THE RETROSPECTIVE “15 YEARS TDF - A FASCINATING JOURNEY” TRAVELS TO ATHENS

In Chile, at an altitude of three thousand meters, astronomers from all over the world gather together in the Atacama desert to observe the stars. The desert sky is so translucent that it allows them to see right to the boundaries of the universe. It is also a place where the harsh heat of the sun keeps human remains intact: those of the mummies, explorers and miners. But also the remains of the dictatorship’s political prisoners. While the astronomers examine the most distant galaxies in search of probable extraterrestrial life, at the foot of the observatories, women are digging through the desert soil in search of their disappeared relatives...

Forcibly adopted by her grandfather at a very young age, Sayome grew up in a remote Japanese village, without knowing her mother. At 22, she left Japan, following a Greek sailor to the island of Crete. There, she replaced her homeland with a new culture, a new language and family. Thirty-five years later, her mother’s death triggers her need to return home. We follow her journey from Crete to Japan, as she revisits the land of her childhood. A film about family and identity.

Director Christian Bauer made seven films in collaboration with cameraman Allen Ross. Shortly after the last one, Allen disappeared. Now, four and a half years later, Bauer has made a film without Allen about Allen. Allen was reported missing, and without any further information, Bauer started an investigation. Like a private detective in a road movie, he visits places where Allen used to go and people he used to know. Contrary to his habits, the personally involved Bauer appears in front of the camera. His uncertain search is both sad and frightening: private footage of Allen and scenes from their joint productions alternate with extremely scary discoveries. Bullets are found, some clues point to a dangerous sect, and it starts looking more and more like Allen died an unnatural death.

“99 Laskareos St., Athens” is the first episode of Docville, a cinema-verite documentary series about urban life in Greece today, against the backdrop of the financial crisis. Zoe and Athina, two women in their fifties, own two small shops in the same neighborhood. Everyone knows them and shops from them. Their stores are a daily meeting point for the locals to exchange their news and discuss issues that relate to their common microcosm. Due to the crisis, most small businesses in this neighborhood are closing. Zoe and Athina are fighting hard to keep their businesses afloat, even though they know that very soon their life is going to change, as will the local area.

Autumn Gold tells the life-affirming story of five athletes as they prepare for the Track and Field World Championships. Their toughest challenge is their age: these potential world champions are between 80 and 100 years old. With ambition and plenty of humor, they accept the task. At the finishing line of their lives, and true to the motto “We can rest after we’re dead”, they seek one more ultimate challenge and give their best on the way to a gold medal in Finland. They want to stand on the podium one last time. It is a competition against age and the other hurdles of life. A story of winning and losing, of setbacks and triumphs. Autumn Gold is an homage to life as it can be: not smooth and wrinkle-free, but full of humor and determination.

India is rapidly becoming the world’s baby factory. It’s one of the few countries in the world which authorizes payment for surrogacy. For €10,000, you can undergo fertility treatment and in vitro fertilization, and then have the resulting embryos implanted in a surrogate mother. Nine months later, you return and collect your new baby. On the surface, it seems to be a win-win scenario. Infertile couples get to have a baby while impoverished women receive enough money to pay for their own children’s schooling or buy a small house. But with so many ethical issues at play, can surrogacy really be treated like any other business?

In Europe, the phenomenon of the traveling cinema existed only in the early years of cinema, when the movie theater was still a fairground attraction; soon, most cities and villages had their own cinemas, followed by video-clubs that rented out films. In India, there are still 2,000 mobile cinemas, one of which is “Battu’s Bioscope”, a colorful vehicle containing an old Soviet projector, a few white cloth sheets, and several kilometers of celluloid film. Mr. Battu drives slowly along the sun-scorched roads of India, his quarrelsome assistant Mama at his side, and the young Amit sitting on top of the truck, announcing the next show through a loudspeaker. The elderly Battu is an idealist who thinks you can change people by showing them films. Andrzej Fidyk’s team accompanies “Battu’s Bioscope” from Calcutta, through fishermen’s villages and snake hunters’ settlements, up the distant Orissa province. This is the dwelling place of primitive tribes, whose way of life hasn’t changed for thousands of years. After years of trying, Mr. Battu has finally been issued a permit to show a film to these people who do not even know cinema exists.

On December 9th, 2001 at 2:41 am the rescue squad of the city of Durham, North Carolina, got an urgent call from a man who has a hard time explaining that his wife has fallen down a flight of stairs. She is bleeding profusely, but is still breathing. When the medical team arrives five minutes later, it’s too late; the woman is dead. Her husband has traces of blood on his hands and face. For the inspector in charge of the inquiry, the facts speak for themselves: there is too much blood, too many wounds on the victim. It is not an accident, but a murder. A week later, Michael Peterson is arrested. Crime or accident?

A collage of sounds and images, edited to the rhythm of techno and house music, through which parades a highly diverse, multicultural group of people. Among them, a Tibetan monk, an American rapper, a porn queen, a fakir, a voodoo priestess, a militant environmentalist, and a primatologist. In their search for a viable alternative to the frenzy of contemporary life, they each use a different ritual, involving either song or dance, which has helped them discover the meaning of life. For example, the voodoo priestess explains that the intense forces that are released during a trance are so powerful, that she can feel neither pain nor fear, while porno queen Annie Sprinkle states that sex is the most natural drug and preaches a hedonistic philosophy in which sexual energy is no longer suppressed, but used. Both directors are members of Lucky People Center, a collective which was founded in 1984, by people with an interest in progressive dance music. In fact, “man must dance” is the conclusion of this life-affirming film, in which rhythm is the measure of all things.

The film follows the life of Susan Tom and her 11 adopted special needs children at a time when one of her children is threatening to tear the family apart. Among her children are Faith, severely burned as an infant in a crib fire; Xenia, born without legs; and Anthony, born with a genetic disease that causes his skin to blister with the slightest touch. All are flourishing in surprising ways, despite their physical disabilities. It is Joe, who suffers from bipolar disorder and cystic fibrosis, that is Susan’s greatest challenge. My Flesh and Blood examines the way this unconventional family draws strength from its struggles.

The Corporation puts today’s most powerful institution at the center of inquiry. It explores its history and rise to dominance, and it reveals the far-reaching implications of the fact that, legally, a corporation is deemed “a person”. But what kind of person is it? After point-by-point analysis, The Corporation delivers a disturbing diagnosis: the institutional embodiment of laissez-faire capitalism fully meets the diagnostic criteria of a psychopath. As the film considers the work and values of the flesh and blood people who comprise the corporate person, questions arise. What are the consequences – for human beings, the environment, democracy, and the very survival of our planet – of granting immense power to an institution that is structurally amoral, and whose prime directive is merely to create wealth for shareholders?

After the death of her husband and two sons, Helen got herself sober and joined the Benedictine order of nuns. Though in her late sixties, she opened a private home for recovering addicts and alcoholics in the South Bronx, where she lives along with 21 men. To live there, they must obey her rules (including ondemand urine samples), adhere to strict curfews, participate in community service, and attend house meetings at her discretion. The film’s fly-on-the-wall technique succeeds in capturing the day-to-day existence of Sister Helen and various residents of the home. Indian-born Ashish, an alcoholic who relapses three times during the course of the film, once owned a string of successful electronic stores but, because of his drinking and gambling, lost them all. Major, an African-American in his late fifties, has been sober for eight years, and feels that his drinking was the source of his bad behavior and time served in prison. Sister Helen often lies awake worrying about those who are losing the fight against using. The men fear and respect her, but her strict moral code often gives rise to conflict.

Le Mans, February 2,1933: two maids, the sisters Christine and Lea Papin, kill their employer, Madame Lancelin, and her daughter Genevieve. After seven years working for the family, why kill a woman they called “Mummy”? What was the life of maids and the bourgeoisie like in Le Mans in the 1930s? Who really were the Lancelins, these peaceful local worthies for whom the two sisters worked? How did the courts, with only confessions and the murder weapon, make do with the absence of a motive? As for Lea Papin, the only sister to have done her sentence in full and whose date of death varies from one document to another, how did she live? And how did she die? Is she really dead? All these questions have inspired a documentary film that, through the investigation carried out by Pascale Thirode, revives the poignant tale of the murderous sisters.

In the late 1990s, the oncologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital invited award-winning documentarians Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert to follow five children and their families navigating the ups and downs of cancer treatment. The film provides a view of life on an oncology ward, including profiles of the doctors, nurses, and staff who become champions for the children they care for. But it also ventures outside the hospital and explores the unique personal life of each child – his or her hopes, fears, and relationships with siblings and other family members. As a result, a complex portrait of each family’s individual journey emerges. An intimate look at the lives of Tim, Al, Jenny, Justin, and Alex, A Lion in the House celebrates the enormous strength and bravery of these heroic children.

The life of Marcela, an ordinary Czech woman, is observed over the course of 26 years. The viewer feels the urge to struggle and fight back with Marcela as her tragic life unfolds, especially when her daughter dies unexpectedly, an event that almost drives her to suicide. However, the responsibility she feels for her retarded son gives her the will to survive. The story of Marcela was initially part of a 20-year survey of married life in the Czech Republic. The events that took place in Marcela’s life caused a wave of solidarity among the Czech public, who sent her money and personal support. Marcela’s distressing destiny and the act of human support from her fellow citizens made her story worth telling in a separate film. Marcela is currently looking forward to a better future.

Perhaps what is most remarkable about this documentary is director Alex Halpern’s insistence on ferreting out the most painful aspects of his family mythology in an irreverent, uncompromising fashion. In so doing, the film reveals many of the common truths hidden away in personal and communal histories as well as unexpected occurrences – late night visits by Jack Kerouac, illicit love affairs and the occasional murder. The film unfolds through the stories of Halpern’s 102- year-old Italian-American grandmother, Mary Mirabito Livornese Cavaliere. In an intimate and often hilarious portrait, Mary, a fiercely independent woman, dispenses homespun wisdom in a series of unflinching conversations with her persistent and equally outspoken grandson. As she divulges family secrets and rivalries, Mary confronts her own mortality with candor and courage, while remaining the rock on which the rest of the family relies.

Where does an elephant go after a life in the circus? Sixteen years have passed since circus producer David Balding adopted Flora, the orphaned baby African elephant he lovingly raised as part of his family and made the star of his show. As Flora approaches adulthood, he realizes that she is not happy performing. Ultimately, David must face the difficult truth that the circus is no place for Flora. She needs to be with other elephants. The road to Flora’s retirement, however, is a difficult and emotional journey which tests their bond in unexpected ways. Ten years in the making, One Lucky Elephant explores the consequences of keeping wild animals in captivity, while never losing sight of the delicate love story at its heart.

The film tells the story of Ami Ankilewitz, a 3-D animator who lives in Israel and whose bodily motion is limited to a single finger on his left hand. At birth, Ami was diagnosed with a rare form of muscular dystrophy, later diagnosed as Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), and was predicted to survive only to the age of 6. Now, thirty years later, he leaves the woman he loves and returns to the United States to confront the doctor who predicted his early demise. Along the way, he comes to terms with a major incident from his past and pursues a lifelong dream: to ride a Harley Davidson. 39 Pounds of Love is an emotional roller coaster, a fascinating, humorous and inspirational ride through life with someone who truly embodies the motto carpe diem (seize the day)...

Deep in the basement of the former Spiegelgrund children’s clinic in Vienna is a room lined with shelves. Until 2002, they were filled with over 700 specimen jars, containing the brains of children with physical or mental handicaps which were systematically murdered under the Nazi “euthanasia” program, led by Dr. Heinrich Gross. In April of 2002, Joe Berlinger traveled to Vienna to film the burial of the preserved brains of the euthanasia victims, in a surreal public ceremony presided over by Austria’s president. Hearing that the 89-year-old Dr. Gross was still alive and in seclusion somewhere near Vienna, Berlinger was spurred to learn more about this man and how it was possible that he had evaded justice for so long.

This is the story of one woman’s journey to Vietnam, twenty years after her husband was killed there, and the story of the women she encounters who were affected by the war. Hoping to find some closure for her pain and loss, Barbara Sonneborn wants to see and feel the places where her husband spent his last days. By intercutting emotional testimonials from women on both sides of the war who share their suffering, she makes us understand how real this war remains. Through seeing many different women’s perspectives, we recognize how their emotions contrasted: helplessness on the part of those in the United States, versus inevitable participation by North and South Vietnamese women. Testimony to Sonneborn’s uncommon ability is the remarkable level of honesty and openness the women are willing to share on camera. Deeply personal and vastly universal, Regret to Informis an involving and moving lesson about the painful legacy of war.

This is the story of 82-year-old bachelor Mr. Vig, who has never known love, and Sister Amvrosija, a young Russian nun, who by chance, or destiny, becomes part of his life. Fifty years ago Jorgen Lauersen Vig bought Hesbjerg Castle, situated in the Danish countryside, with the purpose of turning it into a monastery. Now, many years later, he is about to realize his old dream. A group of Russian Orthodox nuns are on their way, and thus Mr. Vig’s solitary life is about to change dramatically. But nuns have plans of their own, and Mr. Vig must realize that the road to fulfilling his dream is very different than what he imagined.

The life of the Friedmans, a typical middle-class American family, came crashing down when the father and the youngest son were charged, in the late eighties, with the sexual abuse of young boys. The eldest son disputes the charges to this day, and he handed over the Friedman’s home movies to filmmaker Andrew Jarecki as evidence. Jarecki structures his film like a police investigation, exploring not only the life of one family, but of an entire community, a legal system and an era. By constantly changing his point of view and keeping the viewer in doubt up until the end, he demonstrates how difficult it is to capture the truth.

Filled with unexpected twists and turns, and intercutting archival footage with interviews and observational cinema, Die Standing Up paints the portrait of the disabled activist Irina Layevska and her daily routine at the side of her life partner Nelyda. Old photos and film clips shed light on the past of this 50-year-old woman. In the 60s, her militant leftist parents gave their children a strict communist upbringing. At an early age, Irina was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Despite her health problems, during the 80s, inspired by the ideas of Che Guevara, Irina was very active in the solidarity campaign towards Cuba. Having spent many years confined to a wheelchair, Irina is now also blind, which makes her even more dependent on her partner. Her health is deteriorating, Che’s ideals remain unrealized, but Irina’s struggle against discrimination and prejudice continues unabated.

Α feature documentary film that follows unaccompanied child migrants on their journey through Mexico, as they try to reach the United States. These are children like Olga and Freddy, nine-yearold Hondurans, who are desperately trying to reach their parents in the United States; children like Jose, a ten-year-old El Salvadoran, who has been abandoned by smugglers and ends up alone in a Mexican detention center; and Kevin, a canny, streetwise fourteen-year-old Honduran whose mother hopes that he will reach the US and send money back to her. These are stories of hope and courage, disappointment and sorrow.

A film about courage, transformation and dreams. “I don’t stand out in a crowd,” says Takeuchi Saika, “I want to be someone.” She has been living in the Gaea Japan training camp for over a year and is desperate to pass her test and make her debut in the ring. The film follows her story. Gaea Girls takes us into the world of Japanese women’s wrestling. We’ll also meet new recruit Wakabayashi, who ran away last time but has now come back, begging for a second chance. And Sato, a spindly 16-year-old, who has wanted to join for three years and has only just managed to persuade her parents. And, of course, Nagayo Chigusa. Arrogant, charismatic and adored, she rules the girls and tries to fashion them in her own image.

What would be the shortest route between Entre Rios in Argentina and the Chinese metropolis Shanghai? Simply a straight line through the center of the earth, since the two places are antipodes: they are located diametrically opposite to each other on the earth’s surface. During his visits to four such antipodal pairs, the award-winning documentary filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky captured images that turn our view of the world upside down. A beautiful, peaceful sunset in Entre Rios is contrasted with the bustling streets in rainy Shanghai. People who live in a wasteland are connected to people dwelling next to a volcano. Landscapes whose splendor touches the soul are juxtaposed with the clamor of a vast city. These antipodes seem mythically connected, somehow united by their oppositeness. Kossakovsky’s movie is a feast for the senses, a fascinating kaleidoscope of our planet.

One day, artist and pilot Simone reads in her morning paper the story of a 16-year-old Afghan girl who dreams of becoming a fighter pilot. By the time Simone finishes her coffee, she is determined to fly the 6,000 km to Kabul, find young Farial and make her dream come true. She buys the only plane she can afford: a 40-year-old Piper-Colt made out of canvas. After challenging every military authority she comes across, weeks of traveling, 50 hours in the air, 33 landings, and in the end, flying illegally into Afghanistan at nerve wrecking heights, Simone finally reaches Kabul and finds Farial.

Springtime in the Gobi Desert, South Mongolia. A family of nomadic shepherds assists the births of their herd of camels. One of the camels has an excruciatingly difficult delivery but, with help from the family, out comes a rare white calf. Despite the efforts of the shepherds, the mother rejects the newborn, refusing it her milk and her maternal love. When all hope for the little one seems to be lost, the nomads send their two younger boys on a journey through the desert in search of a musician. Finally, a violinist is summoned to the camp and a breath-taking ritual is performed...

Kimberly Reed returns home to a small town in Montana for her high school reunion, hoping for reconciliation with her long-estranged adopted brother. But along the way, Prodigal Sons uncovers stunning revelations, including a blood relationship to Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, intense sibling rivalries, and unforeseeable twists of plot and gender. Reed’s rare access delicately reveals not only the family’s most private moments, but also an epic scope as the film travels from Montana to Croatia, from jail cell to football field, from deaths to births and commitments of all kinds. This unflinching look at identity and the past challenges us to wonder if we can ever truly become someone new.

In the Greek village of Sugar Town, the men have a serious problem. Young women are leaving the area in search of work or marriage in the big cities, leaving them behind, all alone. In order to get re-elected, their cunning mayor promises the men to find them wives. He contacts the mayor of the Russian town of Klin, who gathers together young women looking for foreign husbands. The bridegrooms are many, but only a few select ones will participate in this first mission. Nondas, Efthymis and Costas are determined to follow the Mayor and return victorious from Russia. Against the odds, the men from Sugar Town set out on a great journey to find their future brides. To succeed, they will have to overcome unexpected obstacles, but most of all, their own selves.

Using archival footage and animation, Vancouver filmmaker Gwen Haworth documents her male-to-female gender transition partially through the voices of her anxious but loving family, best friend, and wife. As her family (including her police officer father) recounts its own journeys through the filmmaker’s gender transition, the film invites us to question our assumptions about the role that names, clothing, culture and anatomy play in our constructions of gender identity. A comic, heartbreaking, and uplifting autobiography that focuses on the interpersonal relationships of a family who unexpectedly find their bonds strengthening as they overcome their preconceptions of gender and sexuality.

In a crowded part of a small city, each day after school, Alexandra, Vlad, Chrysa and the rest of their crew gather in front of Christos’s house to play soccer until bedtime. But as soon as they begin, the neighbors try and stop them with curses, threats and sometimes even violence. The kids’ reaction is fiercely defiant. There’s nowhere else to go. Alexandra decides to talk to the mayor and insist that he come and see the situation for himself. Thus begins a year-long campaign to get the town to build them a play area. Over this time, the kids’ lives and perceptions are revealed, while their determination and friendship fuels their coping skills and sharpens their resolve. Intimate access to a remarkable cast of characters makes for an engaging film and series.

What happens when a very white European man buys a diplomatic title which turns him into an African diplomat overnight – right in the middle of one of Central Africa’s most failed nations? A genre-breaking documentary, The Ambassador highlights both tragic and comic sides of the bizarre and hidden world of African diplomacy, where gin and tonics flow on a daily basis and diamond hustlers and corrupt politicians run free.

China’s booming economy is largely based on exploiting the vast population of cheap labor. Sacrificing the poor for GDP growth, the country runs the risk of making millions of families separated and their children uneducated. These issues could all pose a serious backlash against the country’s ambitious goal. Last Train Home examines not only the individual’s fate within this chaotic social evolution, but also the country’s loss and gain in a race to be the world’s next super power.

In a village high in the mountains of Crete, 69-year-old Maria works at her loom. Watching Maria is her 73-year-old husband, Υorgos. Υorgos finds Maria so beautiful he occasionally invites passing strangers into the workshop to admire her. The love that bound Maria and Υorgos together when they were young has endured 55 years and only deepened over time. But something has recently clouded the couple’s happiness: Υorgos is seriously ill and could die at any minute.

After six and a half years in a children’s home, Love is allowed to go back to her mother, Diane, who has turned a new leaf. Diane is now free of her crack addiction, she’s renting an apartment in Brooklyn, found religion and has ambitions to make something of her life. Three of her four daughters and her last remaining son – her eldest committed suicide – come to live with her. Sharing their life again is not without problems; the children have led a tough life so far and have ambiguous feelings towards their mother, while Diane, herself abandoned as a child by an alcoholic mother, clashes regularly with 18-year-old Love. Love is HIV positive and has a child of her own (“I wanted something in my life that would make me feel good...”), but not having come to grips with her past prevents her from being a good mother. When Love is seized by a violent fit of rage, Diane calls the police, just as Love had once betrayed her mother by accusing her at school of neglecting her children. History seems to be repeating itself...