Behind the Mask - Stories of the COVID-19 pandemic (2021)

Play Dead!

If there is one person Matthew Lancit can’t get out of his mind, it is his uncle Harvey. Dark rings around his eyes, pale, blind, his legs amputated. Like Harvey, the filmmaker also suffers from diabetes. He has the disease under control, but one question is always nagging at him: How much longer? His long-term (self-)observation reliably revolves around fears of infirmity and mutilation. He translates the feared body horror into film, stages himself as a zombie, vampire, a desolate figure. Lancit playfully anticipates his potential decline, serving up a whole arsenal of effects which – as video recordings prove – go back to his youth. It is not for nothing that the “dead” in the title is also reminiscent of “dad.” Because “Play Dead!” also negotiates his own role as a father.

Tall Poppy: A Skater's Story

A child who just loved to skate from the age of eight, Poppy Starr Olsen became the number one female bowl skater in Australia at 14 and went on to take out bronze at the XGames at 17 - the ultimate competition in the world of skateboarding. The same year, skateboarding was announced as an official additional sport category at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Now faced with the opportunity to represent Australia on the world stage Poppy grapples with the transition from skater to athlete and the pressure of competition mounts in a way it has never done before.

The Last Man

Gravedigger is the last name on the list of fighters facing the Corona epidemic. The gravediggers have buried the dead in one corona after another at the call of humanity even though they were not paid. In return, they received some rewards and an invaluable realization. One of them is Aslam of Ray Bazar Cemetery, The Last Man.

Until Further Notice

With his industry on lockdown and no end in sight, Toronto chef Luke Donato tries to keep his culinary passion alive during the COVID-19 pandemic - even if it means teaching a group of misfits online.

Igor Levit: No Fear

Follows the artist over two years as he explores his „life after Beethoven“, as he searches for his next challenge, his identity as an artist.

The Big Reset

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The Magic Behind 'd'ILLUSION: The Houdini Musical - The Audio Theater Experience'

A special behind-the-scenes look at the making of the audiobook edition of "d'ILLUSION: The Houdini Musical" and how it did its part in helping keep theater and the arts alive during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Eternal Memory

Augusto and Paulina have been together for 25 years. Eight years ago, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Both fear the day he no longer recognizes her.

Makayla's Voice: A Letter to the World

A teen with autism unlocks a joyous world of self-expression as she shares her voice for the first time using a letter board.

The Year of the Everlasting Storm

Featuring seven stories from seven auteurs from around the world, the film chronicles this unprecedented moment in time, and is a true love letter to the power of cinema and its storytellers.

Überleben - Was wir über Suizide wissen

Suicide is one of the world's leading causes of death, with almost 800,000 people taking their own lives every year, not counting those who go unrecorded. What drives people to take their own lives, and how can they be prevented from doing so? This documentary attempts to provide some answers.

144

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 WNBA season pivoted into a bubble site in Bradenton, Florida – where 144 players across 12 teams convened to face the rigors of an unrelenting schedule and finish their battle for a championship; all while just as dedicated to amplify social activism in response to the injustices that gripped that same summer. A documentary from ESPN Films.

Invisibili

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Lockedout

A short documentary about a homeless couple who face the ban on being on the street during 2020 quarantine. Just through their eyes, the two protagonists show us a different Milan, silent and suspended.

The Perfect Meal

A food-loving and scientific tribute to the Mediterranean diet and, not least, the liquid gold: olive oil.

Happy Pills

A journey through six different countries and characters into a world where chemistry is the ultimate response to human pursuits of well-being.

The Queen and the Prime Ministers

Danish documentary about the relationship between Queen Magrethe II and the prime ministers.

Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net

As Cirque du Soleil reboots its flagship production, O, more than a year after an abrupt shutdown, performers and crew members face uncertainty as they work to return to their world-class standards in time for the (re)opening night in Las Vegas. With unfettered access, filmmaker Dawn Porter captures the dramatic journey of the world's most famous circus act on its way back from the brink.

Linha de Frente Brasil

The film also recorded the beginning of the pandemic in China through the lens of international correspondent Marcelo Espíndola, roasting in São Paulo, Santos, Manaus and Pará. As well as Dr. Roberto Eballos (Doctor and Master in Immunology), Dr. Gustavo Pasquarelli (Infectious) and 23 other health professionals.

Living Proof

Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, documentarian Matt Embry takes viewers on a transnational journey — from Italy to Canada, and from the lab to the home — in order to examine the politics of the condition.

THE UNSEEN

THE UNSEEN is a short documentary about four small business owners who tell their personal stories of risk and sacrifice to keep their dreams and provide for their families while they fight local authorities who wish to put them out of business in the name of combating a virus.

Connor McDavid: Whatever it Takes

Connor McDavid: Whatever it Takes follows the most physically and emotionally challenging offseason of Connor McDavid's career. This documentary is the remarkable comeback story of one of the NHL's best players after what could have been a career ending or altering injury. A world-class medical team led by Mark Lindsay, supervised McDavid's gruelling rehabilitation program which combined advanced sport science and imaging techniques with Connor's sheer will to overcome, allowing him to return to the Edmonton Oilers lineup for the 2019-20 home opener. McDavid not only came back, but is faster and stronger than ever and having the best season of his young career. McDavid enters the 2020 All-Star break leading the NHL in scoring, and has his Edmonton Oilers in the hunt for 1st Place in the Pacific Division.

Connection | Isolation

In an airborne pandemic when separation, isolation, and self-sufficiency became the punishing norm, many trans people faced the COVID-19 era differently. G. Chesler’s new documentary feature presents eight portraits of trans, postgender, and genderqueer people sharing their experiences of cultivating, sustaining, and joining communities in this pandemic. These trans community creators center experiences of Asian American people facing violent racism as the pandemic began in late 2019, Black Americans rising in opposition to white supremacist police-state violence in mid 2020, and the exclusion many people who are disabled feel from a society that—despite grave and massive loss—still refuses to habitually protect itself at large.

Untold: Breaking Point

Under pressure to continue a winning tradition in American tennis, Mardy Fish faced mental health challenges that changed his life on and off the court.

Masturbation Conversations

This documentary features candid studio conversations with people of diverse backgrounds from the Erika Lust community. They share personal experiences with self-pleasure, exploring why they masturbate, how their views have evolved, and what they were taught growing up.

À la recherche de la jeunesse perdue

What if science could reverse the aging process? Follow the researchers as they decipher these mechanisms, with the promise of finding the elixir of youth so you can live longer, healthier lives!

Na Sombra

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We Met in Virtual Reality

Filmed entirely inside the world of virtual reality (VR), this immersive and revealing documentary roots itself in several unique communities within VR Chat, a burgeoning virtual reality platform. Through observational scenes captured in real-time, in true documentary style, the film reveals the growing power and intimacy of several relationships formed in the virtual world, many of which began during the COVID-19 lockdown, while so many in the physical world were facing intense isolation.

Anatomie de la douleur

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Madrid, int.

Madrid, Spain, March 2020. As the merciless disease that plagues the world spreads through the increasingly deserted streets of the city, people barricades themselves in their homes and move on with their lives…

What About ME?

Inside the dramatic search for a cure to ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). 17 million people around the world suffer from what ME/CFS has been known as a mystery illness, delegated to the psychological realm, until now. A scientist in the only neuro immune institute in the world may have come up with the answer. An important human drama, plays out on the quest for the truth.

Mountains and Heaven in Between

While the whole world has stopped during the coronavirus pandemic, the residents of the Kolochava Transcarpathian mountain village are living their normal lives. Only ambulance workers know what is really going on.

Red Herring

When Kit Vincent, a young filmmaker, receives a terminal diagnosis aged 24, his first instinct is to turn on his camera and document those closest to him.

In the Eye of the Beholder

Maurizio is a young university student living in Zürich, with a passion for diseases. Unlike many others, he can see an inherent beauty in them. Afterall, what difference can exist between a flower and an infection, if they are both a gift of nature?

Only Day and Night

A pandemic, a time of hard lockdown, when contact with other people is severely limited. The most common means of communication are online conversations, which the director uses to talk to people who, like him, are stuck alone in their apartments.

The Follow-Up

Lonely. Scared. Insecure. But how's it going with you? Is this the first film to be made completely in quarantine? Possibly. 'The Follow-Up' is Ben Berman's follow up film to 'The Amazing Johnathan Documentary (Hulu 2019).

Longest Third Date

When Khani and Matt met on a dating app, they had no idea COVID-19 would turn their spur-of-the-moment trip to Costa Rica into a months-long adventure.

Two Pandemics

Seven Asian-Americans discuss their experiences with racism and the spike in Asian-directed hate crimes as a result of COVID-19.

Sous le bio, la malbouffe

Sales of organic products have increased tenfold in 20 years. In 2020, the market will have exceeded 13 billion euros in sales. The heavyweights of the food industry are surfing on this consumer craze for healthy food by offering more and more "green" products. But organic does not necessarily mean nutritionally balanced.

That Sugar Film

One man's journey to discover the bitter truth about sugar. Damon Gameau embarks on a unique experiment to document the effects of a high sugar diet on a healthy body, consuming only foods that are commonly perceived as 'healthy'. Through this entertaining and informative journey, Damon highlights some of the issues that plague the sugar industry, and where sugar lurks on supermarket shelves.

Brains in Danger

For the past 20 years, the world has seen an alarming decrease in IQ and a rise of autism and behavioral disorders. This international scientific investigation reveals how chemicals in objects surrounding us affect our brain, and especially those of fetuses.

An Obese World

As obesity progresses inexorably, Sylvie Gilman and Thierry de Lestrade investigate the causes of this planetary plague and reveal the fight waged in certain countries to stem it.

Falácias

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Sars-CoV-2: O Tempo da Pandemia

Seven doctors and public health specialists accept the mission to fight the pandemic, working voluntarily. This unforeseen task in the careers of Paulo Chapchap, Maurício Ceschin, Gonzalo Vecina, Drauzio Varella, Sidney Klajner, Eugênio Vilaça and Pedro Barbosa is commented on by them. In addition to following this committee, the documentary brings reports from frontline professionals, working in São Paulo and Manaus, about the experience of going to Covid-19 to take care of patients and the elderly.

Cradle to Grave

Through our subject Adam, we reveal the incredible changes and forces that take all humankind from Cradle to Grave.

Crucifixion

On Easter Sunday 2012 the UK's Channel 4 showed a programme entitled Crucifixion in which Gunther von Hagens created his interpretation of the crucifixion of Jesus. The documentary examined the enduring iconic image of the Crucifix. A number of donors were used for the plastination of blood vessels to create the main structure of the body. At the end of the programme von Hagens announced that he did not expect to see the final work of art due to his ill health.

One World: Together at Home

A global broadcast & digital special organized by Global Citizen and the World Health Organization featuring comedians, musicians, and actors to raise funds in support of front line health workers in the global response to COVID-19.

Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut

Delve into the digestive system with this lighthearted and informative documentary that demystifies the role gut health plays in our overall well-being.

Anamnesis

An audiovisual representation of the degenerative dementia process based on real reports from people affected with this condition.