Darwin's Darlings

Atlas

October 2022 •Slovenian

An atmospheric journey, following the unstoppable forces that shape this world. A story beyond humanity.

Microcosmos

September 1996 •French

A documentary of insect life in meadows and ponds, using incredible close-ups, slow motion, and time-lapse photography. It includes bees collecting nectar, ladybugs eating mites, snails mating, spiders wrapping their catch, a scarab beetle relentlessly pushing its ball of dung uphill, endless lines of caterpillars, an underwater spider creating an air bubble to live in, and a mosquito hatching.

Under the Cold Stars

September 2020 •Italian

Set in the mountains of northeast Italy, this film may be considered an observational documentary about rural life. Although this is undeniably the case, at the same time Under the cold stars can hardly be considered a documentary: the microcosm on which it focuses appears to be a reflection of a broader reality and perhaps a way to deal with the themes of man’s existence and his relationship with animals, nature and, most importantly, with time. As written by Franco Piavoli "it is a film which essentially relies on images and sound, where words themselves are sound and the music of life, of the relentless flow of time."

Nature's Double Lifters

June 1932 •English

Mary Field edits the time-lapse photography of F. Percy Smith to show the life cycle of ferns and related plants.

He Would a-Wooing Go

June 1936 •English

Mary Field and F Percy Smith create this whimsical look at the breeding habits and life cycle of frogs.

The Life Cycle of the Newt

June 1942 •English

Underwater and microscopic photography by F. Percy Smith tell the story of a newt's life.

Bird Brain

June 2012 •English

With a combination of wild observations and specially designed tests, this film will guide us through the latest research on bird intelligence, a journey which will re-define the meaning of ‘bird-brained’.

Life in Four Elements

March 2017 •Finnish

A journey into four classical elements through the four main characters of the film. The main characters in the movie represent each of their own elements.

Au fil de l'eau, les anguilles sacrées de Polynésie

January 2020 •French

New Life

March 2023 •English

"Bagong Buhay" is a short experimental film that dispels the common belief that packing up and moving to a new place will magically improve one's quality of life. The film challenges this presumption by portraying two contrasting ways of life through objects and locations, encouraging viewers to think critically about the complexities of what makes a better life. In the Philippines, it's believed that relocating to a new area will bring about positive changes in one's existence. True satisfaction is a complex and multifaceted notion, and "Bagong Buhay" encourages us to ponder that relocating to a new place is not a surefire way to attain it.

And there was evening and there was morning. The first day

February 2025 •English

With the lack of personal video archive, Youhanna (the filmmaker) creates false memories using lost home videotapes shot between the 1990s and 2000s in Europe, Africa, and Asia, with the help of an Artificial intelligence programme, until a real, personal video archive surfaces, transporting him into the past to relive one more memory with his late mother.

The Velvet Queen

December 2021 •French

High up on the Tibetan plateau. Amongst unexplored and inaccessible valleys lies one of the last sanctuaries of the wild world, where rare and undiscovered fauna lives. Vincent Munier, one of the world’s most renowned wildlife photographers takes the adventurer and novelist Sylvain Tesson (In the Forest of Siberia) with him on his latest mission. For several weeks, they’ll explore these valleys searching for unique animals and try to spot the snow leopard, one of the rarest and most difficult big cats to approach.

Cosmetic Criminals

January 2024 •English

A short mockumentary detailing the rise of intergenerational cosmetic theft through the eyes of an affected family.

Shark Gangs

July 2021 •English

Scientists have discovered and investigate the reason behind the behavior of sharks swimming around in gangs even though they are viewed as solitary predators.

Ukryté v lese, schované v tŕstí

January 2014 •Slovak

Das geheime Leben der Rothirsche

October 2020 •German

Na ptačích horách

January 1949 •Czech

á-B-C-D-é-F-G-H-CH-í-JONESTOWN

January 2023 •Czech

A children's film about the largest mass suicide of the 20th century reconstructs the 1978 event. The Reverend Jim Jones forced nearly a thousand followers of his People's Temple sect to drink poison in the settlement of Jonestown, Guyana, South America. A third of them were children. Jan Bušta gives sadists, voyeurs, and necrophiliacs one minute to leave the cinema. His self-reflective documentary, which is the result of ten years of time-lapse filming, does not depict dramatic scenes. To the sound of an audio recording from that fateful day, we see a collage of child ghosts preaching about escaping the corruption of the world.

Pandora Peaks

October 2004 •English

A dialogue-free documentary on former magazine model Pandora Peaks, with narration by Peaks and Meyer.

Comitiva Esperança

January 1985 •Portuguese