THIN LINE

Elvis & Priscilla: Conditional Love

June 2023 •English

Elvis and Priscilla are one of the most famous celebrity couples of all time. But the story that lies beneath the glamorous facade is more toxic than what first meets the eye. Elvis has defined Pricilla's life. His comment that she was "young enough that he could train her any way he wanted", in the end, came true. Though their relationship was bound by true love, what were the conditions that let it flourish?

Archipelago

December 2022 •French

A true animated film about invented islands. About an imaginary, linguistic, political territory. About a real or dreamed country, or something in between. Archipelago is a film of drawings and speeches, that tells and dreams a place and its inhabitants, to tell and dream a little of our world and times.

Rodman: For Better or Worse

September 2019 •English

While Rodman is no doubt one of the greatest talents in NBA history, he is just as famous for his off-court exploits. 30 for 30 explores the reasons behind him becoming the character he is known as today.

Relentless

March 2014 •English

Life has not been kind to Giacobbe Fragomeni. He spent his childhood in the bleak outskirts of Milan, in a cruel environment. An alcoholic father who used to beat his wife and the kids. It didn’t take him long to go down the road to drug addiction. Following the death of his father, sister and mother, this dark tunnel full of misery brought him to utter desperation. But Giacobbe was not just anyone; alone he started his own fight against addiction, beginning to box “in order to lose weight”. Thanks to the devotion and affection of his first trainer, Ottavio Tazzi, Giako built a bright career. “Boxing saved my life.” In 2008, after overcoming more of life’s obstacles, he became Cruiserweight World Champion WBC.

Faya Dayi

September 2021 •Oromo

A spiritual journey into the highlands of Harar, immersed in the rituals of khat, a leaf Sufi Muslims chewed for centuries for religious meditations – and Ethiopia’s most lucrative cash crop today. A tapestry of intimate stories offers a window into the dreams of youth under a repressive regime.

Kids

March 2011 •German

In Bettina Büttner’s exquisitely lucid documentary Kinder (Kids), childhood dysfunction, loneliness, and pent-up emotion run wild at an all-boys group home in southern Germany. The children interned here include ten-year-olds Marvin and Tommy. Marvin, fiddling with a mini plastic Lego sword, explains matter-of-factly to the camera, “This is a knife. You use it to cut stomachs open.” Dennis, who is even younger, is seen in a hysteric fit, mimicking some pornographic scene. Boys will be boys, but innocence is disproportionately spare here. Choosing not to dwell on the harsh specifics, Büttner reveals the disconcerting manner in which traumatic episodes can manifest themselves in the mundane — a game of Lego, Hide and Seek, or Truth or Dare. Filmed in lapidary black-and-white, Büttner’s fascinating film sheds light on childhood from the boys’ characteristically disadvantaged perspective — one not yet fully cognizant — leaving much ethically to ponder over.

Changes

April 2007 •Icelandic

Tímamót, or Changes in English. An upbeat, heartwarming story about Gudjon, Sigurbjorn and Steinthor who lived together for decades along with several other inhabitants in the Tjaldanes Institution, in a peaceful valley close to Reykjavik. When a decision is made to close down the institution, their life takes an unexpected turn and they discover a new side to life and to themselves.

The Fight for the Soul of Seattle

December 2020 •English

“The Fight for the Soul of Seattle” examines the role of Seattle’s City Council in allowing the situation to reach what many experts consider epidemic levels under the guise of a compassionate approach to people who suffer from substance addiction and who commit crimes to feed their habit. It documents the heartbreaking condition of people on the streets, and the crushing decisions Seattle entrepreneurs are forced to contemplate as their life savings and dreams are destroyed by theft, vandalism and a dwindling customer base. This documentary also explores potential bold solutions to treat those living on the streets and pair them with agencies and assistance that can provide a clear path away from the endless circle of addiction and crime.

Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy

January 2021 •English

A cheap, powerful drug emerges during a recession, igniting a moral panic fueled by racism. Explore the complex history of crack in the 1980s.

Acts of Violence

January 1985 •English

A riveting expose about the personalities of murderers and their motives. This 72 minute film covers the McDonalds' restaurant massacre, President Reagan's assassination attempt, serial murderer Henry Lee Lucas and others.

Seattle is Dying

March 2019 •English

KOMO Anchor Eric Johnson takes an in-depth look at the impact the drug and homelessness problem is having on our city and possible solutions in "Seattle is Dying," a news documentary that aired on KOMO-TV in March, 2019.

Openland

October 2009 •English

Openland is an art film guided by issues surrounding micro states and its derivative definitions. Through intertwining interviews, meta-narratives, and digital landscapes, Openland unfurls a dialogue between consciousness, individuality and collectivity.

La restanza

November 2021 •Italian

Castiglione d'Otranto, in the South of Italy. A group of thirty-year-olds no longer accept that the solution to the economic, ecological and political problems of the territory is always "to leave". They propose to the villagers who own pieces of uncultivated land, often felt as a burden, to put them in common. They decide to stay, to link their lives to the land and to invest in a value: being together. Castiglione becomes the village of restance. They cultivate ancient seeds and local biodiversity, they make decisions together, they develop a local economy. Accepting the shadows of the past, another potential of the place is rediscovered.

Meth Storm

March 2017 •English

As police and DEA agents battle sophisticated cartels, rural, economically-disadvantaged users and dealers–whose addiction to ICE and lack of job opportunities have landed them in an endless cycle of poverty and incarceration–are caught in the middle.

Who are we? Psychoanalysis of Ukrainians

December 2021 •Ukrainian

Zurück in Bismuna

November 2011 •German

Christian, Finn and Moritz became addicted to drugs as teenagers. In 1999, the film "Bismuna - Ein Abenteuerfilm" was made about the three teenagers and their counselor as they traveled to an indigenous tribe for the drug cure. Now, some 10 years later, it shows what the men have done with their lives.

The Goat Who Climbed to Heaven

April 2019 •Latvian

This film is a story about that time in the Baltics, Latvia, and Riga. Young rebels of 1960s – nonconformists, hippies and beatniks – have turned into a generation of well-known writers, poets, musicians, directors, as well as politicians of the new independent Latvia. The ones who were 18, 20, or 25 in 1960s are half a century older today. The protagonists of the film are united by the bohemian gathering place of their youth, a small nameless cafe in the Old Town of Riga, commonly referred to as “Kaza” (The Goat). This place is surrounded by legends, myths and humorous stories.

Scars

January 2018 •French

We admire beauty; we recoil from bodies that are marred, disfigured, different. Didier Cros’ moving, intimate film forces us to question what underlies our notions of beauty as we join a talented photographer taking stunning portraits of several people with profound visible scars which have dictated certain elements of their lives but have not come to define their humanity. The subjects' perceptions of themselves are dynamic, unexpected, and even heartwarming. This is an unforgettable journey to be shared with the world.

les mémoires d'un bébé

October 2009 •French

L'Utérus artificiel, le ventre de personne

May 2010 •French