Data Mining the Deceased: Ancestry and the Business of Family

The story of the cross destiny of George Orwell (1903-50) and Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), the genius authors of the two most groundbreaking novels of anticipation of the 20th century: 1984 and Brave New World; two lucid witnesses of the maledictions of the modern world whose novels have found a considerable echo with our time.

Traces the historical evolution of these structures that make-up “the cloud”, the physical repositories for the exponentially growing amount of human activity and communication taking form as digital data.

Documentary and reflection about the effects of technology.

Each day, some 2.5 trillion bytes of data are exchanged, a deluge known as "big data." How can we classify, store, and give meaning to this mass of digital information? Will our digital society remain capable of producing a lasting memory? Learn the fate of memory storage in the future.

NOTHING TO HIDE is an independent documentary dealing with surveillance and its acceptance by the general public through the "I have nothing to hide" argument. The documentary was produced and directed by a pair of Berlin-based journalists, Mihaela Gladovic and Marc Meillassoux. It was crowdfunded by over 400 backers. NOTHING TO HIDE questions the growing, puzzling and passive public acceptance of massive corporate and governmental incursions into individual and group privacy and rights. After the emotion initially triggered by the Snowden revelations, it seems that the general public has finally accepted to live in a monitored digital world.

Digitalization has changed society. While data is becoming the "new oil", data protection is becoming the new "pollution control". This creative documentary opens an astonishing inside view into the lawmaking milieu on EU level. A compelling story of how a group of politicians try to protect todays society against the impact of Big Data and mass surveillance.

Data—arguably the world’s most valuable asset—is being weaponized to wage cultural and political wars. The dark world of data exploitation is uncovered through the unpredictable, personal journeys of players on different sides of the explosive Cambridge Analytica/Facebook data story.

Italy’s biggest political party, the Five Star Movement, promotes direct democracy through internet voting. Five Star Movement uses a digital platform named Rousseau, that allows Movement’s members to vote online and express their opinion on various issues. But who governs this data?

Harvard professor Shoshana Zuboff wrote a monumental book about the new economic order that is alarming. "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism," reveals how the biggest tech companies deal with our data. How do we regain control of our data? What is surveillance capitalism? In this documentary, Zuboff takes the lid off Google and Facebook and reveals a merciless form of capitalism in which no natural resources, but the citizen itself, serves as a raw material. How can citizens regain control of their data?

In a future dystopian America where internet connections feed directly into the consumer’s brain, a love story unfolds between Titus Gray, an average kid on a weekend trip to the moon, and Violet Durn, a brainy girl who has decided to try to fight the feed.

Brazil, 2022. Luiza is a veterinarian whose life is torn apart after a global data leak exposes private user content from major social networks. A reflection on technology, friendship and solitude.

A journey into the depths of subconscious of a city formed by human beings. The inhabitants of the city undergo the sessions on the couch. Unlocked by questions, e.g. what kind of animal is the city? they begin their journey into the depths of their own feelings and emotions. The city itself is only the starting point and over time, conversations get more and more intimate. The scenes from life, reminiscences and highly emotional moments interlace with the subjectively perceived shots of the city. They are blending together, complementing and interacting with each other. The fears of the film characters, their desires and unfinished affairs become a common fate.

Stephen Lack talks about playing the lead in David Cronenberg's 1981 sci-fi/horror cult classic SCANNERS.

The film highlights legendary Colombian birdwatching guide Diego Calderon-Franco and National Geographic photographer/videographer Keith Ladzinski as they travel through Columbia, a nation that boasts one of the most diverse populations of birds in the world, to capture footage of rare and unique birds, some of which have never been filmed before.

The furnace used to extract rose water in the Sultanate of Oman is known as "Dahjan Al-Ward" (The Rose Distillation). Director Mohammed Al-Ajmi presents his film about the history and details of the rose industry in the Sultanate of Oman.

Dreamland: Mark Twain's Journey to Jerusalem

The Boys of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn is a story of fathers and sons in three generations, their life choices and the consequences that follow. Grandfather, an ex-mobster, father, an ex-gangsta wannabe - now a turban wearing Sikh, and a hot tempered boy who lives across the ocean with his mom. After noticing her son's lack on interest towards his father, mother and son travel to New York to face the situation. After blaming her ex-husband for years she finally discovers the hidden reason why he is incapable of being present in their son's everyday life.

An essay on how could Welles' Touch of Evil and his story about the border between USA and Mexico influence Trump's imagination.

An audiovisual essay on Douglas Sirk's film The Tarnished Angels (1957). Analyzes a central scene 40 minutes into the narrative, and also refers both backward and forward in order to show the film’s richly elaborated logic of part and whole, repetition and stasis, drama and entropy.

Non Stop Travels with Michel Petrucciani