The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger

Harmonies of Paris

Harmonies de Paris, restored by the Cinémathèque Française in the 1990s, was shot entirely on panchromatic film and was meant to be a documentary tour of Paris in thirteen thematic chapters. The subject is a tourist group arriving in the French capital by airplane, which explains the many shots of monuments and other canonical places.

A Normal Life. Chronicle of a Sumo Wrestler

The diary of Takuya Ogushi, a 18 years old Japanese, who begins his new life as a sumo wrestler.

Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker

Bayou Maharajah explores the life and music of New Orleans piano legend James Booker, the man Dr. John described as "the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced." A brilliant pianist, his eccentricities and showmanship belied a life of struggle, prejudice, and isolation. Illustrated with never-before-seen concert footage, rare personal photos and exclusive interviews, the film paints a portrait of this overlooked genius.

The Punk Singer

A look at the life of activist, musician, and cultural icon Kathleen Hanna, who formed the punk band Bikini Kill and pioneered the "riot grrrl" movement of the 1990s.

Reflections

Director Sara Broos examines the relationship between herself and her mother, painter Karin Broos.

The 3 Rooms of Melancholia

A searing examination of the unrelenting Chechen conflict, observed through the prisms of a Russian military boys academy, a war-torn town and a children's refugee camp.

The Only Son

Pema, 19, is supposed to marry a girl from home, a Nepali Himalayan village at an altitude of 13,000 feet. Pema grew up in a Kathmandu orphanage as poverty and illness forced his parents to give most of their 6 children away. Today, the unusual family is scattered around the globe. It would be the only son's duty to tend to the family home in the mountains. But Pema wants to study abroad, and live a modern life.

Cavaliers Seuls

Poundmaker's Lodge: A Healing Place

Just north of the City of Edmonton lies Poundmaker’s Lodge, an addiction and mental-health facility specializing in treatment for Indigenous people. Founded in 1973 and still operational today, the Lodge’s programs and services are Indigenous-run and based in culturally appropriate recovery and healing techniques. Framing the short documentary with the words of the great Plains Cree Chief Pîhtokahanapiwiyin (Poundmaker), Alanis Obomsawin presents a frank examination of the root causes of substance abuse in Indigenous communities and how the absence of love and support – exacerbated by the impacts of colonialism and racism – created a legacy of alcoholism for some individuals. Through searing and emotional testimonies of people in the Lodge, this work presents portraits of courage and perseverance, and hope for future generations.

Best Kept Secret

A Newark, New Jersey high school teacher struggles to prepare her students with autism to survive in the brutal world that awaits them once they graduate.

Dirt

This feature documentary is an exploration of the concept of dirt and impurity. From the slums of Kolkata to Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to a barbeque joint in Central Texas, Dirt digs deep into the webs of meaning and feeling attached to that deceptively simple 4-letter word. An odyssey into all things unclean, the film features animation to make Hieronymus Bosch blush and music from Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Fortini/Cani

The film is a sort of presentation of Franco Fortini's book 'I Cani del Sinai'. Fortini, an Italian Jew, reads excerpts from the book about his alienation from Judaism and from the social relations around him, the rise of Fascism in Italy, the anti-Arab attitude of European culture. The images, mostly a series of Italian landscape shots, provide a backdrop that highlights the meaning of the text. - Fabrizio Sabidussi

Bathing Babies in Three Cultures

This short ethnographic film presents a comparative study of infant bathing practices in three cultural settings: Bali, Iatmul communities along the Sepik River in New Guinea, and the United States. Through observational sequences, the film documents differing methods of mother–child interaction, caregiving routines, and degrees of maternal protection, situating everyday domestic practices within broader patterns of cultural socialization.

Sex Story: Fifty Shades of Grey

A look at the phenomenal success of novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.

The War Show

A Syrian radio DJ documents the experiences of herself and her friends as their dreams of overthrowing their elected government give way to the grim realities of sectarian death squads and extremism.