A ghost ride through Finnish TV archives of the 1960s grazes the moon landing, American TV shows, a war in Africa. But how to connect with the world when dancing is forbidden?!
The anonymous narrator is a kind of web-adventurous flâneuse, neurotic and endlessly curious. A disturbance in the proprioception, which is the ability to sense the position, movement and location of the body and its parts, makes her perceive the world in a new way. Seemingly random anecdotes found on the internet and instructions from her cryptic physiotherapist start to come together in surprising ways. The found material forms a mosaic that reflects a world full of gazes, rules and technologies that separate us. Lines from the present and the distant past take our narrator to the 1960s, where medieval dance bans, televised wars, lost bones, space utopias and American TV stars collide. This film reflects how we can be and live in the world within ourselves and with each other. With those who are near and with those who are far. Along with all this, the film recommends dancing to everyone.
The most profound memories are sometimes the most deceptive. That’s what Brett Allen Smith finds out as he keeps replaying the funeral of the family dogs. A baffling confrontation.
Recasting his newborn son and dog as himself and his childhood pets, a filmmaker confronts his own false memories through a collage of film, digital and video game footage.
A trip to the beach expands to a family observation over two generations. This captivating minimalist stretching exercise does not need much: black and white and the deep blue of the sea.
Blue is a story in which time stretches. A mother and a daughter are trying to find their place after the father leaves. They spend time idly on a metaphorical empty beach. They fight their uncertainty and longing. The image of the sea comes back rhythmically. It is a promise of freedom but also a scary different world, far from the warm sand.
Srećko, Mirza and Mejra are survivors of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Their fates are revealed in the contrast between innocent everyday moments today and archive images from that period.
When she was 16, Agata was told that she would most likely bleed to death within 2 years. On that day, she was born anew. 20 years and over 30 face surgeries later, she lives in London and works as an artist who turned her struggle with a lethal disease into art. Her disease and the pain caused by it continue to accompany her, but more and more promising treatment options are being developed. Nevertheless, the most important form of therapy is her art. Her face becomes even more deformed with recurring angiomas, which is the major theme explored by the protagonist in her art.
In Denmark the police offer voluntary boot camps for girls. 12-year-old Tatheer from Copenhagen takes part. Far away from home, she will have grown a few centimetres before the end.
12-year-old Tatheer embarks on a week-long police boot camp for girls from a social housing estate in Copenhagen. Far from home, deep in the woods, she navigates gruelling rituals, elusive social dynamics, and personal setbacks to find her place in this tender and revealing coming-of-age story.
It’s Only/Not Only a Body... Or a Short Film about Freedom
To tylko/aż ciało… albo krótki film o wolności
Michal Hytros
Krakow Film Foundation & Polish Docs
Documentary Film
Poland
2023
82 minutes
Polish
International Premiere open
Synopsis
Love thyself. This is the life credo of Zosia – a photographer, traveller and a free spirit. Going around the world in her camper, she uses photography to make other women comfortable with nakedness and teaches them to love their own bodies. In front of her lens stood women who experienced eating disorders and did not accept their looks. Zosia, who has no place of her own on Earth, has been on the road since she left school at the age of 18. Freedom is a priority for her but loneliness and longing for love may sometimes jeopardise her travel plans.
The story of the friendship between Ania and her mother-in-law, Lidka. Ania is strong-minded and determined. Lidka, who has just left her abusive husband, is her opposite – shy and reserved. As they meet inside the newsstand kiosk run by Ania, the two women work on a divorce petition that would enable Lidka to begin a new life free of fear and violence. Despite many harsh words and continuing challenges, they slowly develop a bond that gives them courage and strength.
The Kiosk is a highly emotional film about female solidarity in the face of abuse. As we enter their limited space, we feel that the characters are within our reach. Each gesture, look and tear become incredibly powerful when seen up close.
The film follows three young Russian women after the attack on Ukraine. Stay or leave? A haunting look at a generation in today’s Russia and their lives on the go.
Silent Sun of Russia portrays a generation of young Russians between 2018 and 2022. The film follows three young women – Alika, Alyona, and Katya. They are rebels and anarchists and part of a global youth who dream of living a modern life in freedom. A pervasive sense of anxiety and restlessness about the future haunts the lives of the young women. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, they find themselves in a new reality that requires difficult choices. In their quest for love, friendship, and the dream of escaping Putin's Russia, they live in uncertainty, where longing is replaced by difficult emotions and attempts to repress reality. The film provides an intimate and poetic view of the current living conditions and the urgent decisions faced today by young Russians who cannot see a future in their native country.
Joan Tomàs Monfort, Carlos Pérez-Reche, Juanjo Sáez
Even Phil Collins cannot stop the development of a deep friendship between Juanjo and Miquel. The two teenage boys have bonded forever over Heavy Metal.
Joan Tomàs Monfort, Carlos Pérez-Reche, Juanjo Sáez
International Competition Animated Film
Animated Film
Spain
2023
80 minutes
Catalan
German premiere
Trailer
Synopsis
Juanjo is an asthmatic boy who has lived protected by his family to the point of drowning him. Miquel grows up in a family with an absent father. His mother tries to get on by herself, but she does not always succeed.
Tender Metalheads is a film about the relationship between Juanjo and Miquel, two teenage boys from Barcelona in 1991 who will take refuge from the grey world they live in in their friendship and heavy music.
A tale about the loves and dreams of Reema, a transgender woman in Pakistan.
The film starts in the cinema – the only place where a man can see women on screen. But in sharp contrast to Lollywood is the world in which Reema can subsist as a transgender woman in Pakistan – the Well of Death. A carnival sideshow, where motorcyclists perform stunts and Reema dances to attract consumers. It's the life of a nomad, each town and each show revealing the beauties and complexities of Pakistani society. Reema is convinced to have found the love of her life, Asif. They work together and support each other. It's a utopia that is shattered when Reema suddenly loses Asif. Heartbroken, Reema travels back to her “Guru”, who runs the transgender safe house where she grew up...
DOK Industry is realised with the support of Creative Europe MEDIA Programme of the European Union, the Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM) and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media upon a Decision of the German Bundestag.