In heated, often hostile debates about homosexuality, trans and sex work, a young Armenian family tries to assert some kind of queer normality for themselves and others.
Carabina, a gay artist, transvestite, and ex-sex worker, is married to Hasmik, a heterosexual lawyer. They have just become parents and are facing a dilemma: Should they raise their child in Armenia, where 93% of the population is against homosexuality?
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.
A Grave on the Border is an intimate account of war and flight by Syrian refugee Rose Alkhaled. Filmed in a small town in Germany, this atmospheric short immerses the viewer in the world of Rose's memories that surface at night. Rose tells her story through emotive sculptures made out of newspaper and performances of her poetry. Quiet night-time scenes are forcefully disrupted by Rose's nightmares as they burst to the surface of her mind. The film is underscored by a compelling clarinet composition. While Rose's story is deeply personal, this film also tells the story of millions of women who were forced to flee their homeland.
Director Maren Hahnfeld's films North of Eden and Winter in Eden were screened at the Ann Arbor Film Festival in Michigan, editor Alex Barratt's feature London Symphony was nominated for Best British Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and All the Colours of the World by composers Shrubshall and Kett was screened at the 2023 Berlinale.
Jesús arrives at a housing and employment reincorporation centre, after living on the streets for a decade. Now Jesús’ life is full of rules. His struggle doesn't make sense if he is not free to make his own decisions. After years depending on social services he leaves the programme with all of the risks this decision entails. Elena, coordinator of the supervised accommodation, is writing her thesis on the reincorporation of homeless people. When Jesús leaves, her research takes a turn and she focuses her thesis on Jesús’ life story. Elena becomes his only emotional support.
When puffins leave their nest on Vestmannaeyjar, they often get lost. Birta and Selma have made it their mission to bring the fledglings back to the cliff.
On a remote Icelandic island, teens Birta and Selma rescue pufflings (young puffins) from imminent danger; as pufflings leave their nests for the first time, they often get lost in town, mistaking the harbour lights for the moon. Over the course of one night, we follow Birta and Selma as they take it upon themselves to counteract humanity's damaging impact on nature; exchanging night-time parties for puffin rescues. A coming-of-age documentary about growing up and making choices, Puffling explores the delicate interplay between wildlife, the environment, and human life.
Inspired by a feminist science fiction story, the Spaniard Inés embarks on a journey of discovery through India. She is looking for Ladyland, the utopian land of women.
Taking inspiration from a feminist sci-fi short story written in Bengal in 1905, Inés sets out on a voyage of discovery around India in search of Ladyland, the utopian land of women.
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.
When the West was still wild there was room there for gay love stories that are missing in today’s history books. A queer rewriting of U.S. pioneer tales.
At the dawn of the American West, two men – one a little-known Creole, the other a closeted historical icon – entered into a volatile relationship that spanned a continent. The Wages of John Pernia is their story: a gay Western romance that emerges from between the lines of official history.
A filmmaker goes on a journey of a lifetime: after receiving his grandfather's WWII diary, he decides to follow in the footsteps of the Soviet army and discover today's reality.
An extraordinary document leads Hakob Melkonyan to undertake the journey of a lifetime: after receiving his grandfather's WWII diary, the Armenian filmmaker decides to follow in the footsteps of the Soviet army and discover today's reality in those territories. The War Diary is a road movie through four countries: Armenia, Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine. It confronts the history of the Second World War with today's reality in these former Soviet republics. Having become independent after the fall of the USSR, they are now torn apart by numerous deadly conflicts in Armenia, Georgia, and Ukraine.
The War Diary is a very personal quest but also sheds light on the geopolitical context of these countries that once fought side by side. Today, however, with the invasion of Ukraine, it has become an essential project.
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.