Selective Fire

Vincent Lindon - Cœur sanglant

January 2025 •French

For three years, Vincent Lindon recorded himself on his iPhone to document his insecurities, fears and fits of rage as if in a diary. Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai use these unique recordings to paint an unusual portrait of the actor, who openly addresses personal questions about his profession, his age and his emotions.

How It Was Done in Odesa... or Odessans of All Countries, Unite!

January 1991 •Russian

A concert movie dedicated to the formation of the World Club of Odesa under the leadership of Mikhail Zhvanetsky. "Let many people be proud of the expanses and fields," says Mikhail Zhvanetsky himself about his favorite city, "someone falls to his favorite birch tree, thinking that it grows only here. We have the only homeland - Odesa, the only party of Odessites. Odesa is halfway around the world, from America to Australia. Odesa is a phenomenon, an Odessite is a character. Odesa was, is and will be one of the most famous cities on this temporal globe. And we, who stayed, and you, who left, will live and live with it.... Odesa is worth dedicating your youth and old age to it, and it will repay you like a native land".

The Blow: Chronicle of a Conspiracy

March 2006 •Spanish

Argentina, 1973. The return of democracy marks the beginning of a new countdown to the next coup d'état: on March 24, 1976, the worst dictatorship in Argentine history is installed, the bitter fruit of a plot carefully hatched for months.

The Girls

June 2014 •Spanish

Four lucid grandmothers tell their story forgotten by history: the militancy and resistance of the young women of the leftist youth against the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez.

Esmeralda Bay

May 1989 •English

A priest secretly leads rebels in their struggle against the corrupt military dictatorship of the Central American country of Puerto Santo.

I Was Only 14

November 2016 •Dutch

Filmmaker Froukje van Wengerden’s 86-year-old grandmother shares a powerful memory from 1944, when she was just 14. As her story unfolds, we see a group of contemporary 14-year-old girls. Their procession of portraits permits the spectator to see simultaneously forward and back, into the future and towards the past. A miraculous testimonial that uses eye contact to focus the viewer inward and evoke unexpected emotions.

Fascism in Colour

January 2006 •English

After the World War I, Mussolini's perspective on life is severely altered; once a willful socialist reformer, now obsessed with the idea of power, he founds the National Fascist Party in 1921 and assumes political power in 1922, becoming the Duce, dictator of Italy. His success encourages Hitler to take power in Germany in 1933, opening the dark road to World War II. (Originally released as a two-part miniseries. Includes colorized archival footage.)

Mirror

March 1975 •Russian

A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.

Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain

July 2021 •English

An intimate, behind-the-scenes look at how an anonymous chef became a world-renowned cultural icon. This unflinching look at Anthony Bourdain reverberates with his presence, in his own voice and in the way he indelibly impacted the world around him.

Salvador

April 1986 •English

In 1980, an American journalist covering the Salvadoran Civil War becomes entangled with both the leftist guerrilla groups and the right-wing military dictatorship while trying to rescue his girlfriend and her children.

En el recuerdo habita el olvido

May 2025 •Spanish

In the Time of the Butterflies

October 2001 •English

Based on the book by Julia Alvarez. Three sisters become activists during the Dominican Republic's Trujillo regime when members of their family are killed by the government's troops.

The Circus

August 2010 •French

In the vestibule of a hospital room, a young boy waits to see his dying mother. The clamor and spiralling movements of bodies around him intensify, forming a grotesque circus—a cacophonous circle that pushes the child back, depriving him of one final touch of his mother's hand. Using rotoscoped drawings suggestive of charcoal sketches, as well as 3D and object animation techniques, The Circus compels viewing with its unsettling realism. Colour is employed metaphorically to subtly express the promise and the memory of maternal affection. Nicolas Brault's highly personal film, suffused with poetic modesty, casts a poignantly sincere gaze on the heartbreak of a child facing the fearful, mysterious experience of his mother's death.

Ein Traum von Revolution

April 2024 •German

When the revolution in Nicaragua won its victory nearly 40 years ago, the world began to dream. A young generation was taking the reins in a country of grand utopias. From West Germany alone, 15,000 “brigadists” travelled to help rebuild the war-torn country: liberals, greens, unionists, social democrats, leftists and church representatives harvested coffee and cotton, built schools, kindergartens and hospital wards. No movement has mobilised so many people. What became of the hopes and dreams of the revolutionaries and their supporters?

Kill It and Leave This Town

November 2020 •Polish

Fleeing from despair after losing those dearest to him, the hero hides in a safe land of memories, where time stands still and all those dear to him are alive.

A Bite of Bone

November 2021 •Japanese

A little girl reflects on her last summer with her father at his funeral.

Bachar, le maître du chaos

June 2021 •French

Grandma in Two Dimensions: Memories, Images and Stories of Faith

April 2025 •Portuguese

A young anthropologist reflects on her late grandmother's religious background.

Margherita, The Woman Who Invented Mussolini

September 2014 •French

Margherita Sarfatti, Mussolini's lover and advisor, was a woman who exerted a great influence on the Duce and on Italian cultural life. Through archival documents, autobiographical texts and love letters, the documentary paints a portrait of the woman who helped create the myth of the Duce.

Aufenthaltserlaubnis

January 1978 •German

It follows Chilean writer Antonio Skármeta as he celebrates the end of the autocrats. Cheerful farewell rituals accompany others facing political persecution on their way to fly home.