Balakrishna (2019)

"An Untitled Film" by George Alshevskij-Jones

“An Untitled Film” by George Alshevskij-Jones is a short documentary/visual essay about the struggles of moving to seek a better future in a different country. The research for the film was done by observing and talking to people who have left their home country. It doesn’t matter what country a person has left and in which country he has found himself, the general experiences and emotions stay the same. The most important message that I want the film to convey is that everything is possible and home is not a place on a map, but a place in the soul of each person that I spoke to. The unconventional way of showing many people as one is not just a way of making the film more convenient to create, but a way to fit a much information into one consistent image, that the audience is more likely to understand and perceive as the author intended it. My own experience blended in with the experiences of others.

All of Me

"Take my love" is a documentary film about "Las Patronas", a group of women who daily cook, pack and throw food to the migrants riding the "Beast" train.

Calls from Moscow

A prefabricated estate in Moscow is meant as a transit stop for four queer Cuban exiles – until Russia’s attack on Ukraine radically shifts their outlook. Moving telephone calls back home provide the structure of Luís Alejandro Yero’s debut work.

Devant – Contrechamp de la rétention

Pauline, Norah, Kristina and others wait for hours, sitting under a hut deep in the Bois de Vincennes. In front of the administrative detention center (CRA) in Paris, they have all come to see their loved ones locked up. Lives on hold, awaiting deportation or release. On this stage, these women tell their stories, talk to each other, share their experience, their revolt and their dreams with new visitors. They are the mirror of migrant detention, its reverse view.

Serengeti Shall Not Die

The film tells of the beginnings of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. At the end of the 1950s, the Tanzanian National Park Administration wanted to fence in the protected area around the Ngorongoro Crater. Bernhard and Michael Grzimek were invited by the national park administration in 1957 to get a precise picture of the animal migrations and to provide the national park administration with the values ​​they needed for their project. Using a new counting method with two airplanes, the Grzimeks found out that the migration of the herds was different than assumed.

Elephant

Disneynature’s Elephant follows African elephant Shani and her spirited son Jomo as their herd make an epic journey hundreds of miles across the vast Kalahari Desert. Led by their great matriarch, Gaia, the family faces brutal heat, dwindling resources and persistent predators, as they follow in their ancestors’ footsteps on a quest to reach a lush, green paradise.

Horton Hears a Who!

An imaginative elephant named Horton hears a faint cry for help coming from a tiny speck of dust floating through the air. Horton suspects there may be life on that speck and despite a surrounding community, who thinks he has lost his mind, he is determined to save the tiny particle.

Displaced Perssons

Per Persson left Sweden 40 years ago. In Pakistan he fell in love and became the father of two daughters. Trouble starts when the girls grow up and the family decides to emigrate to Sweden. When they end up living in a caravan outside Hässleholm, all their expectations are dashed.

Alone

Fearing for their lives, Afshin, Alain and Patricia fled their country, without their parents, when they were only children. They had to start all over here in Canada in the hope of a better life. Combining real shooting and animated cinema, "Alone" bears the imprint of hope: how does a child manage to rebuild himself in a new country, when he has left everything behind?

Visions of Europe

Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.

An American Tail

A young mouse named Fievel and his family decide to migrate to America, a "land without cats," at the turn of the 20th century. But somehow, Fievel ends up in the New World alone and must fend off not only the felines he never thought he'd have to deal with again but also the loneliness of being away from home.

Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness

Elephants disrupt the lives of a family deep in the jungles of Northern Siam, and an entire village.

In the Footsteps of Elephant

Follow filmmakers as they capture the epic journey of African elephants across the Kalahari desert. The team faces extreme weather, inaccessible terrain, crocodile-infested waters and close encounters with lions in order to shine a light on these remarkable creatures and their ancient migrations.

Baggages

This documentary focuses on immigrant teens between the ages of 12 and 17 who share the story of their migration and their adaption to life in Canada through theatre. Young but wise, these children describe their experiences with emotion and authenticity.

The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)

Co-directed by acclaimed cinematographer Ellen Kuras and subject Thavisouk Phrasavath, this haunting documentary chronicles a refugee family’s epic journey from Laos in the aftermath of the secret war waged by the United States there to New York, where they find themselves fighting a different kind of war on the streets of Brooklyn. Filmed over the course of 23 years, THE BETRAYAL is a visually and emotionally stunning look at the complex ways in which the political shapes the personal.

Temporary Identity

What does it mean to belong to a place, a country? In a south Tel Aviv elementary school, that question is addressed head-on by a fourth-grade class and their teacher. The children are asylum seekers whose families mostly do not have a legal status in Israel, yet learn, sing and play in Hebrew all the while examining their identity and sense of belonging.

Pangolin: Kulu's Journey

Rescued from poachers, an endangered baby pangolin embarks on a journey back to the wild with help from a devoted human guardian in this documentary.

Save Our Souls

Bobbing around on Mediterranean waters aboard the Ocean Viking, aid workers from the French relief service SOS Méditerranée gaze at the horizon. Is that a rubber dinghy in the distance, or is it garbage? The organization sails up and down the Libyan coast looking to pick up refugees in boats. On board is a 30-strong team ready to offer help and support refugees with their asylum applications.

Football And Immigration, 100 Years Of Common History

Football is both the place, the crystallization of sporting passion and the witness of identity imaginations. It is also an interesting and relevant area for discussing the migration issue. From the 1930s to the present day, football, notably with the composition of the French team, has reflected the plurality of the French population. Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane, Basile Boli... these four footballers alone illustrate the four major waves of immigration that France has experienced.

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.

Attenborough and the Giant Elephant

David Attenborough investigates the remarkable life and death of Jumbo the elephant - a celebrity animal superstar whose story is said to have inspired the movie Dumbo. Attenborough joins a team of scientists and conservationists to unravel the complex and mysterious story of this large African elephant - an elephant many believed to be the biggest in the world. With unique access to Jumbo's skeleton at the American Museum of Natural History, the team work together to separate myth from reality. How big was Jumbo really? How was he treated in captivity? And how did he die? Jumbo's bones may offer vital clues.

I Am Here

For Ababacar and Mbaye - two Senegalese immigrants who met and established a great friendship in Buenos Aires - the challenge goes beyond adapting to the customs and living conditions in Argentina, or dealing with the indifference and racism they suffer on a daily basis: both came to an instance of their lives in which they must define a course, and in turn accept that their identities and needs have become more complex. The decision to leave their country was driven by the urgent objective of financially supporting their families, but the stay in Buenos Aires crossed them with new people, new ways of seeing things, and even an economic situation different from that which they found at home. Their different ways of seeing things allow them to see in each other a different version of themselves.

Elsewhere, Everywhere

A computer screen, images from the four corners of the world. We cross borders in one-click while another trip’s story reach us in bits, through text messages, chats, phone conversations, and an immigration office’s questionnaire. It’s the journey of Shahin, a 20-year-old Iranian boy who, fleeing his country alone, lands in Greece, then winds his way to England where he claims asylum.

Tides of Tradition: The Life of Colonel Kong

Robert Kongaika runs from his family to join the military and becomes the first Tongan US Air Force Colonel. This is the true story of the island traditions, faith, and family that made him into the father he is today.

Born to Be Wild

Born to Be Wild observes various orphaned jungle animals and their day-to-day behavioural interactions with the individuals who rescue them and raise them to adulthood. The film unfurls in two separate geographic spheres. Half of it takes place in the rain forests of Borneo, where celebrated primatologist Dr. Birute Galdikas assists baby orangutans; the other half takes place on the arid savannahs of Kenya, where zoologist Dame Daphne Sheldrick works with baby elephant calves.

Made in Miami

Made in Miami is the story of Camila's journey from arriving in Miami from Cuba as a kid to finding her voice and releasing her debut album. The film explores how generations of strong women have shaped the Cabello family and inspired Camila to become the artist she is today.

Rotzloch

At the end of a quarry, in a godforsaken place called Rotzloch, a new life begins for four young men.

Encanto

The tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, in a vibrant town, in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family—every child except one, Mirabel. But when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is in danger, Mirabel decides that she, the only ordinary Madrigal, might just be her exceptional family's last hope.

The Silence of the River

“Forgetting is complicit in recidivism,” says the commentary of this film dedicated to the demonstration of October 17, 1961 in Paris and the savage repression that followed. 11,538 Algerians will be arrested, which is reminiscent of the great Vel d’hiv roundup of July 16 and 17, 1942 where 12,884 Jews were arrested.
 The film brings together eyewitnesses including a priest, a peacekeeper, a couple of workers sympathetic to the Algerian cause, a lawyer, Paris municipal councilors including Claude Bourdet (then one of the leaders of the PSU and journalist to France Observateur), Gérard Monatte, the future police union leader, and the editor and writer François Maspero.

The Elephant Queen

Embark on an epic journey of family, courage, and coming home in this feature-length documentary. Join Athena, the majestic matriarch, as she leads her elephant herd across an unforgiving African landscape filled with vibrant wildlife.

Home of the Heart

Omid is an Iranian immigrant who came to France with his family. One evening, in the street, he is attacked and stabbed in the heart. But Omid gets back up! At the hospital, the diagnosis is blunt: he has no heart. Did he leave it behind in Iran?

Ten Pound Poms

In 1947, the Assisted Passage Scheme began, devised by the Australian government to bring in white British settlers. For just 10 pounds, they could start a new life in a sun-drenched land of opportunity, and over the next 25 years, more than a million people took up the offer. The scheme's pioneers tell their story.