Petr Lom

Artist and political activist San Zaw Htway experienced the full force of military repression in Myanmar back in 1999, when he was sentenced to 36 years in prison for involvement in the re-establishment of the banned student union. Twelve years later, under a more lenient regime, he was released.

"북필라델피아에 있는 옹호자 교회의 수프 키친인 옹호자 카페는 34년 된 것으로 흑표당에 뿌리를 두고 있습니다. 그것은 음식 프로그램의 일환으로 설립되었고, 여전히 필라델피아에서 가장 가난한 지역들 중 한 곳에서 중요한 지점입니다." 영화제작자 페트르 롬은 동정어린 눈으로 2년 동안 주방 직원, 자원봉사자, 손님들을 따라다니며, 문서화되지 않은 멕시코 가족이 교회에 성소를 요청했을 때 벌어지는 일들을 기록한다. 르네 맥켄지 목사가 지적하듯이, 불법 이민자들에게 손을 뻗는 것은 교회의 오랜 사회 정의 활동 전통의 새로운 장을 의미한다. 그래서 교회 지하실에 있는 교실은 카르멜라 에르난데스와 그녀의 네 아이들을 위한 집으로 개조되었다. 어려서부터 교회와 카페에 몸담아온 전 흑표범 바바라 이즐리콕스의 말을 빌리자면 어려운 이들을 돕는 것이 '기부'의 전부다. 또는, 그녀가 이 고무적인 영화에서 단호하게 언급했듯이, "카르멜라의 이야기는 우리의 이야기입니다."

Burma Storybook is a parade of characters, poems and cinema verité scenes set in this enchantingly beautiful land trying to recover from six decades of fear and suffering. The main story is of Maung Aung Pwint, Burma’s most famous dissident poet, who has spent more than 30 years behind bars for his political activism. The yearning for his lost son, who lives in political exile in Finland, and his long-awaited return home after 20 years, are at the heart of the film.

Burma Storybook is a parade of characters, poems and cinema verité scenes set in this enchantingly beautiful land trying to recover from six decades of fear and suffering. The main story is of Maung Aung Pwint, Burma’s most famous dissident poet, who has spent more than 30 years behind bars for his political activism. The yearning for his lost son, who lives in political exile in Finland, and his long-awaited return home after 20 years, are at the heart of the film.

Burma Storybook is a parade of characters, poems and cinema verité scenes set in this enchantingly beautiful land trying to recover from six decades of fear and suffering. The main story is of Maung Aung Pwint, Burma’s most famous dissident poet, who has spent more than 30 years behind bars for his political activism. The yearning for his lost son, who lives in political exile in Finland, and his long-awaited return home after 20 years, are at the heart of the film.

Burma Storybook is a parade of characters, poems and cinema verité scenes set in this enchantingly beautiful land trying to recover from six decades of fear and suffering. The main story is of Maung Aung Pwint, Burma’s most famous dissident poet, who has spent more than 30 years behind bars for his political activism. The yearning for his lost son, who lives in political exile in Finland, and his long-awaited return home after 20 years, are at the heart of the film.

ANA ANA is a cinematic poem about four young creative Egyptian women. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors in a process of collaboration and mentorship over a course of two years. The four main characters find creative ways to express what is hidden within their hearts: speaking of their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, and using metaphors, and cinematic storytelling to transform the every-day struggles of their lives into the sublime. Set in the overwhelming chaos of Cairo, the film also oscillates back and forth between an empty and abstract desert, which might be real or unreal.

ANA ANA is a cinematic poem about four young creative Egyptian women. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors in a process of collaboration and mentorship over a course of two years. The four main characters find creative ways to express what is hidden within their hearts: speaking of their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, and using metaphors, and cinematic storytelling to transform the every-day struggles of their lives into the sublime. Set in the overwhelming chaos of Cairo, the film also oscillates back and forth between an empty and abstract desert, which might be real or unreal.

A year after the euphoria on Tahrir Square, the demonstrators' goals have not even come close to being reached. The country is ruled with an iron fist and there is still no democracy. The 'eye of the world' has moved elsewhere. How things have been in Egypt since 25 January 2011 is explained using five portraits of people from various walks of life.

A year after the euphoria on Tahrir Square, the demonstrators' goals have not even come close to being reached. The country is ruled with an iron fist and there is still no democracy. The 'eye of the world' has moved elsewhere. How things have been in Egypt since 25 January 2011 is explained using five portraits of people from various walks of life.

A year after the euphoria on Tahrir Square, the demonstrators' goals have not even come close to being reached. The country is ruled with an iron fist and there is still no democracy. The 'eye of the world' has moved elsewhere. How things have been in Egypt since 25 January 2011 is explained using five portraits of people from various walks of life.

A year after the euphoria on Tahrir Square, the demonstrators' goals have not even come close to being reached. The country is ruled with an iron fist and there is still no democracy. The 'eye of the world' has moved elsewhere. How things have been in Egypt since 25 January 2011 is explained using five portraits of people from various walks of life.

Iran, 2008. As President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's motorcade creeps through the teeming streets of Qom Shrine, thousands of people jam hand-written letters into the hands of his handlers. Hearing their President deliver a speech is a thrill, but more promising to these men and women is the hope that their letters - expressing pleas for loans, medical attention, housing and jobs - will be answered. Since his 2005 election on a populist, "man of the people" platform, Ahmadinejad has encouraged Iranians to send him such letters; according to a staff member, he has received about 10 million of them, and has been able to respond to nearly 76 percent. In one letter, a 16-year-old boy says his family has no money and goes to bed hungry every night. According to the staff member, the boy will be helped. As other letters are read, the worker says that "In Islam, charity is a necessity."

From director Petr Lom comes this metaphorical documentary that follows four Xinjiang province orphans learning the ancient practice of tightrope walking -- a tradition handed down by the Uighurs, China's biggest Muslim minority. But the government forbids the children from professing their faith, leaving them torn between Islamic values and those of atheistic communism. The film is the first in a trilogy about human rights in oppressive regimes.