Being Seen Seeing

The animated corpse of Moscow goes on after its inhabitants left. Filled with weeps and whispers of the mourning ghosts, torn apart with phone calls from distant countries and unfamiliar sounds, emotionally devastated and deserted, the city attempts to reconcile with its own voice.

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

How have the changing views on children been reflected in their representation in art? From Baby Jesus to the first photographic portraits, an exploration of six centuries of art history through the prism of childhood.

About Stefan Stricker, who calls himself Juwelia and has been running a gallery on Sanderstraße in Berlin Neukölln for many years. Every weekend he invites guests to shamelessly recount from his life and to sing poetic songs written with his friend from Hollywood Jose Promis. Juwelia has been poor and sexy all her life, has always struggled for recognition, but only partially.

The people of Antiquity had little problem with nudity and would not find graphic depictions of sexual acts as morally suspect or obscene. But Christianity changed perspectives, bringing in notions of shame and the negation of the body. This documentary looks at the erotic in art over the last two thousand years.

A boy from Vila do Conde records a love letter on a cassette. His voice blends with music, archive images and stories from the past, some lived and others heard.

Vilnius is a city of notable historical heritage and unique character currently undergoing considerable changes. Some of the life fragments our camera has recorded are no more. The film, therefore, is a testimony to that which has faded into oblivion, and a glimpse into what is to come.

The film tackles the theme of the invasion of machines around us. With the advent of artificial intelligence, people are concerned about the increasing autonomous capabilities of technology. Have we passed the tipping point, and have machines become too powerful to be controlled by humans? While legitimate, these fears conceal the real danger. Beyond technological objects, the machine has infiltrated our very being, our way of thinking and seeing the world.

Is the city of Zurich suffering from ‘density stress’? What is it like to live in mega cities such as São Paulo, Mexico City and Tiflis? Filmmaker Thomas Haemmerli broaches the topics of city development, architecture, density, housing market, xenophobia and gentrification from an autobiographical perspective. The path of his life has led him from a childhood in the villa district of Zürichberg, through his teenage years as squatter to flat shares, yuppie apartments and finally second homes in various cities. Only recently having become a dad, he plans to further enhance Zurich’s price appreciation by purchasing a huge, extended city apartment… This multifaceted essay not only humorously questions the filmmaker’s decisions, but also those of the right-wing conservatives, who are afraid of losing their space to immigrants, and the political left, who fail to embrace modern-age architecture.

Deserted Streets of Amsterdam

Moulins, du gauche au droit

KCBT explores the shifting urban landscape and rapid economic growth of Hanoi, Vietnam through stenciled demolition ads that both visibly mark the entire city and internally mark its residents.

INERCIA

Stadens själ

A Swedish documentary about Vällingby.

A film about "the father" of Malmö Eric Svenning and how the city has developed during his time.

Grundtvigs steder

A backstage and on-stage look at Nicki Minaj's career during the Pink Friday Tour, festivals, and more.

A blend of drama and documentary, this film follows several people caught up in the turmoil of the modern world. The drama centres on a woman who has burned out and who holds up her own despair – and her attempts to rebuild her life – as a mirror to the rest of us. With a blend of gravity and humour, Sylvie Groulx's film shows the absurdity of a society dedicated to the cult of speed at all costs.

Street views from the danish capital. Among the various retailers and businesses seen is Serpent Bicycle Shop, the newly built Hotel Cosmopolite, Hotel d'Angleterre, Bikubens Sparekasse, Østerbros Vinhandel, Hafnia Bicycles, Ferdinand Lørups Isenkram & Udstyr and Jens Karl Jensen's Cravats.