An experimental look at the origin of the death myth of the Chinookan people in the Pacific Northwest, following two people as they navigate their own relationships to the spirit world and a place in between life and death.
Jordan Mercier
as Self
Sweetwater Sahme
Sky Hopinka
as Narrator (voice)
Debunking the mythology surrounding the 16th century French prophet, Nostradamus.
Sean and Adrian, a Two-Spirit couple, are determined to rewrite the rules of Native American culture through their participation in the “Sweetheart Dance.” This celebratory contest is held at powwows across the country, primarily for heterosexual couples … until now.
Western culture treats mental disorders primarily through biomedical psychiatry, but filmmakers Phil Borges and Kevin Tomlinson reveal a growing movement of professionals and survivors who are forging alternative treatments that focus on recovery and turning mental “illness” into a positive transformative experience.
Documentary that accompanies the exchange between the mestizo urban artist Xadalu and the filmmaker of the Mbya Guarani ethnic group Ariel Kuaray Ortega. As part of his artistic quest, Xadalu goes on an immersion in Guarani territory, accompanied by Ariel. While traveling between villages, Xadalu transforms his experiences into art. After this period, Xadalu travels spreading his work through the streets of several cities. Ariel accompanies him filming wherever they go. Xadalu introduces Ariel to a new world: the world of street art. United in the same fight for the indigenous cause, Xadalu and Ariel cross over for special places and experiences, while their relationship evolves and changes.
Four experts in different areas such as religion, philosophy and thanatology, share their wisdom when it comes to death.
Istanbul: Chronopolis is an experimental documentary that explores the city as a living organism where the linear flow of time is disrupted and the past and future coexist. Structured around a thematic cycle of birth, speed, and decay, the film uses rhythmic visuals and archival footage to bridge temporal gaps. Through a fourteen-minute mathematical edit, it replaces linguistic narrative with the evocative language of time-lapse and slow-motion cinematography. The project invites the audience to transcend chronological time and experience Istanbul as an eternal moment—an entity existing solely within its own timeless cycle.
The story of Hitler’s final hours told by people who were there. This special features exclusive forgotten interviews, believed lost for 65 years, with members of Hitler’s inner circle who were trapped with him in his bunker as the Russians fought to take Berlin. These unique interviews from figures such as the leader of the Hitler Youth Artur Axmann and Hitler’s secretary Traudl Junge, have never before been seen outside Germany. Using rarely seen archive footage and dramatic reconstruction, this special tells the story of Adolf Hitler’s final days in his Berlin bunker.
Filmmakers Sam and Amy journey into rural Australia to explore how the legacy of an American legend has transmitted and warped itself over time, and across the globe, resulting in the 30th annual Parkes Elvis Festival.
Having lost her memory, A. could barely recall glimpses of her childhood in Argentina. After her death, her son visits the empty house for the last time. A sensory journey through a house without objects but filled with memory.
It is the story of an encounter, that of two men, that of a coffin meeting its hearse, of death inviting itself into life or perhaps of life inviting itself into death. This encounter follows an advert on Leboncoin: “Solid oak coffin, varnished. Excellent condition. Large size. Its particularitý is to have the place for the legs embedded. It is not padded inside. Does not fit in an oven, hearse or traditional vault. Difficulty to get through doors (…)”
In this layered short film, filmmaker Janine Windolph takes her young sons fishing with their kokum (grandmother), a residential school survivor who retains a deep knowledge and memory of the land. The act of reconnecting with their homeland is a cultural and familial healing journey for the boys, who are growing up in the city. It’s also a powerful form of resistance for the women.
This movie charts the three most important questions regarding birth: 1. What makes a safe birth? 2. What disrupts a birth? 3. What do birth interventions mean for mother and baby, how the birth develops and even society at large?
North of the 51st parallel, where the dense boreal forest opens onto an arctic islet, the snow-capped peaks of the Uapishka Mountains watch over the Nitassinan of Pessamit. In the heart of winter, a group of Innu and non-Innu adventurers attempt to cross this vast mountain range on snowshoes, completely independently. Faced with the vastness of the territory, the rigors of the northern climate and the impetuous breath of the tundra, they discover each other in a different way, form friendships and unite to better chart their course. Over the kilometres, the adventure reveals a space for meeting, sharing and reconciliation.
Deep in Mexico’s mushroom-rich forests, two women from indigenous communities have become mycologists. This immersive sci-fi documentary follows their unusual, fungi-driven paths as they seek to reconcile the past and present while reimagining the future for themselves and the changing world they inhabit.
This documentary started as part of a photography project about the indigenous Ainu population in northern Japan, portraying people from tightly knit communities. They feel deeply connected by their culture and tradition. With gorgeous pictures, the directors explore how different generations of Ainu reflect on their identity after centuries of oppression.
Varanasi is the Indian city where Hindus go to die. Stretching along the Ganges, Varanasi holds great spiritual significance because Hindu scriptutres say that anyone who dies there will attain moksha—liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Berlin-based director Dan Braga Ulvestad captures life and death in India’s heartland in this moving documentary filled with exquisite cinematic moments. By the River starts its narrative journey with the city’s “death hotels,” dedicated apartments where people wait to die, sometimes for decades, so they can be cremated on the banks of the Ganges.
A dystopian future that’s ever nearer, Acid City floats in toxic waters and is left to its own devices. But under the boiling sun, the city weaves together its own social fabric. With audio recordings taken off the streets of NYC, this animation offers us something rare in the face of climate catastrophe: hope.
The thunder is warning, "The earth is sick." To cure it, David Kopenawa gathered in Roraima the Yanomami shamans from various regions. With the help of the spirit food, the hallucinogenic yãkoana powder, they will treat the ills caused by cities and white diseases.
Birth: it's a miracle. A rite of passage. A natural part of life. But more than anything, birth is a business. Compelled to find answers after a disappointing birth experience with her first child, actress Ricki Lake recruits filmmaker Abby Epstein to explore the maternity care system in America