Films seen in 2023

Based on Thomas Piketty's No. 1 New York Times Bestseller, Capital in the Twenty-First Century explores one of the most important and controversial subjects of our time: wealth, and who gets a share of the dividends.

The story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone.

German crew in Kurdistan encounters ritual, translator nannies for haunted 7-year-old Melek whose father works for shady group, characters caught in web of conspiracy, paranoia, generational trauma linked to child's plight.

Follows the events happening in Ukraine and the truth about Russia's invasion of the country.

It centers on Margaret Tait's unrealised project about Orkney, drawing from her notes and footage to produce a blissful union of two artistic sensibilities.

A coming-of-age story about two adolescents facing racism in their adopted families, while confronting a society where immigration has become a divisive issue.

A composer who suffers writer's block rediscovers his passion after an adventurous one-night stand.

Do nothing, stay and fight, or leave. In 2010, the women of an isolated religious community grapple with reconciling a brutal reality with their faith.

It centers on Allensworth, the first self-administered African-American municipality in California, showcasing the buildings of the now-abandoned town and looking for the traces of a Black cultural history.

Augusto and Paulina have been together for 25 years. Eight years ago, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Both fear the day he no longer recognizes her.

A group of friends are in a holiday home by the Baltic Sea where emotions run high as the parched forest around them catches fire.

Follows five women who fight for the stability of a hotel they inherited, living an "old and irresolvable conflict," with many conversations that have been postponed and much that remains to be said within a family.

Two lifelong friends find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, with alarming consequences for both of them.

A biologist describes her research into various species of frogs in the rainforest of Central America and their mysterious disappearance as if it were a criminal case.

Asma and Sarah, two women originally from the Levant, find themselves working in the same restaurant in the city of Lyon in France. Both bear the weight of a home they were forced to leave behind. Initially wary of each other, they gradually discover a common thread that binds them - one that dates back to when the Silk Road connected Lyon to their home countries. In the midst of forced migrations, can we move past our animosity to find solace in each other?

Three young female activists in Hong Kong, Chile, and Uganda cope with the staggering personal impacts of their activism.

A complicated marriage: She has a tumor, he is gay, both conceal the fact. The chase is on when she believes that he has an affair.

Sometimes first love is found in the most unlikely of places, like in the carpark outside the Te Kaha pub.

A day and a night in Berlin: Karma drives an electric wheelchair, a flat share audition ends in a squat, a chef and an escaped dog become kings, everyone is looking for a father-to-be and a rabbit gets a nerd to finally be his neighbors get to know. Do Berlin taxis actually go to the Eiffel Tower? And who is the Queen of Berlin? In 15 bizarre encounters, "Notes of Berlin" tells the affectionate story of Berlin characters who are otherwise easy to overlook. Somewhere between club nights and housing shortages, between fleeing pets and finding a father, the film shows everyday madness and nocturnal encounters. A declaration of love for Berlin, because: "The heart of the city beats on the street". Based on Joab Nist's blog of the same name, each episode is inspired by an actual note found on the streets of Berlin and published on www.notesofberlin.com.

In a remote village, whose name roughly means "a cold place", this film looks for warmth in encounters. The Ukrainian village of Stuzhytsya is situated in the Carpathian Mountains in the border triangle between Poland and Slovakia. The three elderly female protagonists - a farmer, a post office clerk and a biologist - are firmly rooted in a place where hardly any young people are left in 2019, the year of Zelensky's election victory. Over time, the film crew also becomes, at least temporarily, a valued part of the village community.

Tobi goes to boarding school to learn about life after his heart transplant. He grows half a meter in two years, begins to play the drums, makes friends. At the age of 21 he dared to go to Sarajevo for a year, fell in love and was rejected, life stripped him of all facets. Over the years he has wanted to write a letter to his donor's family saying goodbye to his old heart and embracing the new life. But he never feels ready. At the age of 23, he suddenly ended up in a psychiatric ward. He realizes that he wants to go back to who he was before the transplant: a fighter who keeps defeating death, not one who fails in life. The documentary confronts the viewers with the question of what the things are that are worth living for and gives insights into a world that normally remains closed to them.

How is it like to be forced to wait while people are drowning just a few miles away? "No News" gives an insight into the absurdity of European migration policy.

In Damascus, surrounded by war, an isolated man becomes increasingly lost in fantasies of escaping and the inner dialogues with his dog.

A U.S. Marine plots a terrorist attack on a small-town American mosque, but his plan takes an unexpected turn when he comes face-to-face with the people he is about to kill.

When a young mother reconsiders abandoning her baby, she discovers a scheme selling foundlings for adoption.