Dounouia, la vie

In the Blood

September 2016 •Danish

It’s summer in Copenhagen, it’s a time of endless days and careless nights. Simon is a 23-year-old medical student. He and his friends party and drink and chase girls and wake up the next day to do the whole thing all over again. But it’s also a time of unrest and change among the boys. Dreams shatter, love hurts, and friendships dissolve.

Live Flesh

October 1997 •Spanish

When Victor attempts to seduce Elena, all he gets for his trouble is a one-way, six-year ticket to prison, where he concentrates on strengthening his mind, his body... and his desire for vengeance on the man who put him there. After his release and still madly in love with her, Victor will stop at nothing to win her over even if means revenge, for Elena has married David, the cop who sent him to prison!

8 Mile

November 2002 •English

For Jimmy Smith, Jr., life is a daily fight just to keep hope alive. Feeding his dreams in Detroit's vibrant music scene, Jimmy wages an extraordinary personal struggle to find his own voice - and earn a place in a world where rhymes rule, legends are born and every moment… is another chance.

"An Untitled Film" by George Alshevskij-Jones

January 2024 •English

“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.

Simón

October 2018 •English

A young Venezuelan freedom fighter seeks asylum in the United States, but his heart remains in the fight back home.

Étoile aux dents ou Poulou le magnifique

January 1971 •French

In the 70s, in the Goutte d'or district, three friends of Algerian origin: Poulou, a failed boxer, Amar, the clumsiest of thieves, and Jibé, a public writer for illiterate compatriots whose lives he knows in detail. As he betrays none of their secrets, he enjoys great prestige in the bistros where he works. The three of them lead a casual life, raising money by illicit means. It's only when Poulou and Amar leave that Jibé understands his isolation and marginalization. The images as well as the sounds help to reinforce the feeling that Paris is a city where he is both at home and a terrible stranger.

Kate & Jake

October 2023 •English

An ex-couple arrange to meet up again to share some exciting yet bittersweet news. This prompts the pair to reminisce about the early days of their relationship, and the events that transpired leading to its collapse.

Visions of Europe

May 2004 •English

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

Death to the Bikini!

March 2023 •French

Lili, a feisty 10-year-old girl, has always swam topless. When her parents force her to wear a bikini top for a trip to the water park, she rebels: why should she hide her flat chest when her friends, all boys, don't have to?

Swallowtail Butterfly

September 1996 •Japanese

The struggles of a group of outcasts living in "Yentown", in an alternate-future Japan.

Khadak

August 2006 •Mongolian

Set in the frozen steppes of Mongolia, a young nomad is confronted with his destiny after animals fall victim to a plague which threatens to eradicate nomadism.

1st of May: All Belongs to You

February 2008 •German

An eleven-year-old Turkish boy, two young men from a small town, and a cuckolded policeman from the sticks all find their way to Berlin on May Day, where, in the district of Kreuzberg, emotions come to the boil every year.

La León

July 2007 •Spanish

Deep in the lush river jungles of Argentina, Alvaro lives a solitary existence fishing and harvesting reeds. What sets him apart from the rest of his village is that he is gay. There are no other gay men in his world, his only means of expression is with the occasional outsider who passes through. Most of these men come via the river taxi El León, whose captain El Turu is a mean man with a homophobic streak and a secret. When illegal loggers appear in the jungle El Turu accuses Alvaro of aiding them, a dispute which leads both men towards confrontation.

my own kind

September 2019 •German

things that won't die

March 2022 •Spanish

After finding some videos she uploaded to YouTube when she was a child, Manuela attempts to follow the trail she herself has left on the Internet. A search that looks into all that things that won't never die and that, especially, thinks about the way we look at ourselves.

Offside

January 2005 •German

El Norte

October 1983 •Spanish

Brother and sister Enrique and Rosa flee persecution at home in Guatemala and journey north, through Mexico and on to the United States, with the dream of starting a new life.

The Wolves

June 2020 •Spanish

Max and Leo are 8 and 5 years old and have just immigrated to the US with their mother. Their days pass inside a tiny apartment, while they wait for their mother to come back, as they hold on to the hope of traveling to Disney.

Honeybee

March 2022 •English

An undocumented immigrant receives a heartwarming yet heartbreaking phone call from his daughter across the border.

Duma

April 2005 •English

An orphaned cheetah becomes the best friend and pet of a young boy living in South Africa.