Daily life at Iran’s second biggest zoo is interrupted when Mohsen, the head keeper, takes Maya, his 4 year old Bengal tiger, to perform in a fiction film in the north of the country by the Caspian Sea which was once home to the now extinct caspian tiger. In between filming, Mohsen lets Maya off the leash and allows her to roam in this sparsely populated landscape – she is the first ‘free’ tiger in Iran in over 60 years. But instead of the perfect experience of the wild that Mohsen hopes it to be, the trip kickstarts a series of events that mark the end of Mohsen and Maya’s relationship and in the process reveals a much darker and more complex side to Mohsen and the Zoo in which Maya and the other animals are kept.
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This film is a portrait of unique cultural space for Spirits, Gods and People. While permanent theatres are commonly built in most cosmopolitan modern cities, Hong Kong preserves a unique theatrical architecture, a Chinese tradition that has lasted more than a century – Bamboo Theatre.
Elizabeth and Gulistan Mirzaei’s moving short film shines a light on life for refugees in modern-day Afghanistan through the story of Shaista, a young man who—newly married to Benazir and living in a camp for displaced persons in Kabul—struggles to balance his dreams of being the first from his tribe to join the Afghan National Army with the responsibilities of starting a family.
Lesbians in the Bible Belt endure bigotry and sexism.
Alone in a small white house on the edge of national road 1, the Trans-Saharan road, which connects Algiers to Tamanrasset crossing the immensity of the desert, Malika, 74, one day opened her door to the director Hassen Ferhani, who came there to scout with his friend Chawki Amari, journalist at El Watan and author of the story Nationale 1 which relates his journey on this north-south axis of more than 2000 km. The Malika of Amari’s novel, which Ferhani admits to having first perceived as a “literary fantasy”, suddenly takes on an unsuspected human depth in this environment naturally hostile to man. She lends herself to the film project as she welcomes her clients, with an economy of gestures and words, an impression reinforced by the mystery that surrounds her and the rare elements of her biography which suggest that she is not from the region, that she left the fertile north of Algeria to settle in the desert where she lives with a dog and a cat.
What does a retired police officer, a dog trainer, the founder of a political party and anti-government protesters have in common? They’ve all met on the streets of Bucharest, 23 years after the Romanian Revolution, determined to reclaim the public space. Vlad Petri is following their stories for one year, from the first days of the anti-government protests to the final days of the Referendum against the President. The film raises questions about the role of the public space, the power of the individual and the understanding of democracy in a society caught between a communist past and an uncertain future.
Once known as a Polish Catholic town, Hamtramck, MI is now home to America’s first Muslim-majority city. As election season approaches, candidates set out to win hearts, minds and votes in this rapidly changing city. Going behind the scenes of small-town politics, HAMTRAMCK, USA explores the beauty and challenges that come with multiculturalism.
The meals based on indigenous ingredients and sustainability at the forefront. Project managers are soon faced with problems ranging from sourcing ingredients to staffing a high-end restaurant in a location inhabited by only 53 people.
Once upon a time, villagers in a tiny hill town in Tuscany came up with a remarkable way to confront their issues: they turned their lives into a play. Every summer, their piazza became their stage and residents of all ages played a part – the role of themselves. Monticchiello’s annual tradition has attracted worldwide attention and kept the town together for 50 years, but with an aging population and a future generation more interested in Facebook than farming, the town’s 50th–anniversary performance just might be its last. SPETTACOLO tells the story of Teatro Povero di Monticchiello, interweaving episodes from its past with its modern-day process as the villagers turn a series of devastating blows into a new play about the end of their world.
The film focuses on Tarlton, who enters his second Race Across America race. The grueling bike race sees more than half of the participants not finishing, but Tarlton is determined to win his division. Until the Wheels Come Off follows his 12-day odyssey as his family and friends serve as his support crew in a journey that stresses not only their physical limits, but their emotional limits as well.
Gerald Blanchard’s surprising, first-hand account as a calculating and accomplished criminal mastermind. Two unlikely detectives track him worldwide as he commits increasingly elaborate heists in a quest for fame.
Explore the contradictions at the heart of famed financier Carl Icahn. A polarizing figure described as both an activist investor and a ruthless corporate raider, Icahn rose from modest beginnings in Queens to become one of the richest men in the world, embodying the American Dream. Yet, he openly criticizes corporate excess and the huge wealth inequality gap.
Proving that India’s heroes aren’t just in Bollywood, Blood Relative follows the remarkable story of an activist fighting to save two young adults who are dying from the blood disease thalassemia. Suffering stunted growth and lacking access to medication, they remain trapped in the bodies of children. Chronicling one man’s battle, the film exposes modern India”s broken healthcare system.