A Tunnel (2019)

An essayistic architecture documentary dwelling on modern day Ukraine, Constructivism and the Soviet revolution.

Single mother Anna and her four children live in the front-line war zone of Donbas, Ukraine. While the outside world is made up of bombings and chaos, the family is managing to keep their home a safe haven, full of life and full of light. Every member of the family has a passion for cinema, motivating them to shoot a film inspired by their own life during a time of war. The creative process raises the question of what kind of power the magical world of cinema could have during times of disaster. How to picture war through fiction? For Anna and the children, transforming trauma into a work of art is the ultimate way to stay human.

Every year, thousands of Ukrainian Christians undertake a pilgrimage to Zarvanytsia, a sacred place. Between prayers they share news, brag about their wealth, take pictures of chapels, give interviews, witness miracles. Witness miracles?

Personal videos from the phones, camcorders, cameras and GoPros of Ukrainian soldiers are woven into a surreal journey to the frontline of the war with Russia. The film shows a bizarre world whose laws are quite different from what we are used to. The behaviour is different, the relationships unfold differently and the humour takes on different notes. The heroes wake up and fall asleep, rejoice and cry, always feeling that the recording may end at any moment.

A young Russian girl is in love with show business and wants to leave her small town for Moscow and make it big in the big city. She encounters her long missing, remarried father and gets a boy friend who uses her and then leaves her.

A talented girl from the provincial Russian town Pasha Stroganova dreams of becoming an actress. She plays the role of Baba Yaga in the amateur theatre — and does it so organically that the visiting filmmaker offers her the most difficult role in the historical drama about Joan of Arc. She was given not only great acting talent, but the talent of deep, selfless love. A dream comes true: she is invited to the main role, and she begins a completely different life, full of real creative torment, insights and true happiness.

Documental sobre la última mujer recolectora de abejas de Europa. Hatidze es una mujer cerca de la cincuentena de un pequeño pueblo en Macedonia que cría colonias de abejas en unos cestos hechos a mano que deja escondidos entre las rocas. Sin protección ni ayuda, es capaz de amansarlas para poder extraer la miel y venderla en la capital. Todo es idílico hasta que, de repente, nuevos vecinos se instalan cerca de las colmenas, estorbando su paz y la de sus abejas. Así como las abejas obreras pasan toda su vida cuidando de la abeja reina, Hatidze ha comprometido su propia vida al cuidado de su madre, con la que vive en una cabaña. La intrusión de los recién llegados, una familia con siete niños ruidosos acompañados de 150 vacas, provocará un conflicto que podría destruir la forma de vida de Hatidze para siempre.

Jem Cohen's memory-tribute to Jonas Mekas displaces its first-person narration from voice-over to on-screen text. Diaristic New York street imagery from 2015 mingles with the red roses of Lithuania and a 'makeshift memorial' to this beloved figure of the avant-garde.