Frame by Frame

Reframing a Nation

After decades of war and an oppressive Taliban regime, four Afghan photojournalists face the realities of building a free press in a country left to stand on its own – re-framing Afghanistan for the world and for themselves.

When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, taking a photo was a crime. After the regime fell from power in 2001, a fledgling free press emerged and a photography revolution was born. Now, as foreign troops and media withdraw, Afghanistan is left to stand on its own, and so are its journalists. Set in a modern Afghanistan bursting with color and character, Frame by Frame follows four Afghan photojournalists as they navigate an emerging and dangerous media landscape – re-framing Afghanistan for the world, and for themselves. Through cinema vérité, intimate interviews, powerful photojournalism, and never-before-seen archival footage shot in secret during the Taliban regime, the film connects audiences with four humans in the pursuit of the truth.

The Transparentsea Voyage

A Modern Voyage with Ancient Creatures

The TransparentSea Voyage, like the marine mammals that swim in the sea and communicate through sound & song, this film take the viewer on a sensory journey of the making of 23 songs in 23 coastlines in the world, Southern California... Starring Dave Rastovich, Shannon Sol Carroll and Oj Newcomb from Band of Frequencies with special appearances by Angus Stone, Chris Del Moro, Isabel Lucas, Lauren Hill, Hilton Dawe Catherine Clarke, Denny Auberg, Rusty Miller and Al Hicks.

The Chimpanzee Complex

A science fiction doco about a psychiatric institution for traumatized chimpanzees.

After years in solitary captivity, the chimpanzees in a Dutch rescue center must learn to live with members of their own species again. The caretakers who accompany this process, work towards a paradoxical goal: as people they try to let the animals be animals again.

Emotional confrontations and ethical issues emphasize the ambiguous relationship between man and primate. Is it possible to think beyond the boundaries of our human perspective when trying to understand another.

Dark Side of the Chew

Chomp on this

It’s the world’s second most common form of litter. It’s invisible to most. Yet it lurks everywhere (including the bottoms of tables, desks and shoes). How did we become so addicted to chewing gum and how is our consumption of trillions of sticks a year impacting our health and our planet? Join award-winning, Eco-activist filmmaker Andrew Nisker – Garbage! (Sundance), Chemerical (Netflix), Orange Witness (Documentary) – in a cinematic first as he travels our planet and speaks to gobs of manufacturers, activists and scientists to unravel the entertaining, yet shocking truth behind our obsession with a seemingly innocuous product that is gumming up more than just our environment. Full of unexpected twists and bubble-bursting surprises, the Dark Side Of The Chew will give you a lot to chomp on if you’re hooked on this seemingly innocent, age-old habit.

Ecocide

Voices from Paradise

IWhen BP’s Macondo oil well exploded in 2010, it killed 11 men and spilled over 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In the tiny South Louisianan fishing community Grand Isle, the countdown began as locals watched the murky expanse creep into their lapping crystal water, leaving behind a horrifying red paste along the shoreline. The entire Gulf ecosystem collapsed within two years, not from the spill directly, but rather from the dispersants sprayed by BP’s aircrafts to sink the oil out of sight – and to the seabed. “Where all life starts,” laments one trawlerman as he ponders his future. As crustaceans burst with tumours and healthy people fall ill, BP wash their hands clean by pronouncing the waters “safe” once again. Spending two years after the oilspill recording life on Grand Isle, filmmaker Juliet Brown exposes one of the greatest ecological disasters in recent history and its impact on local lives.

This session will be accompanied by a live Skype Q&A with director Juliet Brown.

Garbage

The Revolution Starts at Home

Garbage! The Revolution Starts at Home - Trailer from Take Action Films on Vimeo.

Take your average urban family - the Mcdonalds - and ask them to keep every scrap of garbage they create for three months. Then take them on a journey to show them where it all goes and how it affects the world outside. From table scraps to the stuff they flush down the potty to the air pollution created by driving the kids to school to leaving the lights on, the Mcdonalds discover that for every action there's a reaction that vastly affects them and the planet. Life under a microscope has never been so revealing and shocking for the Mcdonald family of five and for those who dare to watch their trashy odyssey.

Leaving Africa

A harrowing story of two women fighting for their freedom

In this heartwarming tale of friendship and strength, two 60-something women, Finnish Riitta and Ugandan Catherine, share a home in Uganda and a very close relationship. They spend evenings on their porch smoking, doing crossword puzzles and talking about their lives and challenges. But by day, they lead a revolutionary education project that provides sexual heath and equality education to both men and women in the surrounding community. Always operating under the threat of expulsion, their luck finally runs out when the officials threaten to cut off permits and funding, thus ending 25 years of their work and sending Riitta back to Finland. A tender portrait of companionship and empowerment, filmmaker Iiris Härmä captures a harrowing story of two women fighting for their freedom to provide equality education.

The Forecaster

Can a Computer Predict the World Economy

Martin Armstrong, once a US based trillion dollar financial advisor, developed a computer model based on the number pi and other cyclical theories to predict economic turning points with eerie accuracy. In the early 80s he established his financial forecasting and advising company Princeton Economics. His forecasts were in great demand worldwide. As Armstrong's recognition grew, prominent New York bankers invited him to join "The Club" to aid them in market manipulation. Martin repeatedly refused. Later that same year (1999) the FBI stormed his offices, confiscating his computer model and accusing him of a 3 billion dollar Ponzi scheme. Was it an attempt to silence him and prevent him from initiating a public discourse on the real Ponzi scheme of debts that the world has been building up for decades? Armstrong predicts that a sovereign debt crisis will start to unfold on a global level after October 1, 2015 - a major pi turning point that his computer model forecasted many years ago.

The Visit

An Alien Encounter

A Documentary from Outer Space...

The Visit is a documentary with comedy elements, and a philosophical exploration of our fear of strangers through the ultimate threat to our self-image: The discovery of Alien Intelligent Life.

In Vienna lies the UN-city, with its late 1970’s architecture and its extra-territorial status not unlike a giant spacecraft that has landed in the middle of the civilized world. Inside this impressive institution representing our belief in humanity, resides the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs – the OOSA.

The Visit opens with a close-up of an animal. It instinctively reacts to something unknown. Inside the OOSA, a phone rings. Deputy Director-General, astro-physicist, Dr. Mazlan Othman, is informed that an alien has arrived...

Iraqi Odyssey

A global family saga by Samir

Tracing the emigrations of his family over more than half a century, this riveting documentary epic from acclaimed expatriate Iraqi filmmaker Samir pays moving homage to the frustrated democratic dreams of a people successively plagued by the horrors of dictatorship, war, and foreign occupation of Iraq.

Bikes Vs Cars

You can do anything in the right gear

Bikes vs Cars depicts a global crisis we must talk about: Climate, earth's resources, cities where the surface is consumed by cars. The bike is a great tool for change, but the interests who gain from cars invest billions each year on lobby and ads to protect their business. Shot in the US, Canada, Brazil, Colombia and Europe, we meet people fight for better cities, cities with a human scale.

Men Of The Cloth

Three master tailors - a vanishing craft

MEN OF THE CLOTH is an inspiring portrait of three Italian master tailors who confront the decline of the apprentice system as they navigate their challenging roles in the twilight of their career. The film unravels the mystery of their artistry and reveals how their passionate devotion to their Old World craft is akin to a religion.