The ABCs of Book Banning

Magic Muscle Moments

December 2020 •Finnish

The daily life of an ill man is constantly interrupted by television advertisements. They promise some change to his life. He finds himself as a part of the adverts, but soon the empty promises become demonically possessive. The truth sets in.

Night and Fog

April 1959 •French

Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.

Daybreak Express

January 1953 •English

Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.

Une histoire très simple

January 1989 •French

No Crying at the Dinner Table

September 2019 •English

Filmmaker Carol Nguyen interviews her own family to craft an emotionally complex and meticulously composed portrait of intergenerational trauma, grief, and secrets in this cathartic documentary about things left unsaid.

Now Is the Time

September 2019 •English

When internationally renowned Haida carver Robert Davidson was only 22 years old, he carved the first new totem pole on British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii in almost a century. On the 50th anniversary of the pole’s raising, Haida filmmaker Christopher Auchter steps easily through history to revisit that day in August 1969, when the entire village of Old Massett gathered to celebrate the event that would signal the rebirth of the Haida spirit.

This Ink Runs Deep

September 2019 •English

In this documentary by Asia Youngman, Indigenous artists throughout Canada strive to reclaim their cultures and identities through a reawakening of tattoo practices, both traditional and contemporary.

High Cities of Bone

February 2017 •Portuguese

Karlon, born in Pedreira dos Húngaros (a slum in the outskirts of Lisbon) and a pioneer of Cape Verdean creole rap, runs away from the housing project to which he had been relocated.

From Victoria Street to Ang Mo Kio

May 2019 •English

This work documents a segment of Singapore’s education history –– the survival of the nation’s first Catholic missionary Chinese girls’ school through adversities during her formative years. It is a tribute to the arduous efforts and contributions of a generation of admirable educators who persevered in delivering the education of love with resilience and steadfastness.

Secret Life of Diddy

October 2024 •English

Secret Life Of Diddy will feature interviews with individuals connected to the hip-hop mogul, including Ray J, Lizzette Martinez, and Tiffany Red. The special addresses recent criminal charges against Diddy, who is currently in jail awaiting trial, as well as allegations of physical and sexual abuse brought by his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and others. The program aims to shed light on the allegations and ongoing legal developments that could have far-reaching repercussions for Diddy.

The Dionne Quintuplets

November 1978 •English

In 1934, Elzire Dionne delivered five identical girls. The Dionne Quintuplets follows Cecile, Emilie, Marie, Yvonne and Annette through twenty-one years of strange upbringing. When the girls were just infants, the premier of Ontario issued a court order removing them from parental care. Cut off from the world and their family, over-publicized, viewed twice daily in a special viewing compound, they grew up as prize exhibits. Director Donald Brittain uses old newsreel footage, home-movie sequences and interviews to depict a historic event that became a tragic exploitation of a family.

Honey Hunters

April 2016 •Polish

"Honey Hunters" is a life story of bees and people. In order to get to the bottom of the mysteries of the life of bees and show them to the audience, the camera enters a contemporary hive and a traditional wild beehive drilled in the trunk of an old tree. It wanders the forests in Poland and Ural, mountains in Nepal and... roofs of Paris and Warsaw. For millions years bees have been laboriously building the natural environment of our planet. These days, they started to die by millions. A programme of wild tree beekeeping reintroduction was launched in Polish forests. It has been an ancient local tradition. Maybe reaching for the past, the original model of coexistence of bees and people, for wild tree beekeeping, can help us to save the bees? After watching “Honey Hunters” everyone wants to have their own beehive and harvest their own honey!

The Ringleader: The Case of the Bling Ring

October 2023 •English

In a candid, first-time interview with Rachel Lee, the so-called teenage mastermind behind a string of high-profile celebrity robberies in 2008 and 2009, the film examines the motivations of Lee and a group of her friends who broke into celebrity homes in Hollywood to ransack and steal, exploring the possible reasons behind her actions including mental health issues and addictions, as well as the climate of celebrity excess that fueled the teens, recontextualizing the events behind the sensational headlines.

Bon Iver: Autumn

July 2019 •English

An intimate look at the creation of Autumn, a unique tour by the notoriously cryptic band Bon Iver.

Knox Mine Disaster

January 2019 •English

The catastrophic and avoidable coal mining disaster at the Knox Mine is recounted by the people who lived through the tragedy.

Inside the Game - Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

September 2023 •German

Hardly any other game has been as fervently debated as "Cyberpunk 2077". It came out late, was hardly playable on some consoles, and the designers received death threads afterwards. Now they are planning their comeback: with "Phantom Liberty". Once again, superstar Keanu Reeves is in the game - and Hollywood icon Idris Elba. "Inside the Game" follows the designers of CD Projekt Red not only at their workspace in Warsaw, but also during the first presentations of the demo version in Los Angeles and Cologne.

Earthbound, USA

October 2023 •English

American teenagers connect on the early internet to crusade for their favorite videogame of all time, pitting their fan site against a corporate goliath and their own looming adulthoods.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1977

July 2005 •German

Rainer Werner Fassbinder reflects on the various stages of his career, discusses how his motives behind filmmaking evolved up his film Despair.

Fairless

July 2015 •English

This is the story of unsung hero Steve Fairless, a country boy who represented Australia in road cycling at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. After the games, with professional opportunities limited, Steve retired from the sport to return to dairy farming to provide for his young family. He was 26 and in physiological terms, only really just arriving at his peak. However, the desire to compete never left him and at 50, Steve made a comeback of sorts. Within a season he was one of the best on the country for any age. Our film tracks his life, his comeback and his journey to the ultimate proving ground, the UCI World masters Championships in Slovenia. Steve is a great character, and his story is one of never letting go of a dream.

Grand Canyon

December 1958 •English

Grand Canyon is a 1958 American short documentary film directed by James Algar and produced by Walt Disney Productions. It is a pictorial interpretation of Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite. Grand Canyon is one of Walt Disney's more unconventional and experimental works, as it has musical accompaniment, but no dialogue or narration. The short won an Oscar at the 31st Academy Awards in 1959 for Best Short Subject (Live Action).