1. Sangre Violenta / Sangre Violeta (Sangre Violenta / Sangre Violeta)
Why does the Mexican government consider the feminist movement a bigger threat than most drug cartels? The short documentary 'SANGRE VIOLENTA / SANGRE VIOLETA' interweaves three narratives, illuminating the motivations behind their activism in Mexico. These stories include a radical feminist collective, an inspiring survivor of an acid attack, and a grieving father who tragically lost his seven-year-old daughter to femicide.
2. Ultimate Christian Wrestling
Why would two New York-based filmmakers dedicate five years of their lives to following three white, Jesus-loving, spandex-clad men from the Bible Belt, particularly when the world of documentary filmmaking has generated its fair share of films concerning sensationalistic religious expression and contact sports in recent years? Because it's not about wrestling, and it's not about Jesus. Against a bizarre and entertaining backdrop, and through a motley cast of characters, we are reminded of what connects us all, lest we forget what it means to be human.
3. Zombies: When the Dead Walk
Zombies are part of pop culture, but what are they? Where do they come from? To find real zombies we visit Haiti where Zombies are an integral part of the island's cultural and religious roots.
4. Hafu (Hafu)
A journey into the intricacies of mixed-race Japanese and their multicultural experiences in modern day Japan. For some hafus, Japan is the only home they know, for some living in Japan is an entirely new experience, and the others are caught somewhere between two different worlds.
It has an average vote of 6.8 on TMDB.
5. Hajj: The Journey of a Lifetime
For Muslims everywhere, the ultimate goal is to make the Hajj at least once during their lifetime. This spiritual journey is the basic premise of an entire religion and sees impoverished African Muslims mixing with their incredibly wealthy Western counterparts. This documentary follows some of the 20,000 Britons who make the journey to Mecca, unravelling the mysterious aura that surrounds this remarkable event. Combining the wondrous backdrop of Mecca with intriguing interviews that provide a previously undocumented view of Islam, Hajj will enchant both Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
6. Under a Blue Sun
Negev Desert, Israel, 1987. Bashir Abu Rabi'a works as a pyrotechnics and special effects assistant on the film Rambo III, starring Sylvester Stallone, a shoot that will have far-reaching consequences for the local Bedouin population.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
7. Rumi: The Wings of Love
Creened in several international film festivals, as well as the Musée de L’Homme in Paris, this film takes viewers into a secret world rarely seen by outsiders. Nearly eight centuries after his death, Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, Sufi master and mystical poet, is ever-present in the whirling ceremony of today’s Mevlevi dervishes. The Halveti zikr, Mevlevi semas, and the Gharib, or secret, sema-not seen for over 100 years-were filmed in Cairo, Istanbul, and the Garden of Rumi in Konya. This unique footage set to Mevlevi music is enhanced by interviews with Sheikh Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din , Islamic philosopher and author Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and Sheikh Omer Tugrel Inancer, who reveals the hidden meaning of the reed flute.
8. The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief
Welcome to The Great Happiness Space: Rakkyo Café. The club's owner, Issei , has a staff of twenty boys all under his training to become the top escorts of Osaka's underground love scene. During their training, they learn how to dress, how to talk, how to walk, and most importantly, how to fake relationships with the girls who become their source of income. Join us as Osaka's number one host boy takes us on a journey through the complex and heartrenching world of love for sale in the Japanese underground.
It has an average vote of 7.1 on TMDB.
9. Rest of Delirium (Descansa Delirio)
Maricarmen is a writer who lives with schizophrenia since she was seventeen years old. The film is a portrait of her live, her illness and her work.
10. Encruzilhadas do Som (Encruzilhadas do Som)
The documentary adresses the meaning of music and the musical diversity present in Umbanda . With interviews with four umbandistas from Fortaleza - Ceará, Crossroads of the Sound pays reverence to the enchanted dimension where the sounds cross each other to make the spirits dance.
11. A New Life, A New Fight
A meeting between two strangers sparks the desire to understand each other through the medium of cinema. They both simultaneously start recording their surroundings on camera and crafting the resulting footage. They, Elettra from Italy and Hazem from Gaza, become the subjects of this film that documents their first moments together. It depicts a multi-faceted reality in which North and South confront each other in a discussion on rights and inequalities, a reality in which we witness a migration towards one another, while capturing an intimate way of making a film together.
12. Linha Final (Linha Final)
(Linha Final)
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
13. Trainsforming America
This film takes a look at what expanding passenger rail service in America would look like, as well as asking passengers what they think about increasing rail investment. Would they use it? Would it be a waste of money? Why is building high speed rail in California so urgent?
14. Loco Ghosts
Uncovering the haunted secrets at one of America's largest Train Museums with a Team of Paranormal Investigators, Museum employees and Historians.
It has an average vote of 8.5 on TMDB.
15. Pilgrimage
St. Joseph's Oratory, a picturesque shrine silhouetted against Mount Royal, draws pilgrims by the thousands every year. They come from California by Greyhound bus, from Vancouver by plane, and on foot from many parishes surrounding Montréal. What is the fame of this shrine, that it attracts the devout and the curious alike? The story is told by Brother Placide Vermandère of the Order of the Holy Cross, who was personally acquainted with Brother André, after whom the shrine's famous temple is named. Cameras follow a procession of the League of the Sacred Heart through the streets of the city to the famous sanctuary and show many of the religious observances conducted in the church, including Mass attended by invalids who come in the hope of being healed of various afflictions.
16. I Wish
Hong Kong started and flourished as a fishing port in the past, and its people have long been committed to worshipping ancient deities for their blessings. With over a hundred Tin Hau temples in Hong Kong, there are three on Lamma Island alone, located respectively in Sok Kwu Wan, Luk Chau and Yung Shue Wan. The film documents the states of Tin Hau temples on the island and beyond, as an attempt to contextualise the everyday practice of the fishing community, islanders and city dwellers visiting the temples.
17. The Mighty 13 (Die Wilde 13)
Creaking, sizzling and rattling the 13 leans into a curve. It's freight falters before the hungry machine works it's way through the district of Wilhelmsburg. The Metro bus 13 is the lifeline of Hamburg's largest, most international and poorest district and at the same time a burden shared by all inhabitants - named 'Wilde 13' . The film is not just a tribute to Wilhelmsburg but a rough documentary feature examining a transforming district, multinational everyday life and the clashes of rich and poor, young and old.
18. Love is Tinged with Red (恋は朱に染まる)
This work is a representation of the deterioration of the first love of Nakano Eiji. He uses a psychedelic effect to represent the deterioration.
19. toe: DOKU-EN-KAI
At the twenty-year apex of their career, the Japanese quartet add another captivating live release to their extensive catalog. Shot ‘in the round’ at le Poisson Rouge in NYC, DOKU-EN-KAI delivers the band completely absorbed by their element in a kinetic, impassioned and frenzied set that brings toe's renown and allure into sharp, unmistakable focus.
20. Die Monsterinsel (Die Monsterinsel)
(Die Monsterinsel)