2017 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Documentary

Documentary that shows the changing attitude towards immigrant labor in The Netherlands. The documentary follows three immigrants that arrived in Holland 30 years ago to work in a bakery.

Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.

An animated documentary film, based on an actual story of a woman from Damascus countryside. Suleima evokes some of childhood memories, when her thoughts refusing injustice had arisen. The film is a portrait of Suleima, and a monitoring of intellectual and social shifts she experiences during the events. The visual environment: has been presented graphically fully of sharp contrasts, and imaginary mixed with reality.

Kinder des Lichts

A touching story of friendship, struggle and triumph, the film follows the journey of two Somali national soccer team friends chasing their dreams in the face of impossible odds. After surviving two decades of war, Saadiq, 17, and Sa’ad, 19, the team’s most promising stars, enter the only televised match of the year hoping scouts will be watching. With passports of no value on the world stage, soccer may be their only shot to escape a growing terror threat, persecution and poverty. Against the backdrop of fear and shared sacrifice, they embark on separate but equally improbable journeys. In the opportunity of a lifetime, Saadiq sets off for America with dreams of an education and a soccer career. Sa’ad continues his career in Mogadishu with the hopes of someday being reunited with his friend. Their biggest dream is shared – to be symbols of hope to generations who have only known war.

Through first person narration, Tari reveals personal stories related to her decision to work in Taiwan, her strained family relationships, the risks involved in working abroad and the traps she has fallen into.

In the privacy of her own home, a Syrian woman shares her thoughts and feelings, talking about her existence, and her desire to be open about her sexuality in a conservative society.

Documentary about a "transportation commando" in Germany with the goal to deport 200 people to Albania...

A portrait of a queer HIV+ Iranian refugee in Quito.

A Palestinian activist's fight for freedom draws a Japanese American filmmaker into confrontation with detention regimes of past and present.

In 2022, when the economic crisis in her native country was at its peak, she decided to visit her family there. She turned her short trip into a collage-like diary in which she reflects on her relationship with her homeland, which is in a state of protracted decay. The film is composed of spontaneous snapshots capturing the author's stay, interspersed with inserted captions serving as personal, often poetically formulated comments and observations. As a result, the film does not hide its strongly subjective perspective, but at the same time builds on it to make an important statement that shows the transformation of Lebanese society in everyday details such as the appearance of the city itself or in the intimate sphere of the author's family life.

In Iraq 2003 Corporal Martin Webster filmed fellow soldiers beating Iraqi youths during rioting in Al Amara. Two years later, a British newspaper obtained his footage. The story that ran led to outrage across the world.

A metaphor of the Flood in our times, The Flood is the rain of violence that washes over us. Noah´s Ark is the train that runs through Mexico toward the United States and migrants are the species attempting to save their lives. For the directors, cinema moves people not just by condemnation, but by confronting and fostering emotions which lead to new, constructive ideas. This documentary became a cinematographic diary for their first viewer, their three-year-old daughter, Zafirah.

In the run-up to parliamentary elections in mid-October, Polish filmmaker Marcin Wierzchowski travelled across his country to gauge the atmosphere in a society that is more divided than ever.

Bajo el signo libertario is a propaganda documentary, with the script and direction of Les (known for his articles in Solidaridad Obrera and the magazine Espectáculo) whose central theme is the reconstruction of the development of life in a libertarian community in the Aragonese town of Pina de Ebro.

A nine-year-old Syrian refugee girl contemplates her increasingly bleak future after being forced to drop out of school in the midst of Lebanon’s unprecedented economic collapse and battle with Covid-19.

In the aftermath of war, an extraordinary professor brings hope to children haunted by trauma-induced nightmares.

A comedy documentary about performing stand-up comedy for U.S. Troops stationed in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraq. Heartfelt interviews with top professional comedians are woven in with filmmaker Jordan Brady's first-hand experience going to the Middle East. While traveling (Spring 2016) brutal terrorist attacks in Brussels, Turkey and Iraq remind us of the dangers in thew world, and underscore the mission to provide laughter for the men and women serving the military.

A snapshot of the state of animated filmmaking 100 years ago. Includes several 1922 films: Walt Disney's "The Four Musicians of Bremen," Dave Fleischer's "Birthday," Otto Messmer's "Felix Makes Good," Paul Terry's "The Farmer and His Cat," Earl Hund's "Fresh Fish," Dave Fleischer's "Mechanical Doll," Otto Messmer's "Felix Fifty-Fifty," and Paul Terry's "Henry's Busted Romance".

Documentary Film maker, Mark Brown, attempts to discover the damaging effect the over-spilling immigrant population has on the coastal city of Calais, France.