Espectadores (2012)

It was in the 60s when Matala, a poor, fishing village in southern Crete, gained worldwide fame with reports in the international press and became the “controversial point” of local society, causing the wrath of the church and the intervention of the military regime in Athens. Hippies from all over the world lived in the famous caves of Matala, forming a unique international community, whose loose and alternative lifestyles provoked the morals of the time. Who were these young people? What brought them to Matala? What was their relationship with the locals? Did orgies really take place? The answers are given by the – nowadays almost septuagenarian – protagonists of the story: Arn and Elmar from Germany, the British sisters Shirley and Pam, Greek musician Dimitris Poulikakos, grandma Alexandra and grandma Katerina, and George, a poor fisherman and a friend of Joni Mitchell from way back.

The mother of a child suffering from cancer struggles to maintain a normal life for her family. Stine is thirty-seven years old and the single mother of three girls. Her daughter Cecilie, now aged eleven, has had cancer since she was two. Cecilie has spent half her life in hospital and Stine along with her. Stine is fighting an unfair battle in unbearable chaos. At the same time, she insists on maintaining some sort of life for all three children.

At last, a film on the history of clowns, these poets of the absurd, these “men under construction” as the poet Henri Michaux described them. From the beginning of the 20th century with Charlie Chaplin, to the present day with James Thierrée, his grandson, this archival film relates the evolution of clowns across the world, identifies affinities and marks breaking points. The whole range of the art of the clown is represented, from Popov’s and Slava’s obsession with perfection, to Fratellini’s or Semianyki’s clumsiness as art. A saga like a wild poetic gospel, which showcases their humorous dimension but also underscores their tragic aspect. With complex characters such as Buster Keaton and Jacques Tati, who make us shiver by the accuracy of their take on the human condition and remind us, with Fellini, that clowns don the ridiculousness of mankind.

Nicole and Auguste, a couple of breeders work hard, on their own, in Ariège, south of France. Their craft is disappearing. Is the peasantry endangered?

The Brigade of Gurkhas has been a special unit within the British army for 200 years. Boys are recruited for the unit in the mountain villages of Nepal. In Who Will Be a Gurkha, director Kesang Tseten observes how the aspiring soldiers’ physical condition, intelligence and motivation are all put to the test. Tough selection isn’t only a matter of fitness and muscle power, but also of the right mental preparation. The Gurkhas are known for their courage and fighting spirit, and they are sent to fight in areas of conflict such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pascal, 53, and Carole, 28, are shepherds. In the month of November 2010, they embark on their long winter transhumance: four months during which they will have to cover 600 km in the Swiss-French region, accompanied by three donkeys, four dogs and eight hundred sheep. An exceptional adventure is about to begin: they brave the cold and the bad weather day in day out, with a canvas cover and animal skins as their only shelter at night. This saga reveals a tough and exacting profession, requiring constant improvisation and unflinching attention to nature, the animals and the cosmos. An eventful journey with surprise encounters, moving reunions with farmer friends, nostalgic figures of country life that is shrinking away fast. Αn adventure film, a contemporary road movie, a reflection of our current world, which takes us back to our roots and our inner questions.

The all embracing love of the Greek mother stretches around the globe. However far away her child may be, she will always make sure that he will have a good supply of mother’s food! Food in the hands of Greek mothers is a powerful practical and symbolic tool that bridges any geographical and emotional distance and keeps the family bonds tight forever! By focusing on three Greek mothers and their use of food, the documentary opens a window onto the particularity of the Greek family with the powerful mother figure at the center and the children as kings and queens!

Since the onset of the crisis in Greece, a growing number of young unemployed Athenians have moved to the countryside, hoping to change their lives for the better. The film follows 35-yearold Thodoris, as he settles on the remote island of Ikaria to live off the land. There, he discovers a society with a unique culture of autonomy and cooperation, and a people who live not only better, but longer than everyone else, making the island one of the world’s few ‘blue zones’, where inhabitants enjoy extraordinary longevity. Director Nikos Dayandas goes in search of the Ikarian secret, discovering how the islanders’ radically different lives become increasingly relevant in times of economic and social upheaval.

In the Cretan villages of the White Mountains, women preserve the rich tradition of the land with maturity and creativity. Over the years, the Cretan “petseta” has become a very important part of their dowry, their life and their personality. On each “petseta” there are warp threads that must be fastened. A simple knot would be enough, until some woman, playing with the loose threads, created the first finger lace pattern. This is the main subject of this film. Mrs Marie Naxaki’s encounter with these women led to the joy of talking about the past and the special meaning of the finger lace edging.

The Romanian penitentiary system allows, from 2006, the marriage of people sentenced to serve time in prison. Most of the inmates cultivate the pre-existing relationships with the concubines or partners who live outside the prison walls. Though, there is a special category, of those who find a life partner during their time in prison. VISITING ROOM follows the stories of some prisoners found in different penitentiaries across the country, who have found their life partner during their sentence time. The one is either a person from outside, or as them, a person who is serving time in prison. Our intention was to talk to the people found in the special situation of being deprived of freedom, to whom love becomes a substitute for freedom and represents maybe their only hope for a better future.

Nine lives through the eyes of a cat. A large tabby cat sits perkily in front of the hospital. An old woman comes up to him and strokes him. A tall man calls out for him. A little girl lures him with a treat. The cat is present every day, quietly looking around. It’s hard to imagine the hospital without him. He is a subject of conversation, makes people smile and offers consolation. “He’s a bit of a mascot for me,” says one woman as she lights her cigarette. “If he is there, I’m fine.” What the Cat Sees is a portrait of the patients of the hospital, who pass by this special cat every day.

With an audience of 40 million, Ding Yu, a beautiful Chinese journalist interviews condemned prisoners shortly before execution. But what about the emotional burden this is having on Ding Yu herself?

A documentary about the Blues and the history of the USA. Maarten Schmidt and Thomas Doebele went in search of older generations of blues performers and their modern successors, rappers and hip-hoppers. They traveled to the Mississippi Delta, the cotton fields of the American South, the birthplace of the low blues. The blues performers talk and sing about the past, slavery, discrimination, God, the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan, and love. They sing about the current economic crisis and their expectations of Barack Obama. Will the hope for a change they express be heard?

People say that she is a criminal, that she is a unique grifter. Others say that despite her eighty years, she still rips people off. Most people believe that she lives in Nice, and that she is now very rich. People say a lot of things... Who she really is, no one will ever know, but she appears to be a great seductress, a woman so cunning that she seems unstoppable, even though she has been convicted many times during her long career. Now it seems that she’s disappeared without a trace. But not quite.