On the centenary of Sarah Bernhardt's death, we take a look back at the whimsical life of the whimsical and eventful life of "la Divine", who defied theatrical traditions.
Before the Islamic Revolution in Iran, women's lives were strongly determined by two contradictory factors: the traditional patriarchy and the shah's modernisation policies. This film-excerpt collage starts in 1932 – the year the first Iranian film with sound was made – and ends in 1979 revealing how, during this period, women were depicted by generally male film directors.
Melchior’s bride Keterlyn happens to witness an attack on a young man. The victim, who has lost his memory, does not know who he is and how he ended up in a Tallinn. A ring found at the scene leads Melchior to the trail of the nocturnal brotherhood, questions are also raised by the troupe of freaks who performed on fair day. Ominous signs suggest that not only is the stranger recovering from a murder attempt at risk, but Melchior and Keterlyn as well. At the same time, an inquisitor known as a ruthless witch hunter arrives in town. Melchior's ability to "speak to the dead" and to notice invisible traces of murder have raised the suspicion that he may be a dangerous heretic. And the place of the enemy of the church is at the stake…
Shakuntala, daughter of Meneka and Rishi Vishwamitra lives in forest with her teacher, Rishi Kanva. In the forest she meets King Dushyant, falls in love with him and the two get married. After she has their baby (Prince Bharata), Dushyant leaves her in the forest with a promise to come back for her soon. However, due to a sage's curse, Dushyant forgets all about Shakuntala, until destiny brings them together again.
At the dawn of World War II, a young motorcycle courier in the Austrian army encounters a wounded fox cub and takes it with him to occupied France. The soldier and the fox develop an unlikely bond. Based on the true story of Franz Streitberger, director Adrian Goiginger’s great-grandfather.
One hundred years after Portugal joining World War One, the narrator starts a quest to know more about his great-grandfather Francisco Nobre, who fought in the trenches in France. A group photography, where no one seems able to identify his great-grandfather, serves as a starting point to find out who was this man no one seems to remember.
In 1974, after years of civil war, the Portuguese and their descendants fled the colony of Angola where groups working for independence gradually claim their territory back. A tribal girl discovers love and death when her path crosses that of a young Portuguese soldier. Meanwhile, another group of Portuguese soldiers is barracked inside an infinite wall from which they will have to escape once the past comes out of the grave to claim its long-awaited justice.
Set against the epic violence of the Trojan War, Holding Achilles by David Morton is a refreshing take on one of the ancient world’s best-known heroes, and his relationship with Patroclus, his not so well-known lover. As a young exile taken in by Achilles’ father, Patroclus faces hostility from the young hero until they are thrust together to train under the centaur Chiron, and the two form an unlikely friendship. As Achilles doggedly seeks to fulfil his mother’s prophecy to become a legend, their relationship becomes something more. But war with Troy is brewing, and the two young men find themselves caught between their hopes for a future together and the brutal realities of the world that faces them. Recorded by Pixelframe in partnership with Digital Stage made possible by QPAC.
In March 2002, a state TV signal in China gets hacked by members of the banned spiritual group Falun Gong. Their goal is to counter the government narrative about their practice. In the aftermath, police raids sweep Changchun City, and comic book illustrator Daxiong (Justice League, Star Wars), a Falun Gong practitioner, is forced to flee. He arrives in North America, blaming the hijacking for worsening an already violent repression. But his views are challenged when he meets the lone surviving participant to have escaped China, now living in Seoul, South Korea.
The Inquisition continues the persecution of Portuguese Jews, sending Visitador Sebastião Noronha to the city of Oporto. With his family and community in danger, António Álvares, decides to outline an escape plan.
Portrait of Elizabeth Teixeira and the women who continue her fight. Leader of the Peasant Leagues in Paraíba, she starred in the classic "Cabra Marcado para Morrer" (dir.: Eduardo Coutinho, 1984) and made her mark in the history of the fight for Land reform in Brazil. The documentary is a production of De Olho nos Ruralistas, filmed in July 2023, in João Pessoa and Sapé, when Elizabeth Teixeira had turned 98.