Se battre

A local construction worker and a Chinese engineer are assigned to build a bank in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, one of the poorest countries in the world. But time is short and resources are scarce, and there are rumours in the countryside that a new civil war is brewing. And as if all this wasn’t bad enough, their relationships to their wives are falling apart. ‘Eat Bitter’ mirrors the existential and mundane problems of the two men, while an unlikely friendship and mutual trust blossoms between them. However, the chaotic microcosm of the construction site also mirrors China’s contradictory role in 21st century Africa, with the bank itself as the ultimate symbol of money, power and illusion. Director duo Pascale Appora-Gnekindy and Ningyi Sun themselves represent each of the two cultures, and their film has a unique eye for the human fallibility and irony of it all, but also for how we can reach each other despite all our many differences.

"Mission Asset Fund's work cuts to the core of the financial pain points families everywhere face." - Sam Ruiz

Frankie is a car park attendant at the spectacular Giant’s Causeway in Co. Antrim. His friend Cathy and her husband Paul are in trouble. Nevertheless as Frankie always says, "Something will turn up!"

For 13-year-old Kaitlyn, her world threatens to collapse when she learns that her parents want to get a divorce, especially because it threatens the loss of the house they shared in Portland, which had always been Kaitlyn's home. The teenage girl has dark thoughts and lost interest in life. The breeding pigeons given to her by her mother's police colleague don't make things any better. What should she do with the birds? Then her best friend Adam gives her an idea: they could steal the very valuable racing pigeon named Granger from the local breeder Jaan Vari, sell it and use the proceeds to pay off the mortgage on her family's home. The plan initially works, but then everything seems to go wrong and Kaitlyn loses her footing even more. But surprisingly, the old man who was robbed takes care of the girl and a bond develops between the two, which ultimately leads her to a new outlook on life.

A couple trying to rekindle their relationship travel to St. Pierre, a French island off the Newfoundland coast, and become entangled with another couple.

An opera troupe has to dissolve in view of the poor economy. Comedian star Sang Kwai-lei loses his job and he has no alternative but to play the lion character in the opera troupe of his former junior apprentice Chan Hau and pawn his stage costume. He aims at earning enough money to support the final year's secondary school studies of his elder son Chi-kuen. Kuen however refuses to continue his studies, seeing that his father has to put aside his dignity to earn money and his mother is worried. Lei is enraged and uses the money to support his younger son Chi-wai's studies. Again, Lei loses his job and he resorts to giving street performances, his wife takes up sowing work in her spare time and she dies after a long illness. Kuen works to support himself through school, but Wai is less fortunate, he is forced to enrol in an opera troupe as an apprentice. Years later, the dying father joyfully embraces Chi-kuen's return from his studies.

Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying is a short meditation on love, grief, and imagination. The hand-drawn animated documentary was created through a collaboration between mother, elder and narrator Edith Almadi and filmmakers Natalie Baird and Toby Gillies. This poetic piece celebrates life and the transformative ability of art to elevate and transcend us. Through vivid drawings and Edith’s simple yet magical words, the film explores our enduring bond with loved ones who have passed. In honouring her son’s life within the cosmos, Edith’s artworks embody colours, shapes and metaphors that remind us of the timeless power of love, gravity, and grace until our final breaths.

A bright outlook in Birkenhead for a thriving British enterprise.

Carousels, doubling up on the helter skelter and an enormous key feature in the annual funfair on Mitcham Green.

Bricks and mortar makes way for concrete and reinforced steel as Wolverhampton sweeps the past aside in a modernist town planning utopia.

Organic mountain farmer Christian Bachler and "Oberbobo" Florian Klenk, editor-in-chief of the Viennese magazine "falter", argue in front of 100,000 viewers on Facebook about the responsibility of farmers for their cattle. This creates a friendship. When the bank wants to auction the farm, Bobo starts a fundraiser. 13,000 people follow the call and donate 420,000 euros, the farm is debt-free. A modern fairy tale that changes both of them: Bobo and the farmer are now fighting together for sustainable agriculture.

Experience the story of the airmen that seismically shifted the Allies fortunes during World War II, known as the Mighty Eighth Airforce. Featuring never before seen archival footage, ride in the cockpits of the planes that destroyed Hitler's menacing Airforce; The Luftwaffe. They will fly dangerous missions, announcing their arrival into Germany with thousands of white vapor trails and dogfight with Nazi pilots, dropping bombs on the Reich. This is the Real True Story of the Mighty Eighth.

A portrait of the disenchanted youth of the city of Tolyatti, once a symbol of Soviet progress and the automobile, now devastated by economic decline. Laura Sistero encounters an aimless young generation, who express their dreams of escape through crazy races in old patched-up Ladas. A cinematic object is propelled by spectacular skids to the rhythm of an electro-rock soundtrack.

Documentary on Marvin Gaye made during his stay in Belgium, Ostende

The Port Talbot steelworks have suffered many setbacks, closures and job losses in recent years, greatly effecting the local economy and community. We follow John (70) a retired worker and lifelong resident of Port Talbot as he runs familiar paths, contemplating the shadows of uncertainty as the future of Welsh steel hangs in a precarious balance.

Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir broke records and barriers on her way to become the first Division I athlete to play basketball while wearing hijab. When a controversial ruling ends her chances at playing professionally, she re-examines her faith and identity as a Muslim American.

In this new video interview with Tatsuya Nakadai, conducted in 2009, the screen legend discusses his landmark role as Kaji in THE HUMAN CONDITION.

In this 1993 video interview, filmed for the Directors Guild of Japan at Tokyo’s Haiyuza Theatre, director Masaki Kobayashi talks to fellow filmmaker and longtime Kobayashi admirer Masahiro Shinoda (DOUBLE SUICIDE) about THE HUMAN CONDITION.

Documentary about photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, including footage of him in his Paris and Provence homes and many stills of his works. He talks about his passion for drawing, offers his opinion on different types of photography and shares photos of himself.

In this video appreciation, created in 2009, we present filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda’s observations on THE HUMAN CONDITION and director Masaki Kobayashi.