This Beggar's Description

Ancla

January 2023 •Spanish

That Way Madness Lies...

May 2017 •English

One woman and her family trek the broken mental health system in an effort to save her brother as he descends into madness. Beginning as a testimony of his sanity, his iPhone video diary ultimately becomes an unfiltered look at the mind of an untreated schizophrenic.

Swans: A Long Slow Screw.

July 1986 •English

Features live footage from the Greed/Holy Money tour in 1986 in London and Nottingham and the A Long Slow Screw video.

Days

May 2023 •French

Marie-Philip is a PhD student and part-time professor who loves cats and Harry Potter. But one week before her 29th birthday, she is diagnosed with breast cancer. For a year, without false modesty, we follow her through each step as she confides in us with shocking honesty. An ode to life, to courage and to the resilience of all those who fight every day against disease.

Lost in America

November 2019 •English

Following director Rotimi Rainwater, a former homeless youth, as he travels the country to shine a light on the epidemic of youth homelessness in America.

Tarnation

October 2003 •English

Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette's documentary on growing up with his schizophrenic mother -- a mixture of snapshots, Super-8, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, and more -- culled from 19 years of his life.

Inseparable Sisters

February 2024 •English

An uplifting insight into the lives of seven-year-old conjoined twins, who weren’t expected to live more than a few days. Cared for by their devoted father, the girls have defied all odds.

Searching for Sam: Adrian Dunbar on Samuel Beckett

December 2019 •English

Samuel Beckett has fascinated Adrian Dunbar since he was a young student. Now, 30 years after Beckett's death in Paris, Dunbar explores what made the man who made Waiting for Godot.

Sieben Mulden und eine Leiche

April 2007 •German

Thomas Haemmerli is about to celebrate his fortieth birthday when he learns of his mother's death. A further shock follows when he and his brother Erik discover her apartment, which is filthy and full to bursting with junk. It takes the brothers an entire month to clean out the place. Among the chaos, they find films going back to the 1930s, photos and other memorabilia.

Paul Nizon: Der Nagel im Kopf

January 2020 •German

The film tells of the radical life-search by the Swiss writer Paul Nizon, born 1929 in Bern, Switzerland, who became what “he was meant to be” in Paris. Now 90-year-old, Paul Nizon grants insights into his life and work in a self-ironic, direct manner. The intimate portrait of a great literary outsider emerges, for whom the risk of life and the risk of writing merge into one and the same work of art.

Arada

May 2021 •German

The story of three Turkish men. They all grew up in Switzerland and all got deported after various criminal offenses.

Burns in the USA

January 2017 •English

Robert Burns was well aware of the revolution taking place across the Atlantic as he grew up. The poet was inspired. And America was to be inspired by him. From Abraham Lincoln to Frederick Douglass, and Walt Whitman to Bob Dylan, some of the most significant figures in American politics and culture have cited Burns as an influence.

Wake Up

September 2010 •English

Jonas Elrod woke up one day with the ability to see and hear angels, demons and ghosts. Filmed over the course of three years, this documentary follows Jonas and his girlfriend as they try to understand the phenomenon.

Harto the Borges

September 2000 •Spanish

A fragmented biography, inconclusive, partial, of the brilliant Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, based on different testimonies: his links with Leonor de Acedevo —his mother— and María Kodama —his second wife—; his vast culture and devout dedication to literature, his and that of others; his country: the politicians and the disloyal military. Borges gradually builds his own impersonation of Borges.

Stále spolu

May 2015 •Czech

Petr and Simona have been living together for twenty-five years. They have nine children, with whom they live in caravans on a meadow in Šumava – without television, computers, or running water. The authoritarian Petr calls himself a "professional father." He guides his offspring toward freedom and harmony with nature, while trying to protect them from the harmful influence of consumer society. The children only go to school for exams—their college-educated parents teach them at home. At first glance, the family cohesion, which is practically unparalleled in today's Western world, seems idyllic. Upon closer inspection, however, doubts begin to arise. The film Still Together explores the price of a free life outside of society and asks: is there a recipe for the ideal family?

Papa

June 2002 •English

This is Jon Alpert's portrait of his father's struggles with growing old and nearing the end of life.

Christian Kjærs sidste vilje

March 2024 •Danish

About the Possibility of a Life

April 2005 •Bulgarian

This film is a documentary portrait of the great Bulgarian Writer and poet Valeri Petrov.

Attenborough at 90

May 2016 •English

In celebration of his ninetieth birthday, Sir David Attenborough shares extraordinary highlights of his life and career with broadcaster Kirsty Young, including the inspiring people he has met, the extraordinary journeys he has made and the remarkable animal encounters he has had across the globe. Joined by colleagues and friends, including Michael Palin and Chris Packham, Sir David shares some of the unforgettable moments from his unparalleled career, from capturing unique animal behaviour for the first time to the fast-paced advances in wildlife filming technology, as well as stories of the wonder and fragility of the natural world - stories that Sir David has spent his life exploring and championing.

Victor Hugo, un siècle en révolutions

January 2018 •French