The Burden
In Bangui, Rodrigue and Reine are a couple very involved in the activities of their church. But they live with a terrible secret: they are HIV positive and carry it like a divine punishment. When Rodrigue is offered the position of assistant pastor, he has doubts: is he worthy of leading the church of Christ? Yet how can he refuse when he depends on Reine’s trade? With the pandemic, ARV drugs are becoming scarce and the rumour is spreading that HIV-positive people will die if they vaccinate against Covid19. Reine believes a miracle is possible and sets out on a quest for a miraculous cure. She takes her husband from church to pilgrimage, from prayers of repentance to spiritual fasts, in the hope of divine healing.
"Elvis Sabin Ngaibino’s engrossing and poignant documentary is a family affair" - Guardian
Tomorrow I Leave
What are you willing to accept in order to have a good life? Maria works as a 24-hour caregiver to a woman in Vienna, and sees her family in Romania only every other month. Her two sons are growing up without her, and her own parents' care needs are increasing as they advance in age. Maria Lisa Pichler and Lukas Schöffel calmly observe the reality of life as a migrant worker, travelling with Maria in her car to and from Austria. Maria lives in a permanent state of conflict, caught between the desire to provide a livelihood for her family, and the sacrifices she makes to do so. Through plugging a gap in vital services abroad, Maria's absence is keenly felt at home.
"Under the precarious forces of economy, it seems as if a whole community is gradually evaporating." - Guardian
Wilfred Buck
Seamlessly moving between earth and stars, past and present, Wilfred Buck is a hybrid feature documentary that looks to one man’s life to tell a story that spans generations. Our guide is the charismatic and irreverent Wilfred Buck, a Cree elder and ceremonial leader who came to his calling through a harrowing history of displacement, racism, and addiction in 1960s Canada. Adapted from his memoir, and blending verité, archive and stylized re-enactments, the film charts colonization’s attempts to extinguish Indigenous ways of knowing – and what it means to reconnect with and regain ancient teachings that are as relevant today as ever.
"a beautiful and compelling work that moves between past and present, and between Earth and the stars, to overcome the ghosts of colonisation" - CPH DOX
*not available North America
Canuto's Transformation
In a small Mbyá-Guarani community between Brazil and Argentina, everyone knows the name Canuto: a man who many years ago suffered the dreaded transformation into a Jaguar, and then died tragically. Now, a film is being made to tell his story. Why did this happen to him? But more importantly: who in the village should play his role?
"With a decades-long commitment to the filmmaking process within community, a sense of humour, and a quest to move between worlds. This film embodies the many meanings of transformation,- Jury Statement, *Winner*, Best Film + Outstanding Artistic Contribution - IDFA Envision Competition
The Lost Boys of Mercury
As children in the 50s to the 70s, Dédé, Michel and Daniel were sent to the Belle Étoile “correctional” facility run by the abbot Garin and located in the Savoie region of France. There, they were beaten, humiliated, starved and broken. With the help of director Clémence Davigo, they finally reunite to break their silence. A moving chronicle in search of memory and justice.
"A heartrending chronicle in search of memory and justice" - Visions du Reel