Documentary Movies

Dossier OVNIS

Taranto

A steel mill about to close divides a city in southern Italy. The conflict between environmentalism and labor is posed in apparently unsolvable terms. The director embarks on a contemporary drama with expositive clarity, power and good faith—history is also written in the present tense.

Traces of a Landscape

Jan Jedlička is one of the best kept secrets in the world of art. He was born in Prague in 1944 where he studied painting at the academy before immigrating to Switzerland in 1969. Petr Zaruba conveys through cinematic and formal choices the complexities of Jedlička’s creative strategies. An intertwined dialogue between two artists.

Batkid Begins

On November 15, 2013, the world came together to grant one 5-year-old leukemia patient his wish to be Batman for a day. "Batkid Begins" looks at why and how this phenomenon took place, becoming one of the biggest "good news" stories of all time.

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Dream of Championship

Manuel Neuer, Medhi Benatia, Jérôme Boateng, Dante, Bernat…This is not a FIFA tournament, but a competition on who can name the most FIFA players by heart. Four boys are trying their hardest, and as the list goes on they start to struggle, it even looks like someone is losing his breath. In the end they have named 879 players. The short film Dream of Championship is a story about fandom. It depicts the kind of passion that motivates school children to memorize names in such numbers that would impress any history teacher. Dream of Championship is Sophia Ehrnrooth’s directorial debut. She got the idea for the film from her 8-year-old son who recited nearly one hundred exotic names in the backseat of the car.

Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth

Chris Hemsworth has a real passion for sharks. The Hollywood star talks to experts to find out more about the apex predators of the oceans.

99% Honest

Emir, Amina, Haji and Assad are all members of the hip hop group Forente Minoriteter (United Minorities). The film follows them through their musical process, with it's ups and downs.

Plongeurs

In Marseille, Plongeurs are known for diving from extreme heights into the mediterranean sea. They are both applauded and vilified, regularly featuring in music videos, viral reels and local news; where journalists report romantic accounts of their exploits. Each summer, a death or severe accident occurs often leading the press to turn on the community, making them mascots for the city’s social ills. The film captures the story of these young men, as they navigate the uneasy transition from boyhood to adulthood; looking beyond adrenaline to reveal how this hazardous pastime helps them to articulate their complex identities and experiences.

Ferreyra

Beatriz Ferreyra is a concrete music artist based in France, but of Argentinean origin, who has developed her own language in experimental music. This documentary has as a script the scores elaborated by Ferreyra along the years, the sounds and silences she built, and the radical proposal that the image is at the service of the sounds.

A Married Couple

A tribute to love and being together. Sidsel and Christian have Down's syndrome and have been together since they were teenagers – and now they are getting married.

Orang Utans - Keepers of the Jungle

In the heart of Borneo's rainforests, one of the oldest and most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth, lives the orangutan, arguably the largest tree dweller. The main story is about mother ape Sati and her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter Huyan on their journey through the jungle, while at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, orphaned and rescued young animals are given a chance at a new life in the wild. But their habitat is threatened by radical deforestation and palm oil plantations. This impressive documentary shows these endangered great apes at eye level for the first time. With the help of innovative drone technology an insight into the dizzying treetops of the jungle giants was, achieved where they mostly stay. It discovering the secret lives of these extraordinary animals with insightful footage and partly some scenes never before seen. Unforgettable images illustrate why protecting the rainforests is crucial for the orangutans and the future of our planet.

Lone Existence

For years he has stayed behind closed doors without leaving his home, uttering nothing to anyone. The desire to communicate and the energy to act have completely vanished, and the opportunity to change is dim and distant. This is an attempt by the filmmaker to reappraise the relationship between himself and the world through external observation and self-reflection.

Der Konzertdealer

Kraftwerk, Björk, Rammstein or Robbie Williams on tour are not just concerts, but pop operas, the most spectacular stage events of our time. Tens of thousands make the pilgrimage to stadiums and halls to be there. But nobody knows the man in the background. Scumeck Sabottka has been a concert promoter for over 30 years. Constantly traveling, constantly negotiating, always on the lookout for the next big thing. An ex-punk from the Ruhr area who started out as a bus driver for Einstürzende Neubauten, worked his way up, came close to bankruptcy twice and then struck a deal with legendary promoters Fritz Rau and Marcel Avram.

Teguh

Teguh was dishonorably discharged as a policeman due to his sexual orientation. With the support of his partner Tonny, Teguh decided to purue justice by bringing his case to court, an act that has never been done before in Indonesia from the LGBTQI+ community. From this, the question arises, why would he put himself in potential danger by going against the institution? The film tells a love story between Teguh and Tonny, which becomes the foundation of why this fight needs to be fought for.

Homestead

Liane works diligently on her Japanese cucumber farm with only the help of her husband Boun, and her grandson Aiden, who she has raised since he was a small child due to the early separation of his parents. Aiden and Liane have grown close as they both work together to continue to save up enough money for Liane to eventually return to her homeland of Laos, where she can be closer to her children after 20 years.

May Day!

May Day! is a feature-length documentary which follows Oxford's thousand-year old tradition of May Morning, the largest celebration of its kind, regularly attracting over 15,000 people each year. It is a collage-like portrait of the tradition, attempting to find out how the celebration has survived the separation between the land and its people, what the pagan festival means thousands of years after its inception, and how it shapes and contributes to our nation's sense of self.

Tenor: My Name Is Pati

This music-packed documentary tells the story of Pene Pati and his brother Amitai Pati, and their against-the-odds journey from Samoa to platinum-selling success in the trio Sol3 Mio and on to the world’s greatest opera stages. Bursting with humour, heart and soaring performances, the film reveals the resilience born of adversity, the richness of family and culture, and the rewards that come from following an unlikely dream.

Playtime Story

Documentary on the making-of Tati's Playtime (1967)

Enemy Engagement

Two ex-friends from East Germany meet up after many years. One was a dissident, the other spied on him for the Stasi. One went to prison. One did not. A unsettling story of how a dictatorship spun so strong it could completely control its population.