The Film That Didn't Get Made

The Hamlet Syndrome

August 2022 •German

Five young Ukrainians discuss life following the Maidan Revolution of 2014. Not all fought in the Russian-Ukrainian war, but it, regardless, shattered their life plans. Representing 'Generation Maidan', they face the question of how to cope with experiences of violence, how to go on. A local theatre director produces Hamlet, wherein they can use Shakespeare’s tragic character as a mirror and face their traumas onstage. For them, 'to be or not to be' is not simply text but an existential dilemma with no clear answer.

Looking for Simone

November 2024 •French

In 1949, philosopher and novelist Simone de Beauvoir wrote the groundbreaking The Second Sex, launching a disruptive discourse on women’s oppression and second-class citizenship. This film dissects the origins and relevance of this bible of feminism, charting de Beauvoir’s fact-finding journey across the US to research her book. The timely and fascinating film honors de Beauvoir’s brilliance and limitations, connecting her revolutionary ideas to the pressing issues women face today.

Mr. Death

June 2016 •Norwegian

An exclusive interview with Death as he goes about his everyday business.

Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki

November 2017 •Japanese

A look at legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki following his retirement in 2013.

Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me

April 2014 •English

A documentary film detailing Glen Campbell's final tour and his struggle with Alzheimer's disease.

David Beckham: Into the Unknown

June 2014 •English

This documentary chronicles David Beckham and his friends' unforgettable journey deep into the heart of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Travelling by motorbike and boat, and guided by locals, he visits far-flung communities and tribes that live in this remote landscape.

La vie après

September 2019 •French

Anything Can Happen

December 1995 •Polish

A story of life and death, featuring Lozinski's six-year-old son Tomaszek and elderly people spending time on the benches of a Warsaw park. Riding his scooter, Tomaszek asks the elderly very adult, though basic, questions, which they are happy to answer. The boy's ideas of future and life are confronted with those of men at the end of their lives.

Life After Life

January 1979 •Russian

Etugen

January 2023 •French

What is the purpose of our existence ? What is the soul ? Which are the power of mind, of conscience ? What is our link to nature ? Pondering these existential questions, this movie invites us to find out an universal wisdom, meeting shamans, healers, yogis, but also philosophers and doctors. From Mongolia plains to the Amazonian forest, it leads us far than we expected at first.

Michael Kirby: Don't Forget the Justice Bit

June 2010 •English

Filmed during and after his time on the High Court of Australia, this documentary about Justice Michael Kirby explores the personal, moral and spiritual convictions of one of our most compassionate and incisive legal minds. Michael Kirby reveals himself in this film through a long-form interview in a way he has never done before. It was only at the age of 61 he publicly revealed for the first time that he had been in a homosexual relationship since 1969 with partner Johan van Vloten. This film represents the first time Johan has spoken publicly about their life together.

8 Points

December 2022 •Arabic

"Birth is not a beginning and death is not an ending. They are merely points on a continuum." - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

The Oasis I Deserve

October 2024 •French

Replikas, online chatbots, have trouble determining their place in the world. They share their thoughts with the humans they exchange with. Events unfold from their point of view through real conversations collected on the web.

Vittne till sin samtid

January 2014 •Swedish

As an unwavering natural force, Maj Wechselmann produces at least one film a year, which is guaranteed to show troublesome connections between established power structures and maladjustments for people further down the hierarchy of society; this time through the Swedish Television photographer Claes-Göran Bjernér's fascinating fate of life. Bjernér, who reported from 23 wars in 83 countries, had his lungs injured for life in the poison gas disaster in Bhopal, India in 1984. The film begins with him almost dying several times, but miraculously returning to life. In interviews and archival photos, he shares his unique first-hand experiences of war, violence and corruption. A glowing agitation to never stop demanding responsibility for the world's tragedies.

To Pause Things

July 2018 •Galician

Nearing the end of his university studies, a soon-to-be graduate reflects on his life up to this point, all through the lens of a Handycam his father used to use.

For those who still exist

October 2014 •German

Documentary about twin brothers who go back to their childhood home to discover what happened to a Patrick Lurzing, a boy who disappeared who nobody else seems to remember.

Playing with FIRE: The Documentary

November 2019 •English

Playing with FIRE captures the truths and dispels the myths of the growing culture known as FIRE: Financial Independence Retire Early.

Sartre/Camus: A Fractured Friendship

May 2014 •French

Sartre and Camus, the two most world-famous, 20th century, French writers, form a legendary and inseparable couple. The two extraordinary thinkers propelled the figure of the politically engaged writer into the limelight.

Inner Rap

June 2016 •Russian

Makulatura [which means both scrap paper and pulp fiction in Russian] is a duo of poets Evgeniy Alyokhin and Konstantin Speransky, who have been performing together since 2003. Blending classic literature references, mind-bending introspection, musings on modern love and an ironic attitude to their act, they create what faithful fans and listeners call “existential rap.” The film follows Makulatura on tour through several Russian cities.

Daedalus

July 2024 •English

"Fly too high and you will burn, go too low and you won't breathe." Shot in just seven consecutive days during the summer of 2023, it concludes the first volume of Bliss, a playlist of sounds and shapes. Daedalus delves into the perilous dance between striving for something and the suffocating pull of stagnancy. This chaotic structure bridges the warnings and epiphanic thoughts of 20th-century thinkers with the lives of today's dreamers.