Like Stone Lions in the Gateway into Night (2012)

1970

Poland, 1970. When popular protests erupt in the streets due to rising prices, the communist government organizes a crisis team. Soon after, the police use their truncheons and then their firearms. The story of a rebellion from the point of view of the oppressors.

Escape from the World's Most Dangerous Place

Successful model Samira Hashi makes an emotional return to Somalia, one of the most dangerous places in the world and the place she was born. Civil war broke out in 1991, 10 days after Samira's birth, but two years later her family managed to flee the country and she grew up in the UK.Now, as Samira and the war both turn 21, she's going back for the first time to visit the people and places she left behind. The contrast with her safe and glamorous life in London could not be starker as she experiences firsthand the war's effect on a generation of young people growing up in conflict.

Iraqi Odyssey

Tracing the emigrations of his family over more than half a century, this riveting documentary epic from acclaimed expatriate Iraqi filmmaker Samir pays moving homage to the frustrated democratic dreams of a people successively plagued by the horrors of dictatorship, war and foreign occupation of Iraq.

30 Years of Democracy

Two journalists born in the mid '80s decide to take a look back at how their country changed in the last 30 years since the fall of communism. The end product is a documentary containing footage of political events and historical milestones significant to Romania accompanied by a narrator's voice walking the viewer through the events, and also interviews with Romanian politicians and other influential public figures sharing their thoughts and their different views on those events.

Colombia in My Arms

After 52 years of armed conflict the FARC guerrillas are about to hand over their arms in exchange for political participation and social inclusion of the poor. Ernesto is one of them. The much celebrated Colombian peace agreement throws Ernesto and the polarised society around him into chaos in which everyone is afraid of the future and their own survival.

Naked Cinema

In the early 70s Greek cinema entered in a period of crisis. One of its aspects was said "crisis of issues" and one of the exits heard in the name "erotic cinema". The genre was already acquaintance from the abundance of foreigner films, that was distributed in the grindhouses under the "adults only" motto and its Greek version had a lot of variants.

Nazi Death Camp: The Great Escape

The secret Nazi death camp at Sobibor was created solely for the mass extermination of Jews. But on the 14th October 1943, in one of the biggest and most successful prison revolts of WWII, the inmates fought back.

The Paris Opera

A behind-the-scenes look at the of how the Paris Opera is run under the direction of Stephane Lissner.

Into Great Silence

An intimate portrayal of the everyday lives of Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse, high in the French Alps (Chartreuse Mountains). The idea for the film was proposed to the monks in 1984, but the Carthusians said they wanted time to think about it. The Carthusians finally contacted Gröning 16 years later to say they were now willing to permit Gröning to shoot the movie, if he was still interested.

Yugoslavia: How Ideology Moved Our Collective Body

A research-based essay film, but also a very personal perspective on the history of socialist Yugoslavia, its dramatic end, and its recent transformation into a few democratic nation states.

Lenin and the Other Story of the Russian Revolution

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, is remembered as the instigator of the October Revolution of 1917 and, therefore, as one of the men who changed the shape of the world at that time and forever, but perhaps the actual events happened in a way different from that narrated in the history books…

War Game

A bipartisan group of U.S. defense, intelligence, and elected policymakers spanning five presidential administrations participate in an unscripted role-play exercise in which they confront a political coup backed by rogue members of the U.S. military, in the wake of a contested presidential election.

Mourning Rock

A documentary about Eleusina. The past and the present, in complete antithesis, coexist in a place spoiled by modern industry but which long ago hosted the Eleusinian Mysteries, the secret ceremonies that initiated the ancient Greeks into the miracles of life, death and the afterlife.

Genesis 2.0

A well-preserved mammoth carcass is found in the remote New Siberian Islands in the Arctic Ocean, opening up the possibility of a world-changing “Jurassic Park” moment in genetics.

The Shelter

It is winter at an emergency shelter for the homeless in Lausanne. Every night at the door of this little-known basement facility the same entry ritual takes place, resulting in confrontations which can sometimes turn violent. Those on duty at the shelter have the difficult task of “triaging the poor”: the women and children first, then the men. Although the total capacity at the shelter is 100, only 50 “chosen ones” will be admitted inside and granted a warm meal and a bed. The others know it will be a long night.

David Wants to Fly

A documentary. David Sieveking takes the advice of his idol, David Lynch and tries out Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's transcendental meditation technique.

Hearts and Minds

Many times during his presidency, Lyndon B. Johnson said that ultimate victory in the Vietnam War depended upon the U.S. military winning the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people. Filmmaker Peter Davis uses Johnson's phrase in an ironic context in this anti-war documentary, filmed and released while the Vietnam War was still under way, juxtaposing interviews with military figures like U.S. Army Chief of Staff William C. Westmoreland with shocking scenes of violence and brutality.

What They Found

The story of two soldier-cameramen, Sgt Mike Lewis and Sgt Bill Lawrie, who witnessed the liberation of Belsen during the closing days of World War II.

After Auschwitz

For six female Holocaust survivors, liberation from the camps marked the beginning of a lifelong struggle.

Chuck Norris vs Communism

In late eighties, in Ceausescu's Romania, a black market VHS bootlegger and a courageous female translator brought the magic of Western films to the Romanian people and sowed the seeds of a revolution.

Unwanted Witness

This documentary offers a complex portrait of Hollman Morris, the Colombian war journalist whose multiple award-winning news show Contravía is one of the few local current-affairs programs that refuses to pander to President Alvaro Uribe's staunchly authoritative government. While most television viewers in Columbia opt for variety shows and soap operas, citizens in search of suppressed truths tune in to Contravía to hear the latest news about forced disappearances, secret mass graves, and various other atrocities taking place all across the countryside. But when you live and work in the country that Reporters Without Borders claims is one of the most dangerous places in Latin America for a journalist to work, denouncing human rights abuses can be a dangerous game. Yet despite the danger to both himself and his family, Morris remains convinced that the situation in Columbia will never been improved if outspoken media figures like himself simply disappear into exile.

Above and Below

Above and Below is a rough and rhythmic roller coaster ride seating five survivors in their daily hustle through an apocalyptic world. A journey of challenges and beauty in uncomfortable places: Rick & Cindy, Godfather Lalo in the flood channels deep down under the shiny strip of Sin City. Dave in the dry and lonesome Californian desert and April in simulation for a Mars mission in the Utah desert. Through the hustle, the pain and the laughs, we are whisked away to an unfamiliar world, yet quickly discover the souls we encounter are perhaps not that different from our own.

The Sound of Insects: Record of a Mummy

The incredible story of how the mummified corpse of a 40-year-old man was discovered by a hunter in one of the most remote parts of the country. The dead man's detailed notes reveal that he actually committed suicide through self-imposed starvation only the summer before. Liechti's film is a stunning rapprochement of a fictional text, which itself is based upon a true event: a cinematic manifesto for life, challenged by the main character's radical renunciation of life itself.

The Pearl Button

The ocean contains the history of all humanity. The sea holds all the voices of the earth and those that come from outer space. Water receives impetus from the stars and transmits it to living creatures. Water, the longest border in Chile, also holds the secret of two mysterious buttons which were found on its ocean floor. Chile, with its 2,670 miles of coastline and the largest archipelago in the world, presents a supernatural landscape. In it are volcanoes, mountains and glaciers. In it are the voices of the Patagonian Indigenous people, the first English sailors and also those of its political prisoners. Some say that water has memory. This film shows that it also has a voice.

Greece: Secrets of the Past

GREECE: SECRETS OF THE PAST, directed by two-time Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Greg MacGillivray, is the stirring story of how a Greek archeologist of the 21st century is uncovering the secret history of his ancient ancestors who forged a society that continues to astound the world today with its ideas, inventions and achievements. Set against the breathtaking, azure vistas of the Greek Isles, the film merges a contemporary archeological “detective story” with some of the most advanced and painstaking digital re-creations ever undertaken for an IMAX® theatre film, with scenes that restore such centuries-old spectacles as the original Parthenon and the volcanic eruption that buried Santorini in 1646 BC.

Léthé

On the island of Amorgos, during summer. Small monuments were erected at the scene of a fatal accident: a photograph, a few words, flowers, religious or pagan objects. The deceased "stayed there": dead in transit, on a road, frozen forever.

100 Years

As the Communist Party of China celebrates its 100th anniversary, this documentary looks back at the party’s history, from the 1920’s, to the Civil War, the Great Leap Forward, the Great Famine, the Cultural Revolution and the reforms by Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. Did the Great Famine cost more than 15 million lives? How does the Cultural Revolution continue to shape Chinese politics today? What was capitalism like after Mao’s death? Through rare and never-before-seen historical footage, expert interviews and eyewitness accounts of the Great Famine, Tiananmen incident, and the Cultural Revolution, get to know how one party has so profoundly shaped China.

On Lavender

A documentary that is a deep exploration of gender identity within the context of Greek society, providing a multi-layered narrative that reflects the experiences of individuals navigating the complexities of gender in a culture where these topics are still emerging. Over four years, the filmmakers captured intimate stories of people confronting their gender identities, revealing how personal, societal, and familial expectations shape their journeys. The documentary aims to challenge the traditional norms of gender and to give voice to those whose experiences are often marginalized. It marks a significant step in Greece’s cinematic exploration of LGBTQ+ themes and is a pivotal contribution to the global conversation on gender identity.

A Sniper's War

A Sniper’s War is a story of a sniper, whose anti-US views led him to join the pro-Russian rebels in the ongoing Ukrainian conflict—a primary source of tension between the United States and Russia. When social media becomes a communication platform to schedule sniper duels, Deki’s rival threatens to kill him. The New York-based filmmaker, Olya Schechter, obtains unprecedented access to military bases and front line battles to paint an intimate portrait of the complex and fascinating nature of a man walking the tightrope that often comes to the morality of war: is Deki a solder or a killer?

Step Across the Border

An avant-garde documentary film on English guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith.

Brother's Body

(Re)immersing himself in body building, David Nicolas Parel endeavours to follow his younger brother as he trains for the Arnold Classic – Arnold, from the famous Austrian/American actor and politician. Convinced he is the one who inspired this passion, he worries about the risks this sport has on his brother’s health and aspires to strengthen their now strained bond. A film on the edge.