Truth of the Situation: Making 'The Counselor'

Ashes and Snow, a film by Gregory Colbert, uses both still and movie cameras to explore extraordinary interactions between humans and animals. The 60-minute feature is a poetic narrative rather than a documentary. It aims to lift the natural and artificial barriers between humans and other species, dissolving the distance that exists between them.

African Cats captures the real-life love, humor and determination of the majestic kings of the savanna. The story features Mara, an endearing lion cub who strives to grow up with her mother’s strength, spirit and wisdom; Sita, a fearless cheetah and single mother of five mischievous newborns; and Fang, a proud leader of the pride who must defend his family from a once banished lion.

The Serengeti is Africa's largest nature reserve and one of its most notable inhabitants is the cheetah, also called cheetah. A young cheetah tells of his carefree childhood on the Serengeti Plain in Tanzania, thanks to his wonderful mother. She takes care of food on the shelf and with her he and his brothers and sister have nothing to fear. Lesson one: tripping the calf, lesson two: choking and biting to death, lesson three: Catching a calf yourself. Mother cheeta allows her boy to practice on a gazelle calf she has caught for them. One day, the young cheetahs will have to hunt themselves. Without Mommy's help.

An orphaned cheetah becomes the best friend and pet of a young boy living in South Africa.

A group of men are on safari. One of the party refuses to give a gift to a tribe they encounter. The tribe is offended, seizes the party, and one-by-one, kills all but one of the safari members in various creative and horrifying ways. The last surviving member is given "The Lion's Chance" by the tribal leader to be hunted down by a party of tribal warriors.

Determined to prove herself, Officer Judy Hopps, the first bunny on Zootopia's police force, jumps at the chance to crack her first case - even if it means partnering with scam-artist fox Nick Wilde to solve the mystery.

An American boy and girl, spending six months in Kenya with their scientist parents adopt a cheetah, only to realize that they must set it loose so that it can learn to hunt and be free. However, when the animal is captured by poachers planning to race it against greyhounds, the two city kids, together with a young African goat herder they befriended, head off into the wild to rescue the cheetah.

Werner Herzog's documentary film about the "Grizzly Man" Timothy Treadwell and what the thirteen summers in a National Park in Alaska were like in one man's attempt to protect the grizzly bears. The film is full of unique images and a look into the spirit of a man who sacrificed himself for nature.

More than 60,000 of Ernest Cole’s 35mm film negatives were inexplicably discovered in a bank vault in Stockholm, Sweden. Most considered these forever lost, especially the thousands of pictures he shot in the U.S. Told through Cole’s own writings, the stories of those closest to him, and the lens of his uncompromising work, the film is a reintroduction of a pivotal Black artist to a new generation and will unravel the mystery of his missing negatives.

The definitive story of how Aberdeen FC went from the nearly men of Scottish football to winning both the European Cup Winners Cup and European Super Cup. Documentary telling the definitive story of how Aberdeen FC defied expectations and ruled European football.

The Real Haunted Mansion 2 explores the rich history and investigates the ghostly activity for the first time at an historic Gothic Iowa Mansion with a team of Historians and Paranormal Investigators.

On the tracks of a filmmaker

A piece of visual poetry that shows the world seen through the eyes of a person in a constant state of anhedonia

The extraordinary story of the 1971 Women’s World Cup, which was held in Mexico City and witnessed by more than 100,000 fans. This landmark tournament was dismissed by FIFA and written out of sports history – until now, with dazzling archival footage and interviews with the former players.

A group of New York City psychics conduct deeply intimate readings for their clients, revealing a kaleidoscope of loneliness, connection, and healing.

In defiance of Russia’s anti-LGBTQ laws, a queer, 21-year-old artist risks her life performing in surreal costumes throughout Moscow. Jenna Marvin’s radical public performances blend artistry and activism in this SXSW documentary.

By exploring the relationship between the watched and the watching, our film uncovers the trauma and hope engendered by the Chinese all-surveilling state and lends a voice to those that stand in resilient defiance of such blatant abuse of power.

Teacher Wang works as a 'mistress dispeller' in China, hired to break up affairs by any means necessary. Through one of her cases, we explore the ways class, capital, and culture collide to shape romantic relationships in contemporary China.

Vintersaga, is a song-structured homage to the Swedish melancholy. Through 24 stanzas the film observes a mosaic of situations and individuals, each with their own doubts, memories and dreams, shaping a picture of a land tinged by the bitter cold wind.

Timo Novotny labels his new project an experimental music documentary film, in a remix of the celebrated film Megacities (1997), a visually refined essay on the hidden faces of several world "megacities" by leading Austrian documentarist Michael Glawogger. Novotny complements 30 % of material taken straight from the film (and re-edited) with 70 % as yet unseen footage in which he blends original shots unused by Glawogger with his own sequences (shot by Megacities cameraman Wolfgang Thaler) from Tokyo. Alongside the Japanese metropolis, Life in Loops takes us right into the atmosphere of Mexico City, New York, Moscow and Bombay. This electrifying combination of fascinating film images and an equally compelling soundtrack from Sofa Surfers sets us off on a stunning audiovisual adventure across the continents. The film also makes an original contribution to the discussion on new trends in documentary filmmaking. Written by KARLOVY VARY IFF 2006