Dignity of the Nobodies

"Mexico begins where the roads end ”. Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes tells us about the history of Mexico: its invasions, its revolutions, its sacred lands, its forgotten legends, its religious rituals and this frightening misery. François Reichenbach and his camera sink into the dust, on this sacred land, where "the land never ends."

Common sense says you can't make a living in America playing avant-garde improvisational jazz. But Ken Vandermark does it anyway. Among musicians, Vandermark's work ethic is almost mythic. The Chicago reed player has released over 100 albums with nearly 40 ensembles, spends over eight months per year on the road, and lives every other waking moment composing, arranging, performing—and trying to discipline his two hyperactive canines. Though Vandermark was the recipient of a 1999 MacArthur genius grant, he still spends most of his life in smoky clubs and low-budget recording studios, hoping people will plunk down hard-earned cash to hear his wholly non-commercial music. Following the artful cinéma vérité style of the internationally acclaimed Sheriff (Work Series #1), Musician (Work Series #2) forgoes all interviews and voice-overs. It is a fly-on-the-wall time capsule that expertly captures every subtle sound and texture of this most American of art forms.

In an industry that is becoming increasingly competitive, what drives indie filmmakers to keep creating their art, even when there is no promise of money or fame? CREATE OR DIE explores the insatiable passion to create despite the overwhelming odds through the lens of South Carolina writer and filmmaker David Axe, as he and his band of cast and crew head out into the backwoods of Georgia to shoot his low budget passion project ACORN. But when tragedy strikes on set, doubt and tension threaten to bring an end to their production and their dreams.

Conceição Tavares is one of the most forceful, critical and original voices of Brazilian economic thought. This documentary gives an account of her life and work, while taking stock of more than half a century of a country looking for a future.

Zeitgeist: Addendum premiered at the 5th Annual Artivist Film Festival. Director Peter Joseph stated: "The failure of our world to resolve the issues of war, poverty, and corruption, rests within a gross ignorance about what guides human behavior to begin with. It address the true source of the instability in our society, while offering the only fundamental, long-term solution."

One year: this is the time left to the employees of the Ascoval steel plant to save their factory and their future. During these months of sacrifice, doubt and hope, Eric Guéret, author and director of the documentary, accompanies the management and employees in a race against time to increase productivity and try to find a buyer. For many, this steel mill, which was the story of a lifetime, becomes a matter of survival. A personal struggle that is also symbolic of a problem intrinsic to this documentary: French deindustrialization. Can we still have heavy industry in France today?

A Canadian union and workers in a GM plant mobilize to save it in what will become the fight of their lives.

From both local and global perspectives, this documentary examines the harsh realities behind the mounting water crisis. Learn how politics, pollution and human rights are intertwined in this important issue that affects every being on Earth. With water drying up around the world and the future of human lives at stake, the film urges a call to arms before more of our most precious natural resource evaporates.

Wem gehört der Osten - Die großen Deals der Einheit

A hard-hitting documentary that tackles head-on a controversial but increasingly alarming subject: young men's obsession with the perfect body, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs to achieve it. Once the preserve of top-level athletes, the use of anabolic steroids has become endemic among teenagers and young men with a passion for bodybuilding. Daring to tackle head-on the taboo of male beauty standards, Adonis offers a field investigation into the heart of this muscle-building machine, questioning the reasons behind and the physical, psychological and social risks of this race to the perfect body. As he stages his own vulnerability, the filmmaker lifts the veil on the scale of the public health crisis that is looming.

A documentary examining possible historical and modern conspiracies surrounding Christianity, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the Federal Reserve bank.

The largest leisure and shopping complex in Europe, the Metro Centre in Tynemouth, and its creator John Hall.

A documentary about rap artists from Ceilândia, a satellite-city of Brazil capital, Brasilia. The film portrait the struggle of the lives of the rapers and makes a parallel with the violent building of the city designed to settle the outcast from Brasilia after its completion.

Sassnitz is a small coastal town at the Baltic Sea on the Island of Rügen. In its vicinity are the world-famous chalk cliffs, a tourist magnet. The Mukran Port is also part of the municipality. The overseas port is the starting point for the construction of Nord Stream 2, a natural gas pipeline that connects Germany directly with Russia. In 2020, the port town hit the international headlines. Even the New York Times reported and cited Mayor Frank Kracht as a staunch opponent from the northeast German province against the rumbling America of Donald Trump. The reason is the undisguised threat from Washington to ruin the international port economically if the natural gas pipeline continues to be built from there. Many jobs and the region's economic stability are at risk. Reporter Klaus Scherer documents the case, questions experts as well as those affected and looks at the behavior of national politicians towards the USA and how they react to the interference in internal affairs.

A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.

The film exposes the links between Agrifood and politics. With a pool of international experts it analyses the many problems related to factory farming: water pollution, migrants exploitation, biodiversity loss and antibiotic resistance.

Lebanon today. The traces of the civil war are all too tangible as government corruption becomes unbearable. In a country where conflict and peace are caught in an endless cycle, musicians from different backgrounds pool their talents to create an underground music scene. Each evokes his or her representation of Lebanon: its shifting geographical, political, historical and social borders, its painful passage through conflict and instability. A touching portrait of a young generation trying to build an oasis in a hostile environment where the forces of destruction continue to wreak havoc.

A film that exposes the shocking truth behind the economic crisis of 2008. The global financial meltdown, at a cost of over $20 trillion, resulted in millions of people losing their homes and jobs. Through extensive research and interviews with major financial insiders, politicians and journalists, Inside Job traces the rise of a rogue industry and unveils the corrosive relationships which have corrupted politics, regulation and academia.

What would you do if your basic income was taken care of month after month? Would you stop working? Follow your passions? Take more risks? The four-figure sum that all four members of the Wardwell family receive each year from the Alaskan government’s crude oil profits goes towards a college fund for their children, something they would otherwise be unable to afford. Filmmaker Christian Tod, himself a fervent supporter of the idea, explores the model of an unconditional basic income and takes a look at trial systems already underway in the US, Canada and Namibia. Wandering the history of this utopia reminiscent of science fiction he eventually ends up in Switzerland, where the new system was voted on in 2016. In this multifaceted and highly entertaining documentary, Tod broaches life’s existential questions and fuels the debate on one of the most prevalent economic topics of our generation.

Let's Not Live Like Slaves