Village of Women

Leninland

At the peak of Perestroika, in 1987, in the village of Gorki, where Lenin spent his last years, after a long construction, the last and most grandiose museum of the Leader was opened. Soon after the opening, the ideology changed, and the flow of pilgrims gradually dried up. Despite this, the museum still works and the management is looking for ways to attract visitors. Faithful to the Lenin keepers of the museum as they can resist the onset of commercialization. The film tells about the modern life of this amazing museum-reserve and its employees.

Armenia, My Home

Experience spectacular aerial and ground views and cultural revelations of a country like no other in a virtual tour of Mount Ararat, Khor Virap, Yerevan, the Genocide memorial, and more. Narrated by Andrea Martin, the documentary features prominent voices from the Armenian diaspora including Eric Bogosian, Chris Bohjalian, Peter Balakian, Michael Aram, and others.

The Russian Revolution

Starting in 1881 this film shows the personal battle between Lenin's Ulyanov family and the royal Romanovs that eventually led to the Russian revolution.

Europe by Bidon

Biodun is Nigerian. In this animated documentary, he tells the story of his journey on foot from Lagos to Paris, how he survives with a container (un bidon) and thanks to his courage. With his amazing patter, he transforms the events into extraordinary adventures.

Imitating Life - The Audacity of Suzanne Heintz

Satirical artist and art director, Suzanne Heintz, adopted her fake family more than 15 years ago to challenge persisting stereotypes about women's lives.

Russia's Mystery Files

The Soviet Union was a sinister world. Now the Iron Curtain has fallen, and for the first time we can investigate those rumours.

The Son

In 2013, Dima Ilukhin, the cousin of the film’s director and a soldier in the Russian army, died on duty in the Republic of Dagestan in the North Caucasus. He was 21 years old. This incident marks the starting point for Abaturov’s reflection on the military. He films the training of new recruits in Siberia, as they bid farewell to their mothers and girlfriends, learn the mechanics of a Kalashnikov, or how to throw a hand grenade and administer first aid. While his parents try to cope with their loss, Dima’s former fellow recruits have to return to battle.

Alexeï Guerman, cinéaste bien interdit

This film was broadcast on La Sept in October 1990 as a part of Hélène Mochiri's Cinéma de poche program devoted to Soviet cinema. The documentary was produced in-house at La Sept and based on an exclusive interview with Alexei Guerman in May of that year. It has not been seen since.

Aleya

An intimate close-up on Aleya, a trans woman who has recently moved from Cairo to germany right after her transition. This portrait marks her first year as a woman, having to cope with the loss of loved ones, family disownment, hormonal and psychological turmoil. She shares intimate stories, anecdotes and poems that document her transition.

On Putin's Blacklist

Traces the new Cold War between Russia and the West from the ban on American citizens adopting Russian children to the Kremlin’s anti-LGBTQ campaign, which positions the international marriage equality movement as a national threat.

Es geht um Alles

Rich Hall's Red Menace

2019 marks the 30th year since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. Rich Hall examines the relationship between the West and the USSR in his inimitable fashion.

From Atatürk to Erdoğan: Building a Nation

Turkey's history has been shaped by two major political figures: Mustafa Kemal (1881-1934), known as Atatürk, the Father of the Turks, founder of the modern state, and the current president Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan, who apparently wants Turkey to regain the political and military pre-eminence it had as an empire under the Ottoman dynasty.

Tripping with Zhirinovsky

A candid, fly-on-the-wall BBC television documentary portrait of Russian Nationalist politician, Vladimir Zhirinovsky. The film shows the leader on a cruise surrounded by two hundred supporters getting plenty of media attention in New York. We are left with the nagging question: to what extent is Zhirinovsky really dangerous? To take that further, to what extent are populist politicians truly dangerous?

The Exiles

During the 1965 mass killings to eliminate the Indonesian Communist Party, the new regime banned scholars in the Soviet Union and China, forcing them into exile across Europe. This documentary follows those displaced individuals as they navigate the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Sweden, Germany, and Indonesia, reflecting on the traumatic events that uprooted their lives.

...and They Lived Happily Ever After

A group of young girls and married women express their views of marriage and motherhood while glossy advertisements extolling romance, weddings, and babies flash across the screen in contrast to their words. Could the solution to dashed expectations be as simple as growing up before marriage? Part of the Challenge for Change program.

Traits

Five women tell stories about scars they have on their bodies and share the process of self-acceptance that goes beyond their own traits.

The Island

Dos Islas is a poetic story about old age, family and the bond between a granddaughter and a grandmother. The woman, who just turned 102, tells stories about her past and childhood. In a literary and visual way she describes the most minute details. The film dazzles the viewer with love and optimism, the time passes slowly between the two islands, which might be real people, real places or the products of the main character’s imagination.

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