2015 Documentaries
A Family Affair
From the legendary Antonis Xylouris – widely known as Psarantonis – to his son, the famous lute player and singer George Xylouris – nicknamed Psarogiorgis – and his three children Nikos, Antonis and Apollonia studying in Australia, the film follows Greece’s most famous musical clan, to discover the electrifying power of their music and the sacred ties that hold the family together.
The Chinese Mayor
Change is afoot in Datong. Controversial Communist Party Mayor Geng Yanbo is pulling down one of the world’s dirtiest cities to recreate its glorious past. The plan is radical and China’s ruling elites are watching him closely. But in a system where officials often do best by doing nothing, why is Geng carrying out such a controversial plan in the spotlight? In a rare and intimate encounter, The Chinese Mayor looks through the eyes of those ruling in China’s greatest era of change, to reflect a giant country with such dilemma and complications that are beyond simple black-and-white image on the news streams.
The Many Sad Fates of Mr. Toledano
In his latest project, photographer Phil Toledano has become obsessed with his own future. Filmmaker Joshua Seftel follows as Toledano uses DNA tests, fortune tellers, and a prosthetic makeup artist to envision the many dark possibilities that might await him, including obesity, desolation, stroke, isolation, suicide, and violent death. Over the course of three years, Toledano becomes dozens of characters and captures these bleak possibilities in a series of haunting photographs. Meanwhile, his wife and daughter sit on the sidelines, worried that this project will leave Toledano unable to ever imagine a positive future. While on this journey, Toledano’s obsession alters him and his family forever.
Tibetan Warrior
The true story of one man’s fight for freedom. For more than 60 years Tibetans have been fighting Chinese oppression. But their non-violent struggle appears to be in vain. Now, as a new form of peaceful protest, Tibetans are setting themselves on fire. Loten Namling – an exiled Tibetan and musician living in Switzerland – is deeply disturbed by such self-destructive action. So he sets off from Europe to India, on a one-man mission to meet top politicians, experts and young radicals. He himself becomes increasingly radical and is on the verge of violent protest. Finally he ends up at The Office of the Dalai Lama in India to seek the advice of the exiled Tibetan leader.
Plastic Paradise
Every single piece of plastic that has ever been created since the 19th century is still somewhere on our planet. So if it never goes away, where does it go? In the early 21st Century, rumors about an island of garbage somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, started to rise. TV host and filmmaker Angela Sun, decided to investigate. Her journey takes her thousands of miles from human civilization. There, in what should be a remote tropical paradise, she discovers an ecosystem inundated by plastic waste. The images Angela uncovers, combined with the latest evidence from researchers, shows that the truth behind the myth is much worse than imagined.
Hosted by the Tethys Institute
The Archaeologist
In the final ‘battle’ of her career, a determined archaeologist – who has dedicated all her life to protecting the cultural and natural environment of the land – has two months to salvage as much as possible from an archaeological dig planned to be flooded during the construction process of a new dam by the Greek National Power Company.
Natural Resistance
Four Italian winegrowers live a life we all dream of. Giovanna Tiezzi and Stefano Borsa in their converted 11th century monastery and winery in Tuscany find a way to grow grains, fruit and wine that creates a link to their ancient Etruscan heritage. Natural Resistance mixes documentary and fiction in the hope of stirring the hidden rebel inside all of us.
King Georges
Fiery French chef Georges Perrier is on a crusade to keep his 40-year-old, internationally renowned restaurant, Le Bec-Fin in Philadelphia, relevant. Times have changed and the culinary world is full of new stars and shifting tastes. Perrier’s contemporaries – at Lutece, La Cote Basque, L’Orangerie – are gone and he is the last man standing of his generation. But how long can he reign? More than just a documentary about food, King Georges is a touching story about passion, ageing and art.
Blind Runners
Blind Runners recounts a social tragedy in a 26-minute documentary film about an exceptional project – showing how to fight a national scourge through one country’s passion and pride: running. Trailing and filming the blind and visually impaired who will tell us about their life in the dark, we show how NGOs, doctors, trainers and runners are rallying for the cause (a campaign aimed at curing the blind through eye surgery) by organizing and taking part in a monumental race on the mythical high plateaus of the Gheralta.
