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

Christmas In Florida

A canceled Thanksgiving parade and no options professionally or personally, Kimberly DiPersia and Alex R. Wagner decide it would be a perfect opportunity to travel to Florida.

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!

Life in a Day 2020

On July 25th, 2020, Ridley Scott and Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald invite you to be part of Life in a Day—a historic, global documentary capturing a single day on Earth. Videos from around the world are woven into a feature film.

Hipoxemia

Wilfredo Morales, a man whose daughter is a bachelor of medicine, is infected while working in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, having to face a poor health system, he starts a race against the clock: Wilfredo only has 2 hours to Find an oxygen balloon and a mechanical ventilator before it's too late.

The Great Nothing

The Covid-19 pandemic hit Czech society hard between 2020 and 2022. Pervasive restrictions trapped us at home for weeks and months, people died by the thousands, and the overburdened healthcare system ran at full speed. The course of the world seemed, in the words of Karel Vachek, to stop for a moment, and we held our breath for what would happen next. A documentary depiction of the greatest global catastrophe in ages is dedicated to the moments that changed everything irrevocably. Together with the three main actors, we are reminded of how fragile our personal and social lives can be when faced with the “big nothing” of a malignant disease.

It Takes a Circus

Eighteen-year-old Aaliyah flies on aerial silks. Her 16-year-old cousin Bre twirls on hoops. They dream of escaping the violence that marred their young lives. Their possible ticket out is the after-school program Trenton Circus Squad. Now that Covid-19 has changed everything, will the circus and the girls’ dreams survive?

76 Days

Raw and intimate, this documentary captures the struggles of patients and frontline medical professionals battling the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan.

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley

With a magical new invention that promised to revolutionize blood testing, Elizabeth Holmes became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, heralded as the next Steve Jobs. Then, overnight, her 10-billion-dollar company dissolved. The rise and fall of Theranos is a window into the psychology of fraud.

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.

Dis/Informed

Are conspiracy theorists just "dumb"? What links anti-vax sentiment and QAnon? Disinformation expert Dr. Charles Kriel and director Katharina Gellein Viken go on the road to find out why yoga moms have fallen for conspiracy theory during the pandemic. The answers are not what you might think.

Second Chance Champions

Second Chance Champions delves into the world of organ and tissue donation through an international event for transplant athletes. Emotions run high as competitors split their medals with those who have given them a second chance at life.

Guide to a Midwest Hometown

Coming back during Winter, Alex Powell explores both the places and personal connections found in his hometown and how they've changed. “Guide to a Midwest Hometown” explores what makes the barren places at home feel sentimental and special, and the good and bad feelings that come when being back home. Inspired by "How To With John Wilson".

Two Pandemics

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

Childhood 2.0

For the first time in history, mental illness and suicide have become one of the greatest threats to school-aged children. Many parents still view dangers as primarily physical and external, but they’re missing the real danger: kids spending more time online and less time engaging in real life, free play, and autonomy. What are the effects on the next generation's mental, physical, and spiritual health? Childhood was more or less unchanged for millennia, but this is Childhood 2.0.

Thursday

Thursday shot from filmmaker Galen Johnson's high-rise apartment during COVID-19 “lockdown” in Winnipeg, captures people going about their daily routines in the city's eerily empty streets, yards and parking lots, on their balconies and on the riverbanks. The extreme distance and the diminutive scale of humans is paired with sound close-ups—a combination that embodies the strange, heightened intensity of feeling of the time, knowing an era-defining tragedy is happening yet being so physically removed.

Uróboro

The COVID-19 pandemic scars the citizens of Mexico City.

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.

Les super pouvoirs de la musique

What's the point of music? You might be tempted to answer that it's an enjoyable pastime or an art form, but nothing really essential. For the first time, a documentary shows the opposite. Music is a biological necessity for human beings: it helps build our brains. In recent years, the discoveries of international neuroscience researchers have revolutionized our understanding of the impact of music on our brains. This film is a behavioral and neurological investigation whose ambition is to unveil the mystery of music's powers in our lives.

In Delusion: Trump and the American Catastrophe

In 2020, the USA experienced a multiple catastrophe: No other country in the world was hit so badly by the coronavirus pandemic, the economic slump was dramatic, and so was the rise in unemployment. A rift ran through society. In the streets there were protests of both camps with violent riots, authoritarian traits were evident in the actions of the leader of the nation. And all of this in the middle of the election year, when the self-centered president fought vehemently for his re-election. From the start of his presidency, Donald Trump had divided American society, incited individual sections of the population against one another, fueled racism, hatred, xenophobia and prejudice, insulted competitors and denigrated critical journalists as enemies of the people. The documentary shows how this could happen and what role the targeted disinformation of certain sections of the population through manipulative media played.

Covidland: The Mask

This second episode of the Covidland series, The Mask, uncovers the real science behind face coverings and exploreds the physical and mental health impacts of facemasks.

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.

Corona: The Pandemic and the Pangolin

At a time when we are bombarded with COVID-19 information comes a moment of clarity – and a warning we cannot afford to ignore. We ask – who is really behind this pandemic? Find out in revealing dialogues with scientists, experts and activists like conservation icon Jane Goodall and environmental hero Captain Paul Watson from Sea Shepherd. Their stories combine with raw, up to date images and Terra Mater’s classic, inspiring blue-chip footage, in a film to make you pause, feel and act.

Biosludged

Biosludged reveals how the EPA is committing science fraud to allow the ongoing poisoning of our world with toxic sewage sludge that's being spread on food crops. Features former top government scientist and EPA whistleblower Dr. David Lewis.

Islands in the City

Like ghosts, the temporarily shut down cruise ships lie in the port of Hamburg. A young man comes into town and is stranded on the riverbank, waiting for a message. He watches couples strolling along in the sunset and gets himself some sweets. In a moment of collective pause, ISLANDS IN THE CITY captures a fragile romance. There is a departure in the air, the destination of which no one seems to know.

The Making of Jurassic World VelociCoaster

An inside look at the creation of Universal Orlando Resort's new Jurassic World VelociCoaster.

Then the Times, They Changed

Known as one of Finland’s most prominent rock institutions, Tavastia club celebrated half a century of being in the business, whilst withstanding the challenges of a global pandemic. In this rockumentary, director Antti Kuivalainen takes us through the history of Tavastia, as the club which brought rock ‘n’ roll to Finland.

The Hugo's Brain

The Hugo's Brain is a French documentary-drama about autism. The documentary crosses authentic autistic stories with a fiction story about the life of an autistic (Hugo), from childhood to adulthood, portraying his difficulties and his handicap.

July Talk: Love Lives Here

What is essential in a time of upheaval? Director Brittany Farhat documented the months of panic and epiphany in the leadup to July Talk’s lauded Drive-In Shows of 2020, and with the help of unreleased archival footage spanning a decade, follows the thoughtful group of artists to a crossroads of identity and circumstance.