Um Documentário Brasileiro

D is for Division

April 2018 •Latvian

1940. On the border between Latvia and the USSR, a woman is killed in front of her house as she tried to protect her son from the liberating attack of the Soviets. Almost 80 years later, the archive photo bearing witness to this news item and representing a collateral victim of the European Union’s founding conflict forms the starting point for a journey undertaken by Davis Sīmanis. He navigates from one side to the other of this border, which today represents another separation, one that is geographical but also cultural: between Europe and Russia.

Police à bout de souffle

May 2019 •French

O malém světě

February 1968 •Czech

Three Styles of Hung School's Kung Fu

January 1974 •Chinese

A short film that originally played before showings of "Heroes Two" - in which Fu Sheng, Chen Kuan Tai and Chi Kuan-Chun demonstrate different techniques of Hung boxing.

And the Dogs Were Silent

April 1976 •French

For 'Et les chiens se taisaient' Maldoror adapted a piece of theatre by the poet and politician Aimé Césaire (1913–2008), about a rebel who becomes profoundly aware of his otherness when condemned to death. His existential dialogue with his mother reverberates around the African sculptures on display at the Musée de l'Homme, a Parisian museum full of colonial plunder whose director was the Surrealist anthropologist Michel Leiris.

Roda Viva Roda Brasil

January 2019 •Portuguese

Watching the Pain of Others

April 2019 •French

In this deeply personal video diary, a young researcher tries to make sense of her fascination for the film "The Pain of Others" by Penny Lane. A deep dive into the discomforting world of YouTube and online conspiracies, that challenges traditional notions of what documentary cinema is, or should be.

1970

December 2021 •Polish

Poland, 1970. When popular protests erupt in the streets due to rising prices, the communist government organizes a crisis team. Soon after, the police use their truncheons and then their firearms. The story of a rebellion from the point of view of the oppressors.

Impressões do Brasil

April 1987 •Portuguese

"Impressões" rescues the history of the Brazilian press since 1808, when the "Correio Brasiliense" clandestinely reached Rio de Janeiro after being edited in London by Hipólito José da Costa, and spans until 1986. It's the first documentary to depict the history of the Brazilian journalistic press.

Panoramas

November 2019 •German

In 1829 the naturalist Alexander von Humboldt attempted a russian-siberian expedition. Humboldt travelled to obtain a clear view of nature, people and life in this immense country. 2019 naturalists and humanists attempted a transdisciplinary expedition on the trails of Humboldt. To capture the events various cameras were taken along. A non-chronological narration.

Lula

May 2024 •English

An intimate and revelatory portrait of one of the world’s most influential political figures, Lula explores the rise, fall and triumphant return of beloved Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, chronicling his extraordinary journey in 2022 to regain the Brazilian presidency after spending nineteen months in prison.

Visions of Europe

May 2004 •English

Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.

JK – O Menino que Sonhou um País

August 2002 •Portuguese

Built as a letter to JK in his centenary, the film shows what remained in the memory of Brazilians 26 years after his passing in a car accident in August 1976.

Les Révoltés

January 2019 •French

In May 1968, workers, students and young people rise up against the morality and power of the establishment. Faculties and factories are under occupation. Barricades are erected. Paving slabs are launched. Words give way to actions. This is the confrontation. These images bear witness to the men and women who, in their indignancy, march towards their revolution. 50 years ago, as part of our ARC collective, we filmed the uprising of May and June 1968. Out of this material and scenes borrowed from our other filmmaker friends, we created this film.

Letters from Wolf Street

October 2025 •Polish

A street in downtown Warsaw transforms into a kaleidoscopic portrait of Polish society. Behind the viewfinder is an Indian immigrant, who seeks to overcome the boundaries between himself and an anxiety-ridden country.

The Cooking Show

February 2021 •English

The cooking show is as old as television itself. But why do we like watching the making of a meal that most of us will never cook, let alone eat? Dirty Furniture’s jam-packed video essay is a rollercoaster ride through the history of the genre, at once a staple of television viewing and a hotpot of shifting perspectives and sociocultural values.

The Barbie Movie

March 2025 •English

Equal parts documentary, visual essay, experimental collage narrative, and parodic homage to and of all things Barbie, this caustic and exciting visual foray embraces the complicated terrain of feminist discourse, cultural criticism, and political rhetoric, as well as insights on gender, identity, and personal experience where all roads lead back to the phenomena that is Barbie.

Fungus

October 2000 •Czech

This film essay about mushrooms and their connections to other living things tries to use the structure of mushrooms to explain nature, science, and civilization, all the while searching for various analogies, such as the similarities between mycorrhiza and other structures.

Didactica Magna: Against the Grain

October 2012 •Czech

The film is an insight into a teacher's soul and a contemplation upon his teaching fate. This portrait of a unique, experimental filmmaker and teacher Martin Čihák takes a look at his teaching methods, his meetings with his students at FAMU and at a park where they work with film, or in his studio.

The March on Rome

October 2022 •Italian

The fascinating story of the rise to power of dictator Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) in Italy in 1922 and how fascism marked the fate of the entire world in the dark years to come.