House Orders

A documentary of the German national soccer team’s 2006 World Cup experience that changed the face of modern Germany.

An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time. (Silent short, voiced in 1937 and 1996.)

Every year, five to ten percent of all deceased Berliners are buried by the authorities because no relatives are found. Most of them are put into the ground by mortician Bernd Simon going alone. But sometimes companions do turn up and say goodbye in their very own way. An observational documentary about an undertaker who actually wanted to become an entertainer, a bizarre city portrait and a mirror of how we deal with death, mourning and commemoration.

Fleeing religious persecution, resilient Jewish immigrants arrive in Toronto and begin building affordable, quality housing in a growing metropolis.

In a document from November 1st, 1007, Wellerstadt is mentioned for the first time verifiably. The royal couple Heinrich and Kunigunde make the plan to establish a diocese, with Bamberg at its centre. During the imperial synod in Frankfurt in 1007, the bishops approve the plan. Heinrich transfers his royal court Forchheim together with 14 villages, including Wellerstadt, to the diocese. As “Waldrichesbach”, Wellerstadt is not only presumably earlier mentioned in documents than Baiersdorf but is in fact older than Baiersdorf. A once presumably Thuringian settlement at the river Regnitz has by now become the district of the small Franconian town of Baiersdorf: Founded at a ford, destroyed during the Thirty Year’s War, rebuild, often flooded by the Regnitz, pushed back and forth between the diocese and the margraviate. Waldrichesbach has turned into Wellerstadt, an endearing small village in Middle Franconia.

On the brink of social collapse, the city of Los Angeles California is full of protests in favor of immigrants and against deportations under the administration of Trump. On the border with Mexico, thousands of people try to cross every day.

Until 1942 around 100 German propaganda films were made, that were set in Africa. They were produced in Germany, with Black Germans and Africans living in Germany. Who were these Black extras and how did they come to Germany? Why did they work in film-making? Which roles did they play and what messages did they send? What were their daily experiences as Black people during the Weimar Republic and the Nazi Regime?

Feature documentary debut of 29 year old director Kei Tanaka. In the Japanese town of Kawasaki, elderly residents who have lived hard lives are now facing their own death at a public housing complex called “Danchi“. The young director explores and depicts the ageing population in Japan by focusing on the personal lives of few individuals who live quietly on the outskirts of society. While some of the protagonists chose to interact and establish friendships with their fellow elderly residents, others prefer to spend the rest of their years in solitary.

Three strangers immersed in the world of camming come together to discuss its impact on young people. But their views are radically different. While one sees it as a respectable trade full of dedicated and liberated women, another sees it as a direct exploitation of the male libido. The third sees it as a haven for lonely people like himself to reconnect with the intimacy that’s missing from their lives. What they don’t know is that they all have one person in common – and she’s watching the conversation from the next room. Bex is a curvy cam model, and she’s witnessing their unfiltered feelings about her and the industry unfold. Filled with passionate debates, disagreements, humour and revelation, will our common people unite? Or will their revelations polarise them further?

In the months leading up to, and days following Ireland’s historic referendum to repeal the eighth amendment, investigative journalist Ellie Flynn follows the story of the landmark vote to legalise abortion. Ahead of the referendum, Ellie travels to Ireland to meet activists and campaigners from both sides of the debate to try and understand the impact of the Law for young Irish voters and discovers that this incredibly divisive and emotionally charged issue is not as black and white as it seems. She meets a young ‘No’ vote campaigner who believes he's only alive because the amendment stopped his mother from aborting him in her youth and speaks to a woman who made the tragic decision to travel to the UK to abort her much wanted daughter after discovering she would be in extreme pain for the few moments she was likely to survive. On May 25th, Ireland voted Yes to the constitutional amendment to legalise abortion and Ellie returned to discuss the reaction.

A Matter of Land recounts the first year of application of Colombian's Land Restitution Act from the perspective of a community who decide to engage with the process. The film explores the tensions that arise when such communities come face to face with the complex institutions responsible for enforcing the law. The result of these tensions is a narrative worthy of Kafka, in which a doorway to justice is opened for the sole purpose of demonstrating that no one can pass through it.

Drivers of urban public transport in Bogotá do not receive a fixed salary¸ only a percentage per passenger picked up. Through the testimony of two champions of this daily war¸ an unpleasant daily life is shown¸ distressing and dangerous¸ both for the users and for the drivers themselves los and from which the only ones who benefit are the great transport entrepreneurs¸ true architects of a bloody war in which the State is hardly an indolent spectator.

A conflicted gay man struggles to teach his younger self about the challenges of adult life. Searching for answers inside stories from his past, he must confront his nature and the man he will become. Documentary meets musical feature in this experimental coming of age drama about power and masculinity in modern day Australia.

Two women, one house. An intimate story about a Pole and a German placed by war on enemy sides and their parallel lives accidentally brought together. The film reflects on the concepts of invaders, victim, guilt and forgiveness. It confronts different experiences and their paradoxical similarities. It deals with the controversial subject of the post-war accountings. The visual narration is flowing, guided by memories and archives. Traditional documentation confronts experimental use of archival footage in the cinematic impression about displacement.

Inspired by the student revolutions of 1968, two women in Germany and Japan set out to plot world revolution as leaders of the Baader Meinhof Group and the Japanese Red Army. What were they fighting for and what have we learned?

Counter Shot: Departure of the Filmmakers

16-year-old Bella and Vipulan are part of a generation convinced its very future is in danger. Between climate change and the 6th mass extinction of wildlife, their world could well be inhabitable 50 years from now. They have sounded the alarm over and over, but nothing has really changed. So they’ve decided to tackle the root of the problem: our relationship with the living world. Over the course of an extraordinary journey, they come to realize just how deeply humans are tied to all other living species. And that by saving them… we’re also saving ourselves. Humans thought they could distance themselves from nature, but humans are part and parcel of nature. For man is, after all, an Animal.

French actors Lucien Jean-Baptiste, Aïssa Maïga, Sonia Rolland, Deborah Lukumuena, Marie-France Malonga, Gary Dourdan and others speak up on the reality of black actors in the French movie industry.

In 1987 GDR citizen Mario Röllig was arrested in Hungary for attempting to flee the GDR. Nowadays he gives talks about his experiences. This portrait shows just how subjective and riddled with taboos attempts to interpret GDR history can be.

What happened to those vedettes who represented the mexican cabaret’s exotic beauty in the ‘70s and ‘80s? Four decades after the end of their roles, they tell their stories with dignity.