. With complicit gaze, Elsa Maury films a young shepherd’s relationship of co-dependence with her flock of ewes, which she must learn to slaughter under the best possible conditions.