1. These Are the Weapons (Estas são as armas)
The agitprop film Estas são as armas by Murilo Salles was edited together from archival images and formed one of the first works to be produced by the newly founded film institute in Maputo.
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
2. Hold the Ketchup
This short documentary is about newcomers to Canada and what they eat. Funny, mouth-watering and visually delectable, it takes us into the specialty food shops where the ingredients are bought, and into the homes where the food is prepared and served in the traditional way.
3. Mystery in the Kitchen
Why does a housewife concerned for her family's welfare feed them so inadequately that she endangers their very lives? The film is a humorous and satirical attempt to remind the average housewife that it is not enough to be aware of modern food facts; they must also be applied in daily food purchasing and preparation.
4. Atopy (Atopia)
After being for eleven years in the city, José António Baptista returned to his home village to focus on literature.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
5. Arise
A film that captures the portraits and stories of extraordinary women around the world who are coming together to heal the injustices against the earth, weaves together poetry, music, art, and stunning scenery to create a hopeful and collective story that inspires us to work for the earth. The list of impassioned, indefatigable female environmental activists featured in this film includes Winona LaDuke, a Native American who has championed the use of solar and wind power on reservations; Theo Colborn, head of The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, who fights against toxic chemicals in our water supplies; Beverly Grant, who’s created a vibrant farmer’s market in a black neighborhood of Denver, Colo.; Dana Miller, who spearheads an “urban agriculture movement” in the same city; and Vandana Shiva, who champions organic farming in India.
6. Dumka (Думка)
Documentary showcasing popular and folk songs performed by the Ukrainian State Choir.
It has an average vote of 4 on TMDB.
7. Subotika: Land of Wonders (Subotika: Land of Wonders)
Subotika, a little-known island on the other side of the globe. An enchanting country with extraordinary sights, grand visions and a couple of minor problems.
It has an average vote of 6.6 on TMDB.
8. Echo
A reframing of the classic tale of Narcissus, the director draws on snippets of conversation with a trusted friend to muse on gender and identity. Just as shimmers are difficult to grasp as knowable entities, so does the concept of a gendered self feel unknowable except through reflection. Is it Narcissus that Echo truly longs for, or simply the Knowing he possesses when gazing upon himself?
9. Kuwait - Kuwait
Documentary on various aspects of Kuwaiti life, the contrasts between a backward society that lives in the desert and a very modern society that lives in the city.
10. Finding Sayun (不一樣的月光)
For her debut feature Finding Sayun , Atayal director Chen Chieh-yao returns to her home village to unearth the legend of Sayun , an Atayal girl who fell to her death in a turbulent stream while carrying a Japanese teacher’s belongings at the end of World War II. The movie begins when the tale of Sayun draws a television crew to the Atayal hamlet of Tyohemg in Nanao Township , Yilan County. Yukan , a high-school boy and a young hunter, does not understand the crew members’ interest in the story. But his grandfather’s memories of Sayun, whom he went to school with, revives his interest in the old tribal village, which the villagers had been forced to desert 50 years prior.
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
11. Weapon of War: Confessions of rape in Congo
Wherever war breaks out, men with guns rape. During the decades of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo possibly hundreds of thousands of women and girls were brutally raped. In WEAPON OF WAR military perpetrators unveil what lies behind this brutal behavior and the strategies of rape as a war crime. An ex-rebel explains how he raped. Like for many ex-soldiers, starting a normal life again is a struggle filled with trauma. In an attempt to reconcile with his past, he decides to meets one of his victims in an attempt to obtain forgiveness. Captain Basima is working as a priest in Congo's army and confronts perpetrators of rape. He urges them to change. Just like he did.
12. When Elephants Were Young
A young man and his young elephant street beg in gritty Bangkok amid the controversial elephant business that threatens their survival, until the opportunity comes to release the elephant to the wild.
It has an average vote of 8.5 on TMDB.
13. A Magical Substance Flows Into Me (في إثر مادة سحرية)
Robert Lachmann was a German-Jewish ethnomusicologist. In the 1930s, his radio show "Oriental Music" explored the musical traditions of Palestine and included regular live performances by musicians from different ethnic and religious groups. Inspired by Lachmann’s musicological studies, Palestinian artist Jumana Manna travels through Israel and the Palestinian territories of today with recordings from the programme. What do these songs sound like now when performed by Moroccan, Kurdish, or Yemenite Jews, by Samaritans, members of the urban and rural Palestinian communities, Bedouins and Coptic Christians?
It has an average vote of 6.8 on TMDB.
14. 2ⁿ: A Story of the Power of Numbers
2ⁿ is a story about the exponential growth of numbers raised to powers. Part of the Mathematica Peep Shows, one of five films made to accompany the Mathematica: A World of Numbers and Beyond exhibition at the California Museum of Science and Industry and the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
15. Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory (La Sortie de l'Usine Lumière à Lyon)
Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Prince's 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene pre-dated it by seven years. Three separate versions of this film exist, which differ from one another in numerous ways. The first version features a carriage drawn by one horse, while in the second version the carriage is drawn by two horses, and there is no carriage at all in the third version. The clothing style is also different between the three versions, demonstrating the different seasons in which each was filmed. This film was made in the 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds, holding a total of 800 frames.
It has an average vote of 6.689 on TMDB.
16. MonaLisa Story
"I was born stoned". The words come from MonaLisa, who's struggling to put the heroin on the shelf. Documentary filmmaker Jessica Nettelbladt has followed the long-suffering, but far from broken, MonaLisa for eight years. The result is as honest as the raw film about a woman's struggle with herself and the world.
It has an average vote of 6.3 on TMDB.
17. Câmara Viajante (Câmara Viajante)
Documentary about the universe and the craft of popular photographers who work at parties, fairs and pilgrimages in the northeastern interior of Brazil.
18. Cuando llega la noche (Cuando llega la noche)
A short film about the director’s relationship with sewing, a craft he knew from a very young age thanks to his seamstress mother.
19. The Education of Auma Obama
The Education of Auma Obama is a captivating and intimate portrait of the U.S. president's older half-sister, who embodies a post-colonial, feminist identity.
20. Underwater Guest (Поиски под водой)
Mounting of the film by Dmitry Frolov on the basis of documentary frames of performances of Russian ballet dancers and lifeless margins of the Russian outback. Symbolizes the slowly naked and dying Russian world.
It has an average vote of 9 on TMDB.
