After decades of hurricanes and oil spills, Louisiana faces a new threat – hordes of monstrous 20 pound swamp rats. Known as “nutria”, these invasive South American rodents breed faster than bounty hunters can “control” them. With their orange teeth and voracious appetite they are eating up the coastal wetlands that protects Thomas and his town of Delacroix Island from hurricanes, but the people who have lived here for generations will not give up without a fight.

This intimate, uncannily moving documentary profiles Norma Canner, a pioneer in dance movement therapy, who found in dance a way to help people who had been discarded by society. The film traces the evolution of Norma’s career from Broadway actress in the ’40s, through her ground-breaking work in creative movement with disabled and mentally retarded children in the ’60s, to her present work as a dance therapist with adults. Utilizing drawing, music, theater, and dance in the context of other modes of therapy, her work has proved extraordinarily beneficial for handicapped individuals, as well as providing cathartic healing experiences for those with deep emotional scars; And her work with children who were blind, deaf, or autistic has became a model.

The Joffrey Ballet: Mavericks of American Dance, narrated by Mandy Patinkin, tells the full story of this groundbreaking company, from their founding in 1956 to the present.

The film is about a project from Christopher Kirkleys called “Sahel Sounds”. He owns an independent label and travels through the Sahel area in Africa, to find musician with an unique sound. The music he uses for his vinyl publication is often in low audio quality but authentic. The plot shows the whole process, from negotiating a fair deal with musician to producing the vinyl. He also organizes European tours, in the movie he is on a trip with Mamman Sani and Mdou Moctar, two musician who were found by Kirkleys in Niger.

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.

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Skilfully revealing the homophobia behind the headlines, this doc traces the devastating impact of the 1980s AIDS epidemic and clears the name of the Québécois flight attendant who was infamously known as “patient zero.”

The story of a mom whose son healed from all allergies and asthma after consuming raw milk, and real food from farms. It depicts people all over the country who formed food co-ops and private clubs to get these foods, and how they were raided by state and local governments.

The Roya, valley in the South of France at the border with Italy. Cédric Herrou, farmer, cultivates its olive trees. The day where he crosses the road of the refugees, he decides, with other inhabitants of the valley, to welcome them. To offer them a refuge and help them to remove their request to asylum.

The first feature film from accomplished short filmmaker Kate Shenton, On Tender Hooks is a documentary film delving into the world of human suspension and the people involved. Kate spends a year following a different people and group of suspenders. Every Sunday they pierce themselves with hooks and hang in mid-air from rigs in a display that challenges the perceptions and squeamishness of even the most hardened. The film is a fly on the wall documentary showing how the ordinary human body can achieve extraordinary things. Beginning with groups in London, and then following events in Rico, Croatia and Oslo, Norway, the film depicts a wide variety of experience and opinions, and delves thoughtfully into a deeply misunderstood practice On Tender Hooks was a self-funded project filmed and edited by director Kate Shenton. Completed in 2012 it is an example of independent film-making at its purest.

Breakthrough theatre company The Last Great Hunt chases the chance to take their award-winning storytelling to the world.

In an intimate and unflinching account dealing with grief, ‘Alice is Still Dead’ tells the story of a murdered loved one from the victim’s family perspective. From the detective’s notification to her family to facing the killer in court, we see the pain, anger and heartbreak a family must endure while the nightmare is investigated. The filmmaker is the brother of the late Alice Stevens and, in this tribute, ultimately asks if it’s even possible to move forward after such a traumatic event.