Pit Dhuwur (2024)

Baraka

A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.

Young At Heart

Documents the true story of the final weeks of rehearsal for the Young at Heart Chorus in Northampton, MA, and many of whom must overcome health adversities to participate. Their music goes against the stereotype of their age group. Although they have toured Europe and sang for royalty, this account focuses on preparing new songs for a concert in their hometown.

Fathers Are Sons Too

After the loss of his father, Sammy embarks on a journey to understand him better through the stories of various men. "Fathers Are Also Sons" is a visual testament of this personal journey toward connection.

Filhos de João, O Admirável Mundo Novo Baiano

A panorama of Brazilian popular music from the 60s and 70s through the musical group Novos Baianos. A retrospective of the community lifestyle adopted by its members and the influence inherited from singer João Gilberto.

We Beg to Differ

In the underground world of diffing, a community finds solace in their passion, as they navigate personal struggles and challenges both on and off the road.

Answer the Call

When a firefighter comes to your house, chances are that their lives were just like yours not too long ago. 70% of all firefighters in Canada are volunteers, meaning in most cases, they were just eating dinner, coaching a team, or even at their actual job. To raise awareness of the need for volunteer firefighters, "Answer the Call" will showcase the unique lifestyle of volunteer firefighters, and have them shed light on the risks and rewards of living a double life.

The Soul of a Cyclist

A documentary about cycling and those who participate in it, from the point of view of various people. From South to Center Portugal, and even the UK, France and Spain, it aims to understand the passion of cyclists when it comes to this hobby and, most particularly, old-school bikes

The Ants and the Grasshopper

Anita Chitaya has a gift: she can help bring abundant food from dead soil, she can make men fight for gender equality, and maybe she can end child hunger in her village. Now, to save her home in Malawi from extreme weather, she faces her greatest challenge: persuading Americans that climate change is real. Traveling from Malawi to California to the White House, she meets climate sceptics and despairing farmers. Her journey takes her across all the divisions that shape the USA: from the rural-urban divide, to schisms of race, class and gender, and to the American exceptionalism that remains a part of the culture. It will take all her skill and experience to help Americans recognise, and free themselves from, a logic that is already destroying the Earth.

We Can Be Heroes

Sometimes, finding your tribe requires a bit of magic. For attendees of a live action role-playing (LARP) camp in upstate New York, the deeply accepting environment has given neurodivergent, queer, and self-proclaimed "nerdy" teenagers the space and community for self-discovery that they have never found anywhere else. As the campers immerse themselves in this imaginative world, they discover inner strength, heal from past traumas, and emerge as the heroes they are meant to be, both in the fantasy realm and in real life.

Polvere in Sala

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Micropubs - The New Local

Inspired by the original micropub craze in Kent, three entrepreneurial Londoners decide to open their very own micropub and revitalise their high streets through a love of real ale, conversation and community spirit.

back home

In 1999, 11-year-old Nisha Platzer lost her older brother, Josh, to suicide. Twenty years later, her search for a specialized medical treatment leads her to the door of someone who was once exceptionally close to Josh. And so it is that she finally has the chance to truly know her brother through his chosen family. Captured over five years in which synchronicities continually manifested, Platzer’s documentation of these encounters gently asserts that both grieving and healing are meant to be communal experiences.

Seventh Toa - A BIONICLE Documentary

In 2001, a series of leaks within the Bionicle community began to appear, claiming that a seventh protagonist named "Voriki" would be arriving soon. And though those leaks turned out to be fake, the legacy Voriki has left behind has more than made up for it.

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.

Speeding, of Course

70-year-old Timo makes the most of his short ride to work. Speeding up on a bicycle ends up in a ditch, but the adrenaline rush leaves a feeling of pleasure.

The Pool

Bondi Icebergs is the most photographed pool in the world. This is where generations of children have learnt to swim, where the diehard have braved the frigid waters of one hundred winters, where the young and beautiful have come to bond and bake in the hot sun. THE POOL is a stunning cinematic experience with a soundtrack that harks back to the 1960s and a cast of characters who each have a story to tell. It speaks to the enduring power of community and our collective longing to find it. No matter your background or where you’re at – everyone is equal in their swimsuits.

For the Love of Cats

In the small mountain town of Barga, Italy, a group of four filmmakers speak with local cat lovers and immerse themselves in the unique world of street-trotting felines and Gattaras.

Tupac Amaru, algo está cambiando: something is changing

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Shelter

At the Covenant House, located on the outskirts of the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana, the doors never close, and there is always room for one more. On any given day, a constant stream of young people carrying everything they own in plastic garbage bags fills the courtyard. The prospective residents are just teenagers, but have already been labeled drug addicts, schizophrenics, criminals and outcasts. As one staff member puts it, “the most damaged population of youth that exists in society today”. Filming over the course of a full year, brothers Brent and Craig Renaud tell the raw and emotional stories of the incredible kids who seek shelter at the Covenant House, and the staff struggling to work miracles everyday on their behalf.

Ballymanus

10 May 1943. Something is spotted drifting ashore off the coast of Northwest Donegal, Ireland. Something that would change the lives of the local people forever.

Making Dust

Making Dust is an essay film, a portrait of the demolition of Ireland's second largest Catholic Church, the Church of the Annunciation in Finglas West, Dublin. Understanding this moment as a 'rupture', the film maps an essay by architectural historian Ellen Rowley on to documentation of the building's dismantling. Featuring oral interviews recorded at the site of the demolition and in a nearby hairdressers, the film invites viewers to pause and reflect on this ending alongside the community of the building. The film is informed by Ultimology, and invites its audience to think about the life cycles of buildings and materials, how we mourn, what is sacred, how we gather, what we value and issues of sustainability in architecture.

The Story of a Slough

When the Tanana River bridge was installed in Salcha, Alaska, the community worried about the levee's effects on fish wildlife. Salcha Elementary School, along with the help of Tanana Valley Watershed Association, conducted a 10-year scientific project with students to study the effects the levee had on Piledriver Slough. Tori Brannan - the filmmaker's mother - is a retired principal at Salcha Elementary and was the project's centerpiece. She shares her experiences with the project, the community, and how her daughter's involvement strengthened their relationship.

Century of Smoke

Laosan, a young family man, spends all his time smoking opium. For his community, lost in the heart of the Laotian jungle, opium farming is the only way to survive. But opium is also the poison that puts men to sleep and kills their desires.

Silver's Uprising

Raised in an orthodox home, Amos Dov Silver dreams of becoming Prime Minister. But when the State continues to shun him, he soon finds unexpected solace in the velvety smoke of Marijuana. Spreading his new Torah, he establishes an online community using a mobile app called "TeleGrass" that turns into the largest marketplace for drugs in Israel, raising Silver to Messiah status. Through exclusive footage of Silver, his family and his partners’ investigations, as well as secretly filmed footage of Silver in the Ukrainian prison, a polarizing portrayal of the man charged with heading a crime organization emerges. Champion of the people, or a lost soul corrupted by power?

Rom Boys: 40 Years of Rad

When a tragedy strikes the worlds most unique skate park, a dogged group of old school skaters, BMXers and street artists team up to fight for its survival.

We Will Speak

The Cherokee language is deeply tied to Cherokee identity; yet generations of assimilation efforts by the U.S. government and anti-Indigenous stigmas have forced the Tri-Council of Cherokee tribes to declare a State of Emergency for the language in 2019. While there are 430,000 Cherokee citizens in the three federally recognized tribes, fewer than an estimated 2,000 fluent speakers remain—the majority of whom are elderly. The covid pandemic has unfortunately hastened the course. Language activists, artists, and the youth must now lead the charge of urgent radical revitalization efforts to help save the language from the brink of extinction.

Adventure Never Ends: A Tabletop Saga

From dungeon-like basements to worldwide phenomenon, ADVENTURE NEVER ENDS: A TABLETOP SAGA explores how tabletop role-playing games have fought their way through decades of trial by fire to emerge at the height of pop culture- now shaping and bringing together millions of lives through storytelling. The film takes a behind the curtain look at an open community of fans, as well as youth programs who use tabletop role-playing games to promote socialization, team building, and empathy.

Lost Origins of the Modern Bicycle

Neil Laughton, cycling enthusiast, adventurer and record-breaker is joined by cycling experts Scotford Lawrence, Edwin Knight and Jon Cannings to explore the history of the bicycle. They explore every twist and turn of the bicycle’s journey of development through history, including some major successes, and the odd failure! The journey begins with the Laufmachine in 1817 right through to the safety bicycle that has developed into the high-performance machines we know today.

Old Growth Murder

A feature-length documentary exploring the unsolved murder of French bicyclist Alain Malessard who was found dead in an Oregon Coast campground on Thanksgiving 1987.

The Hermits

In the midst of the chaos of México City, a group of eight bachelor millennials who call themselves ´The Hermits´, open the doors to their tiny apartments in the historic Ermita Building, in the yet-to-be gentrified neighborhood of Tacubaya, and share their life experiences in a time when precarity changes the way in which we love, feel and relate to each other. As we explore the homes of these eight neighbors, we also witness their personalities intersect in a Whatsapp chat, a virtual space that functions as a supporting system that helps them face the adversities that living alone in this city brings.

The White Caravan

The neon sign ‘Circus’ illuminates the wide street of Naples’ suburbs: four circus families were abandoned by the institutions, and now they’re awaiting the pandemic will disappear, like a magic show. The circus has stopped, but their lives go on.

Dreama Team

Dreama Team is a film about a mom and amateur runner named Dreama Walton, as she competes in America's biggest ultra-marathon: The Western States 100. As she pushes to finish the historic race in under 24 hours, she draws inspiration from painful experiences in her youth, and the positive influence of others in the present. Dreama is determined to prove to her daughter the value of doing hard things.

WW1 - War on Two Wheels

A fascinating insight into the role of the bicycle in the First World War - from reconnaissance to transporting ammunition, historian and cycling enthusiast Jeremy Banning explores stories from the battlefield. Ollie Bridgewood discovers the role cycle scouts played in the Army Cycling Corp and rides the original bikes used in the conflict. Mark Beaumont meets the grandson of a WW1 soldier who rode for the Highland Cyclist Battalion and survived brutal combat on the front line.

Mayor of Lowell

This short documentary chronicles the culture and arts of Cambodian Americans and the Lowell, MA community through the eyes of Sokhary Chau, the first Cambodian American Mayor in the United States. Chau immigrated to the U.S. at seven years old to escape the Khmer Rouge genocide. Through this unique story that showcases the best of Lowell—immigrant success, assimilation, history, and the development of the arts—we see a man born into a war-torn country who comes to America to be a first-in-the-nation leader.

The Tunes

A café in the north of Brussels. Days are punctuated by the songs that the customers sing at all hours, to amuse themselves, to remember or to pass the time. Those songs transform the place little by little, making the film a strange musical.

Reimagining A Buffalo Landmark

The Richardson Olmsted Campus, a former psychiatric center and National Historic Landmark, is seeing new life as it undergoes restoration and adaptation to a modern use.