What does it mean to be of a place? Of the sun and soil and bees, of the water and black ants and cowpeas. To be so entangled with an ecosystem, generation after generation, that nature and culture become one? Clans living in Tharaka, Kenya, have been subjected to colonialism and all that follows. Their indigeneity unthreaded by a powerful few pulling the world apart for profit. But Atharaka – ‘those of Tharaka’ – are remembering the power in their identity. Beside the Kithino River, they are reviving customs and enabling nature to regenerate: rethreading a complex biocultural system that brings balance, autonomy, and joy.
Prague faces the challenge of a new zoning plan. The city's development leads to conflicts between the private developer lobby, city residents, and elected officials. By following several years of town council meetings, the film paints an image of a public policy apparatus that ignores the role of the urban planner. Using a journalistic approach, the filmmaker attempts to depict all points of view, although in the end the dominant perspective is of those who believe in the city as an expression of culture and quality of life.
Pigmeos: la agonía del dios verde
DEEP WATER is the stunning true story of the fateful voyage of Donald Crowhurst, an amateur yachtsman who enters the most daring nautical challenge ever – the very first solo, non-stop, round-the-world boat race.
Exploration of the way of life of the Q’eros Indians of Peru, who have lived in the Andes for more than 3,000 years.
Filmmaker Anand Patwardhan looks to history and psychology as he delves into the possible reasons behind the demolition of the Babri Mosque.
The Guarani people have searched for a land without shadows for a hundred years. The beauty in their home is precious and undeniable, but climate change threatens to ruin this special place.
Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream. But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge...
A 10-year-old boy and his father support themselves by pulling a cart through Bombay's chaotic traffic. One day when they visit the doctor, they are told that they should change jobs. A visual and sound intensive documentary about a nightmarish traffic situation beyond all control.
In Ecuador, in a single day, the train passes from the mountainous Andes to the tropical coast. The roads were built between 1861 and 1908 to connect the country. Until this date, the two regions live as separate countries, although the roads connect them in less than a day. The film is an observational work that talks about space and collective memory.
With its moving personal approach, careful artistic direction, and inspired sound design, this skillfully symbolic work embodies the importance of transmission.
If God came down to earth and try to earn a living in Bombay, most probably he would become successful as a voice over artiste, lending his voice to thousands of Hindi movies and even more documentaries and public service films in India.
Botanical gardens in Bombay plus the highly decorative Jain Temple in Calcutta.
From the arrival of a new viceroy to street markets, this amateur film captures the diversity of life in colonial India.
The Shipibo-Konibo people of Peruvian Amazon decorate their pottery, jewelry, textiles, and body art with complex geometric patterns called kené. These patterns also have corresponding songs, called icaros, which are integral to the Shipibo way of life. This documentary explores these unique art forms, and one Shipibo family's efforts to safeguard the tradition.
A group of naturists go on a boating trip in San Francisco Bay.
An exploration of the 'respectable' and 'immoral' stereotypes of women in Indian society told from the point of view of two striptease dancers in a Bombay cabaret.
This documentary started as part of a photography project about the indigenous Ainu population in northern Japan, portraying people from tightly knit communities. They feel deeply connected by their culture and tradition. With gorgeous pictures, the directors explore how different generations of Ainu reflect on their identity after centuries of oppression.
Thirty years ago, a rubber company enslaved a group of Asháninka people, manipulating them into tapping the trees in the lush borderland between Peru and Brazil. The company was expelled by a coalition of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, led by one mixed race couple. Now the adult children of this marriage combat political corruption and ongoing environmental disaster.
Richly detailed record of the Prince of Wales' Indian tour.