The Volunteer Archivists (2022)

A Life's Work

What’s it like to dedicate your life to work that won’t be completed in your lifetime? Fifteen years ago, filmmaker David Licata focused on four projects and the people behind them in an effort to answer this universal question.

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project

Marion Stokes secretly recorded television 24 hours a day for 30 years from 1975 until her death in 2012. For Marion taping was a form of activism to seek the truth, and she believed that a comprehensive archive of the media would be invaluable for future generations. Her visionary and maddening project nearly tore her family apart, but now her 70,000 VHS tapes are being digitized and they'll be searchable online.

Nani Ma

Musamoni Panigrahi (1920s–2017), fondly called “Nani Ma” by her neighbours, appears in the centre of this first film in the Baleswari dialect of India's Odia language. The story revolves around folklore and folk songs narrated by Nani Ma. Born in the 1920s in pre-independent rural India in a coastal village in the Balasore district of Odisha, she never got to go beyond the first few days of school. The film is an alternate history of a society broken through colonization, Brahminical patriarchy and a post-famine (Orissa famine of 1866, killing nearly 5 million people, one-third of the population), and the dominance of formal writing over spoken tongues. Three academics -- Damayanti Beshra, PhD (recipient of India’s fourth civilian award, “Padma Shri”), Panchanan Mohanty, PhD (noted linguist), and Laxmikanta Tripathy, PhD, DLitt (anthropologist and author) -- also appear in the film to provide contextual commentary on patriarchy, oral history and the sociolinguistic diversity.

Beyond Paper

At a critical moment in the history of the written word, as humanity’s archives migrate to the cloud, one filmmaker goes on a journey around the globe to better understand how she can preserve her own Romanian and Armenian heritage, as well as our collective memory. Blending the intellectual with the poetic, she embarks on a personal quest with universal resonance, navigating the continuum between paper and digital—and reminding us that human knowledge is above all an affair of the soul and the spirit.

Ananta

"Randi Pua Ananta" follows the journey of Ananta, a notorious troublemaker who undergoes a remarkable transformation into a selfless hero. When a devastating flood threatens his village, Ananta makes the ultimate sacrifice to save his people, proving that redemption can come in the most unexpected ways.

Byaase Sunucha

A Carefree Artist confronts The Pioneer of Odia literature Byaasakabi Fakir Mohan, to lament about the current state of the Odia Language and how it has been looked down upon by the elites of the state. Will his voice be heard?

Amal

Amal is 14 years old when she ends up on Tahrir Square during the Egyptian revolution, after the death of her boyfriend in the Port Said Stadium riot. During the protests, she is beaten by police and dragged across the square by her hair. This coming-of-age film follows her over the years after the revolution. As the film cuts between the unfolding current events and Amal’s rapidly changing life and appearance, we see her searching for her own identity in a country in transition. Amal is fiery and fearless, sinking her teeth into the protests and constantly lecturing her mother, who works as a judge. A girl among men, she also has to fight for respect and the right to take part, both in the street and in the rest of her life. In Egypt, even for a young woman like Amal—her name means "hope"—the choices open to her for her future are limited.

Puberty: Sexual Education For Boys and Girls

This sex education movie explore themes of body development, sexual hygiene, masturbation, menstruation, puberty, sex and giving birth.

The Gateway Arch: A Reflection of America

The Gateway Arch: A Reflection of America chronicles for the first time the complete story of this great American symbol… from Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, and St. Louis’ role in westward expansion; to the eventual construction of the largest stainless steel structure in history.

Don't Worry, the Doors Will Open

After André Levesque missionnaire, Oksana Karpovych is back at the RIDM with her first feature, which she filmed in her native country, Ukraine. To take the pulse of the country, the filmmaker adopts one of documentary cinema’s most prolific sub-genres: the train film. Filmed entirely in the old, run-down, overcrowded passenger trains used by ordinary Ukrainians, the film captures conversations, observes the landscape, and accompanies several protagonists on their journey; they open our eyes to popular preoccupations in a country that seems perpetually anchored in its highly visible Soviet legacy. A fine lesson in listening and humanity.

The Original Skateboarder

As coined by Dogtown & Z-Boys, Skateboarder magazine was the original Bible of skateboarding and the history it captured in its pages tell the story of modern skateboarding’s roots and influenced an entire generation of skateboarders. This documentary tells the story of how this magazine became THE magazine of skateboarders worldwide, why it meant so much to them, and how it left an indelible mark on them during it’s meteoric rise and fall by the early 1980s. From shoeless surfers riding the concrete waves and the vast blacktop of Southern California, to fully padded sessions at skateparks, Skateboarder exposed the sport to kids around the world.

Daft Punk - Alive 2007 - Live Album Concert in Paris

For the first time in 14 years, experience Daft Punk like never before! The first professionally recorded live show; revived meticulously by remastering and restoring the audio and video. The Alive 2007 show is considered a staple in live performances featuring the signature 'Pyramid' and groundbreaking visuals, which is now complemented by a fully remastered audio track which aims to maximize the experience. This video was subjected to an extensive restoration process. Initially it went through Topaz Video Enhance AI, afterwards it was extensively processed through Davinci Resolve. The total render time is estimated to be 65 hours. Presenting the ultimate authentic Daft Punk experience.

Being Black in Porn

Being Black in Porn follows the lives of four gay men of color as they navigate their way in the competitive and often complicated adult film industry.

Blue Brazil

Stretching along 4,000 thousand miles, the biodiversity of the Brazilian coast is extremely rich. From the temperate South to the equatorial North, the coast of Brazil hosts wild journeys and performances every day.

The Story of Film: A New Generation

The final chapter of his exceptional 15-part documentary exploring the history of cinema, The Story of Film: An Odyssey. Mark Cousins builds a bridge between the “before” of the health crisis, and the “after”.

Zero Gravity

Follows a diverse group of middle-school students from San Jose, CA, who compete in a nationwide tournament to code satellites aboard the International Space Station.

Night Trap: 25 Years Later

Explore the history of the ground-breaking Full Motion Video (FMV) game, Night Trap, in this documentary brought to you by My Life in Gaming. Directors Coury Carlson and Marc Duddleson interview Night Trap creator James Riley, remaster lead Tyler Hogle, and gaming historian Jeremy Parish in this nearly hour-long look at the history of Night Trap.

Iron Maiden: Rock In Rio

Rock In Rio Festival 2001 - Iron Maiden headlines one of the biggest shows on Earth to a massive sell-out 250,000 crowd and a global TV audience of millions. The explosive two hour set, shot using 18 cameras and edited by Steve Harris, is Maiden at its best, performing their biggest show ever on the final date of their Brave New World Tour.

Voodoo

In 1925, during the occupation of Haiti, a U.S. Marine Corps sergeant was stationed in charge of the small island of La Gonave. He befriended the natives and was so popular that they named him King Faustin I and installed him as their ruler. He ruled the island for three years, then left and returned to make this documentary.

Macron, Pécresse : Coulisses d'une campagne

A look behind the scenes of this 2022 presidential campaign. Between the secrets and all the information that escaped the general public, the behind-the-scenes campaign of Valérie Pécresse and Emmanuel Macron allow us to understand all the issues of this election and to discover these candidates.

EMIL – Every Mystery I’ve Lived

Having won the world title in his rookie season in 2017, Emil Johansson spent 2018 struggling with an autoimmune disease. Now, still coming to grips with the disease, he's ready to make his return.

Becoming

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Geheimnisvolle Parktiere - Wildes Leben in der Stadt

Parks are not only recreational areas for us humans, but also valuable habitats for animals and plants. These green oases make cities worth living in and provide a surprising wealth of species. Parks are often our quickest contact with nature and a great opportunity to get to know wild animals. This film shows typical and well-known park inhabitants from a new perspective. In interviews, experts introduce us to the unknown sides of crows, squirrels and the like and report on their research. This much in advance: just as city dwellers and country dwellers differ, city animals also have their very own way of life. The next time you go for a walk, you will see the animals in the park with completely new eyes!

The Gut: Our Second Brain

For a few years now, scientists have known about the existence of another brain within our bodies. This second brain, or "brain down below" is none other than our stomach. The stomach's intelligence is a new avenue of research that is fascinating research teams the world over.

Poly-Love

A documentary that approaches polyamory from the intimate point of view of an Afro-American family who decided to live an authentic life without denying the option of diversity in their love and family.

Klimatexperimentet

"The Climate Experiment" - About the Swedish artist duo Bigert and Bergström's climate-related art, which for three decades has been inspired by research on the effects of climate on humanity and vice versa. Tells the story of the growing realization of our own role in the changing climate. Our interference in the atmospheric cocktail could be described as the greatest experiment in human history. An experiment whose outcome is highly uncertain. The film presents the lurking awareness of our own role in the change of climate. The title refers to the kind of research that challenged the conception of nature as an inexhaustible resource, but also to the artists' own work with various geo-engineering projects, in which they try to deal with the effects of an increasingly heated atmosphere.

Alternativ Festival 1975

A protest against the Eurovision Song Contest, 1975Alternative Festivals were organized all around Sweden. This Alternative Festival was broadcasted from a circus tent in Stockholm, presenting a wide variety of folk culture and music.

Farewell, the spy who loved France

"The Farewell Affair" is one of the greatest espionage stories of the Cold War that will result in the accelerated fall of the USSR. It involves Vladimir Vetrov, a KGB agent put in the closet, who decides to contact the DST and deliver several lists of technological and scientific agents and secrets, which the KGB has been stealing from the countries of the Western Blocs for decades.

Les trésors cachés des variétés

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The Bad Family

During his 48-hour leave from prison, Andrés meets his inseparable group of friends for a weekend of partying and reflection on freedom and identity.

Ending the Silence: Confronting Sexual Shame in the Church

Ending the Silence explores patriarchal and hierarchal structures in the church that foster the devaluing and demonizing of sex, women, and the LGBTQ community.

Children In Need 2019: Got It Covered

Ten big-name actors, including Jim Broadbent, Jodie Whittaker, David Tennant and Olivia Colman, come together to record an album for Children in Need.

The Forum

In times of rampant populism and increasing distrust of the elite, the filmmaker accompanies the 81-year-old founder of the controversial World Economic Forum over the period of one year in his efforts to implement his leitmotif: to improve the state of the world. Can the WEF contribute to solving global problems? Or is it rather an integral part of the problem?

My Darling Supermarket

Between repetitive actions such as stocking shelves and scanning groceries, anonymous Brazilian supermarket employees reflect frankly on their lives, society, and the role they dream of playing in it.

Germany: A Summer's Fairytale

A documentary of the German national soccer team’s 2006 World Cup experience that changed the face of modern Germany.

Riding Giants

Riding Giants is story about big wave surfers who have become heroes and legends in their sport. Directed by the skateboard guru Stacy Peralta.

Dave Chappelle's Block Party

The American comedian/actor delivers a story about the alternative Hip Hop scene. A small town Ohio mans moves to Brooklyn, New York, to throw an unprecedented block party.

Sons of Bora

As the bora wind blows from the east, so from Slovenia to Italy came both the Karst shepherd dog and the wolf that has returned to populate the Alps. The much debated question of the relationship between humans and large predators is addressed here from an unprecedented point of view: that of the shepherd dog. The camera follows the training of a dog according to the ancient method that will prepare it to care for an entire flock by itself. After training, he will be welcomed by a family whose previous shepherd dog was killed in the pasture by a bear. At the same time, it tells of the journey of the most famous Slovenian wolf, Slavc, who, covering more than a thousand kilometres, reached the Alps, stopping in the Lessinia mountains. A balanced, unforced documentation that calmly recounts the theme of coexistence with the "children of the bora", be they dogs or wolves.

Faut qu'on parle

Three women, three men, all very high level athletes, Olympic medalists, world champions in basketball, judo, rugby, fencing, swimming and figure skating have agreed to testify in a documentary. For the first time, they publicly reveal their homosexuality.