Golden Thread

Bauxita

July 2023 •English

Brazil is one of the most dangerous countries for environmentalists. The rural community of Belisário holds the country's second largest bauxite reserve, right below one of the most bio-diverse areas in the world: the Atlantic Forest. The small community was shaken when the beloved Gilberto, a Franciscan Friar, received a death threat followed by the lines: "you've been talking against mining way too much". PT: O Brasil é um dos países mais perigosos do mundo para defensores do meio ambiente. Em Minas Gerais, a comunidade rural de Belisário abriga a segunda maior reserva de bauxita do país, em uma das áreas de maior biodiversidade do mundo: a Mata Atlântica. A tranquilidade do pequeno vilarejo foi abalada quando Frei Gilberto, um franciscano que dedica sua vida à preservação da natureza, recebeu uma ameaça de morte com o seguinte aviso: "você tem falado demais contra a mineração".

Self-Portrait: 47 KM 2020

October 2023 •Chinese

As coronavirus begins to sweep the globe, Zhang returns to her father’s village with her camera, seeking to understand where the extraordinary phenomenon might sit in the grand palimpsest of China’s history. As with all of Zhang’s work, this is a committed, reflective, formally assured non-fiction film, grounded in collaboration and blessed with an uncanny sense of unhurried time.

Solid Ground

May 2015 •French

The unique journey of three reserved and endearing teens as they test their limits, discover the meaning of strong connections and live and learn in synch with the natural rhythms of the land and its animals.

When the Cows Come Home

July 2022 •English

When the Cows Come Home introduces audiences to Tilly and Maggie, a pair of cows that musician, journalist, artist and cow whisperer, Andrew Johnstone has befriended and subsequently saved from slaughter. The garrulous herdsman is enthusiastic to expound his views on animal husbandry, bovine communication and the vagaries of life in general, before the film walks us back through the events that have shaped the singular farmer-philosopher. From personal family tragedy to warring with Catholic school authorities, innovating in Hamilton’s nascent music scene to creating guerrilla art installations; Johnstone’s life has had a truly idiosyncratic trajectory. Mental health issues may have seen him retreat to life on the farm, but the film makes clear its subject’s restless inquisitiveness is far from being put out to pasture.

A Hakka Song

April 2024 •Chinese

A song is heard in the distance. It comes from the Hekeng village, famous for its ancient earthen buildings, also called tulou. It is where the last original Hakka families live amidst the exodus of those looking for a more modern environment. Among them there is Zhang Zhouyin, an elderly man concerned about the state of the village's temple; or her daughter-in-law, Wei Yi, who spends her entire day guiding tourists through these awe-inspiring houses. And then there’s young Zhang Weibo, her son, who manages to find joy even in the simplest of things... Hekeng: a place frozen in time whose songs have endured for centuries.

While The Night Falls

May 2023 •Spanish

An intimate portrait of the lives of Delvys and Carlos, siblings who live alone with their elderly mother in a rural part of a small Cuban town. The film portrays a family engulfed in their inner worlds. Between the sacrifices they make out of love for those who are present, and their longing for things that are absent, they struggle to find meaning as they reflect, contemplate, and carry the weight of existence, trying together, to move forward.

The Balloonist

October 2023 •English

Meet Brian Boland—the beloved, eccentric hot air balloonist and artist from the rural Upper Valley of Vermont.

The Cheese & The Worms

July 2006 •Japanese

A documentary that records the daily life of a mother with a limited life expectancy and a grandmother, directed by the daughter, Haruyo Kato.

Pick up the Wind

April 2021 •Spanish

A short film following Anthony, a young child from the small, rural town of San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba. We see him in different moments of his daily life as he interacts with different forms of environmental, familial, and social influences. While Anthony displays contradictory traits of creativity, destruction, rigidity, and tenderness as he interacts with his external and internal worlds, we see a story built from the the multidimensionality of Anthony's layered personality as a young man.

Broken Hill

September 2009 •English

A sheep-rancher's son aspires to win a music conservatory scholarship, but to apply he needs musicians who can play his music. Circumstances lead him to form a band out of prison inmates.

Santa Fiesta

April 2016 •English

SINOPSIS / SYNOPSIS Every year in Spain, some 16,000 Fiestas are organized, during which animals are used. Honoring the Holy Virgin and the Patron Saints, and with the blessing of religious and political authorities, entire towns -including children- are involved in celebrations of unbelievable cruelty. 60,000 animals are hence abused each year during these “Fiestas of Blood”.

Ghosts: Long Way Home

October 2019 •Portuguese

After a spell cast by Grandma Faraway, the oldest son of a small family encounters the ghost of his late Grandma Maria still living in her old house, and they chat as they used to.

Little Tornadoes

May 2022 •English

A poignant drama set in 1970s Australia about a newly-single father’s efforts to weather the turbulence of change – in his life and in the world around him – while a new immigrant endeavours to find her place in a foreign land.

Los problemas de mamá

February 1970 •Spanish

Mama's four girls are all newlyweds or engaged to be married. Four hubby/fiances plus inlaws = wacky complications.You betcha.

Comitiva Esperança

Invalid date •Portuguese

La détresse au bout du rang

March 2020 •French

The River Woman

December 2024 •Portuguese

Sofia grew up taking refuge in the river of the village where her grandmother, Salomé, lives. The lightness of summers spent swimming comes to an abrupt end with Salomé's death. Sofia returns to an empty home that is nothing more than a reminder of old routines and mismatched ways of showing love. But, led by the memory of a moment of courage long gone, she is confronted with a final encounter in the night.

India - Hardwar

February 1931 •

Amateur shots of pilgrims and temples at Haridwar, followed by rural scenes and the Gorrie family at home.

Six Man

Invalid date •English

During the 2012 season, two Montana High School teams compete in 6-man football, a smaller version of American football with increasing popularity in rural communities. It's pure football, for the sake of football, played by boys of all sizes and abilities, for themselves and for the communities who know them oh so well. No television timeouts. No place to sit. Six Man Football.

Where is heaven

November 2023 •English

Maverick soul mates Ged and Dave are on a mission through the winding lanes and hidden tracks of North Devon, to record the lives and experiences of people living without mains electricity.