Lights and Shadows

A City Runs Through the Festival is an anatomy of the Festival through the eyes of its own audience.

A documentary about Cairo Jazz Festival's Amr Salah and his struggle every year to bring people and arts together in a country where 70% of people are under 30 and the Officials do not care about culture too much.

A documentary chronicling Queen and Lambert's incredible journey since they first shared the stage together on "American Idol" in 2009.

A visually stunning narrative documentary, NAKED GARDENS immerses audiences in the complex, unseen world of a family nudist resort in the Florida Everglades. Filmed over one season at this lush tropical campsite, the film follows the stories of individuals drawn to an unusual community, which promises both non-conformist values and, more importantly for some, a cheap place to live. As aging owner Morley and his residents prepare for the largest gathering of nudists in the US, the Mid-Winter Naturist Festival, they are faced with challenges both as a community and as individuals.

The South Pacific – the ocean between the American continent and Asia, stands for endless vastness, an infinite stretch of water and pristine nature. For many, the South Pacific is synonymous with paradise sun, beaches and of course, the bikini. But the bikini, or rather the island Bikini, also stands for a disastrous series of nuclear tests, carried out by the USA immediately after the Second World War. To this end, numerous ships of different sizes and categories were brought together. The remnants of these vessels have found a watery grave at the bottom of the lagoon: in depths of up to 60 metres, practically inaccessible for the average diver. Until recently, the region could not be visited for decades, due to radioactive contamination. But how have nature and mankind developed? Accompany us to a very special ships cemetery. Explore a region untouched by human hand for more than 60 years and experience the magic of the South Seas.

Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential surf movies of all time. The film documents American surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they travel the world during California’s winter (which, back in 1965 was off-season for surfing) in search of the perfect wave and ultimately, an endless summer.

Wacken Open Air is the biggest 3-day-rock- and metal-festival in the world. It's three days of raw energy, non-stop Heavy Metal music at full blast and 80.000 fans on a party frenzy. A true legend, taking place annually since 1990 in the sleepy German country town of Wacken, it attracts fans from all over the world.

Walt Disney said “We have created characters and animated them in the dimension of depth, revealing through them to our perturbed world that the things we have in common far outnumber and outweigh those that divide us.” Outside of Walt himself there are few people who have brought together and united more animators in the history of the genre than Craig "Spike" Decker and Mike Gribble, known to all as Spike & Mike. They created an animation festival that helped launch the careers of John Lasseter, Peter Lord, Will Vinton, Bill Plympton and Mike Judge to name just a few. Their Spike & Mike festival had an enormous impact on animation that was felt the world over. The festival was known as much for the breakthrough animation it presented as the outrageous antics of the founders.

Captures the spirit and essence of the great San Francisco Human Be-In of January 14, 1967. Ten thousand people imbued with peace, love and euphoria. Set to hard rock such as only San Francisco blues can produce. BE-IN contains Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Timothy Leary, Michael McClure, Lenore Kandel and Buddha. Music by Blue Cheer.

A quiet island, lost in the pacific ocean. Nothing worth of interest, until the day a stroke of luck, phosphate, provided by the island's coral core, led the country to incredible heights: in 1975, it became the second richest country per inhabitant in the world after Saudi Arabia... Only to plunge into ruins a few years later.

Two-part docuseries capturing the group's iconic 2024 performances at I-Days Milano, BST Hyde Park, and Lollapalooza Chicago, highlighting their preparation, energy, and global impact.

February 2013, Allahabad, India. Over the next 55 days, nearly a hundred million people will come here, to the Great Kumbh Mela. This incredible and awe-inspiring celebration of the world's oldest religion happens every 12 years at the place where Hindus believe two sacred rivers meet. For many Hindus this is their most important pilgrimage, and it happens at one of the most holy sites in India. Hindus come to cleanse themselves in the sacred waters of the river Ganges, to pray and emerge purified and renewed. This follows British pilgrims as they embark on a once-in-a-lifetime spiritual journey. A journey that will take them into the heart of Hinduism - its philosophy, its beliefs and its traditions. A journey that will culminate in the largest ever gathering of humans in one place.

Jag Mandir is a quiet and often overlooked film in the vast oeuvre of Werner Herzog. Apparently, 20 hours of footage was shot that covered the whole fest and the film hardly presents us a twentieth of that. A native walking into the film in between may well fail to immediately realize that it is his country that is being shown and these are figures from the mythology of various sections of his nation. The bulk of the film consists of footage of an elaborate theatrical performance for the Maharana Arvind Singh Mewar at the City Palace of Udaipur, Rajasthan staged by André Heller.

Everyone has heard of Pamplona's Running of the Bulls, yet so few know much about it. Even fewer know that there is an elite group of runners who brave dozens of bull runs each year, risking their life to run inches away from the sharp horns of the 1000+ pound ferocious animals they revere. Chasing Red is a character-driven documentary following 4 runners across the eight bull runs of a single fiesta in Pamplona. Braving through injury and looming risk of death, they embark on an endeavor that will shape their lives forever.

Referred to as "Woodstock of the 80s", the US Festival was iconic with over 2 million attendees. Created by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and legendary concert promoter Bill Graham, the Us Festival assembled the best bands in the world including The Police, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, Santana, Jackson Browne, Eddie Money, Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffett, The Cars, Talking Heads, Ramones, Grateful Dead, Pat Benatar & The B52s.

Two sides of Mysore: down to earth with the field workers and an Indian spectacle for the Maharaja.

Robert J. Flaherty's South Seas follow-up to Nanook of the North is a Gauguin idyll moved by "pride of beauty... pride of strength."

Featuring ten-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater, The Ultimate Wave follows a quest to find the perfect wave-riding experience. Filmed in Tahiti and among the islands of French Polynesia, the film showcases dramatic giant screen surfing action in a unique Pacific paradise.

The untold story of a series of Reagan-era guerrilla punk and industrial desert happenings in Southern California that are now recognized as the inspiration for Burning Man, Lollapalooza, and Coachella. Interviews and rare performance footage of Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Redd Kross, Einstürzende Neubauten, Survival Research Laboratories, Savage Republic, Swans and more.

A television documentary charting the history of the Eurovision Song Contest and its impact on European political and social structure.